Prior to the American Civil War, many States and Jurisdictions had Laws intended to exclude Racial or Ethnic groups. Many of these laws are not well known, or are largely forgotten. Lack of knowledge of these exclusion laws may create the mistaken impression that racial strife was a largely Southern phenomenon. It was not. Many Southerners today are far more evolved and enlightened in their racial relations than their Northern brethren who have never learned to live in an integrated society.