In the pre-Civil War and Civil War periods the Illinois black code deprived blacks of suffrage and court rights, and the Illinois Free Schools Act kept most black children out of public schooling.But, as McCaul documents, they did not sit idly by. They applied the concepts of bargaining power (rewarding, punishing, and dialectical) and the American ideal of community to participate in winning two major victories during this era.By the use of dialectical power, exerted mainly via John Jones tract, "The Black Laws of Illinois, "they helped secure the repeal of the state s black code; by means...