Although the United States Congress passed the Civil Rights Act in 1964, Black Americans have fought for equal protection under the law for centuries. In 1799, seventy-one People of Colour and Freemen in Philadelphia banded together to petition their Congressman for their rights. Led by Reverend Absalom Jones, the first African American Episcopal priest ordained in the U.S., the Freemen sought protections against the oppression and violence they were subjected to despite being free. They called for a stop to the kidnapping of freed people and demanded the abolition of slavery, as well as the unalienable Rights guaranteed by the Declaration of Independence. On January 2, 1800, Representative Robert Waln introduced the petition to the House of Representatives, where it was tensely debated and eventually sent to committee to die. Today, the Reverend ...