- groes from testifying became inoperative. No other case
on the point seems to have arisen in the State.
The Constitution[11] of Florida of 1865 permitted Negroes to testify only in proceedings founded upon injury to a Negro or in cases affecting the rights and remedies of Negroes. A statute[12] of the same year, relative to testimony in general, provided that the testimony of Negroes should not be taken by deposition in writing or upon written interrogation, or "otherwise than in such manner as will enable the court or jury to judge the credibility of the witness."
The Constitution[13] of Georgia of 1865 made it the duty of the general assembly to provide laws prescribing in what cases the testimony of Negroes should be admitted in the courts. This is the only reference to the Negro as a witness found in the Georgia statutes or court reports.
Kentucky,[14] in 1865, provided that Negroes and mulattoes should be competent witnesses in all civil proceedings in which Negroes or mulattoes were the only parties interested in the issue, and in all criminal proceedings in which Negroes or mulattoes were the defendants. In 1867, the Court of Appeals of Kentucky[15] held that the law of Kentucky prohibiting a Negro from testifying against a white person was still in force and was not rendered inoperative by the Civil Rights Bill of 1866.
The Constitution[16] of Maryland of 1867 provided that no person should be incompetent as a witness on account of race or color unless thereafter so declared by an act of the general assembly. The general assembly appears not to have acted.
Mississippi,[17] in 1865, provided that freedmen, free
