Laws of the state of Missouri : passed at the first session of the fourteenth General Assembly, begun and held at the city of Jefferson, on Monday, the sixteenth day of November, eighteen hundred and forty-six

State of Missouri

James Lusk, City of Jefferson, 1847

[Black Codes: Anti-abolitionist laws in Missouri] Bound in contemporary leather. Hardcover. Mylar cover. Some wear, rubbing, with loss to extremities. Hinges cracked. Scattered toning. 398 pages ; 23 cm.  Includes anti-abolitionist laws preventing free negroes from emigrating to the state, keeping negroes illiterate, to suppress negro preachers by requiring police officers to be present to prevent "all seditious speeches, and disorderly, and unlawful conduct of every kind," and to restrict meetings and assemblies, and to fine free negroes and imprison them if they enter into Missouri. "In 1847, the General Assembly passed an act stating that 'No person shall keep or teach any school for the instruction of negroes or mulattos, in reading or writing, in this State.' An uneducated black population made white citizens feel more secure against both abolitionists and slave uprisings, although it probably did little to suppress the desire for freedom. Numerous persons and organizations defied the law. In addition, meetings, religious or otherwise, conducted by other African Americans, were prohibited unless some sheriff, constable, marshal, police officer, etc., was present. Violations could receive a $500 fine, six months in jail, or both (Laws 1847, pp. 103-104)." - MISSOURI STATE ARCHIVES, Missouri's Early Slave Laws: A History in Documents.