These are mutually beneficial signs of civil rights. Kate Masur's beautiful story captures this widespread movement in its entirety. Activists such as John Jones, a free black clothier from North Carolina who opposed the Illinois "black law" that helped promote racial equality, highlighted the important role of African Americans in to protect the American ideal of equality before the law. Without coercion, the promise of equality under the law is insufficient. But the movement before the war laid the foundation for a tradition of racial justice that is still relevant today.