Anti-miscegenation laws in the United States
State First law passed Law repealed Races white people were banned from marrying Note
Illinois 1829 1874 Black
Iowa 1839 1851 Black Not formally repealed ; rather , the legislature quietly left that Territorial provision out of its first Code of Iowa ( 1851 ) after it became a state
Kansas 1855 1859 Black Law repealed before reaching statehood
Maine 1821 1883 Black , Native Americans
Massachusetts 1705 1843 Black , Native Americans Passed the 1913 law preventing out-of-state couples from circumventing their home-state anti-miscegenation laws , which itself was repealed on July 31 , 2008
Michigan 1838 1883 Blacks
New Mexico 1857 1866 Blacks Law repealed before reaching statehood
Ohio 1861 1887 Blacks Last state to repeal its anti-miscegenation law before California did so in 1948
Pennsylvania 1725 1780 Blacks
Rhode Island 1798 1881 Blacks , Native Americans
Washington 1855 1868 Blacks , Native Americans Law repealed before reaching statehood
Wyoming 1869 1882 Blacks , Asians , Filipinos Law repealed before reaching statehood , re-enacted after statehood , in 1913
Summary -- Laws repealed through 1887
In the United States, anti-miscegenation laws (also known as miscegenation laws) were state laws passed by individual states to prohibit interracial marriage and interracial sex. Anti-miscegenation laws were a part of American law, in some States since before the United States was established. Most states had repealed their bans on interracial marriages by 1967, when the U.S. Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Earl Warren ruled in Loving v. Virginia that such laws in the remaining 16 states were unconstitutional. The term miscegenation was first used in 1863, during the American Civil War, by American journalists to discredit the abolitionist movement by stirring up debate over the prospect of interracial marriage after the abolition of slavery. In those of the original Thirteen Colonies that became states and enacted such laws, they were enacted as state law in the early 18th century; a century or more after the complete racialization of slavery. Typically defining miscegenation as a felony, these laws prohibited the solemnization of weddings between persons of different races and prohibited the officiating of such ceremonies. Sometimes, the individuals attempting to marry would not be held guilty of miscegenation itself, but felony charges of adultery or fornication would be brought against them instead. All anti-miscegenation laws banned the marriage of whites and non-white groups, primarily blacks, but often also Native Americans and Asians. In many states, anti-miscegenation laws also criminalized cohabitation and sex between whites and non-whites. In addition, the state of Oklahoma in 1908 banned marriage between a person of African descent and any person not of African descent; Louisiana in 1920 banned marriage between Native Americans and African Americans (and from 1920-1942, concubinage as well); and Maryland in 1935 banned marriages between blacks and Filipinos. While anti-miscegenation laws are often regarded as a Southern phenomenon, most western and plains states also enacted them. Although anti-miscegenation amendments were proposed in United States Congress in 1871, 1912-1913 and 1928, a nationwide law against racially mixed marriages was never enacted.