LET ME SEE YOUR PAPERS! For free blacks in Pre-Civil War United States, “free papers”—written legal documents declaring their holder to be free—were often all that stood between them and a slave catcher’s irons. Many papers were borrowed or forged to help with escapes and changed identities, but as you have seen in Part 5, even genuine papers could be ignored or destroyed by unethical slave catchers. Free papers were abolished after the Civil War, but in certain contexts, society has continued to insist that citizens carry something officially confirming their identity. Driver’s licenses are the most obvious example of this.
1. Can you think of other examples of confirming identity?

2. At what point do you think requiring official identification comes at the expense of people’s liberty?

3. What about new laws being passed today requiring people suspected of being illegal immigrants to show proof of legal residency? Discuss where (or if) you think the line should be drawn between the practical need to establish people’s identity and an unfair compromise of their rights.