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The Ante-bellum Black Community in Michiana St. Joseph County (Indiana) & Cass County (Michigan) In the decades preceding the Civil War, free Blacks and fugitive slaves (not unlike white settlers) brought their culture, skills, and labor power to Michiana to seek greater opportunities and freedoms. Three groups of Blacks migrated to Michiana in the ante-bellum era. These included: (1) Blacks who were free prior to migration (2) recently emancipated Blacks who were legally forced after their emancipation (manumission) to leave the slave state in which they resided (3) fugitive slaves (runaways) Legal Restraints & Black Migration to Michiana Black settlers confronted the hostility of a new frontier and the legal and social racial restraints of the nation and the state. Although similar to Southern slave and free Black codes, legal restraints in Indiana were not as extensive or as strongly enforced. Prior to 1830 the rights of suffrage, court testimony, interracial marriage, and state militia service were legally taken from Blacks in Indiana. From 1850 to 1869 Black children were not legally permitted to attend public schools regardless of local sentiments. In 1851 the Indiana Constitutional Convention delegates voted 93 to 40 to approve Article 8 that stated "No negro or mulatto shall come into or settle in the State..." (Blacks constituted only 1 % of Indiana's population from 1830 to 1860.) The Elkhart County electorate, however, voted against Article 8 (one of four northern counties). The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 increased the precarious situation of Blacks in Michiana and the nation. The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 allowed the re-enslavement of any Black person in the North or South who did not possess a certificate of freedom. The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 and Article 8 decreased Indiana's Black population growth to only 1% from 1850 to 1860. Michiana's Black population growth rate was drastically different; St. Joseph Co.'s Black population increased 133% and Cass Co. saw a 250% growth rate in the decade before the Civil War. The national and state legal hostilities of the 1850s influenced: (1) why Blacks chose to relocate to Michiana (a community of distance from slave states) (2) where Blacks would reside within Michiana Black & Quaker Communities in Michiana Cass Co.'s Black population primarily settled in townships with large Quaker populations (Calvin and Porter Townships). Quakers (Friends) nationwide and in Michiana were active in or supported anti-slavery movements and the Underground Railroad. By 1860 Mariah Coleman's family resided near Solomon Palmer, a worker on the Underground Railroad in St. Joseph County. In the late 1840s, the foundation of a small rural Black settlement (the Huggart settlement) was laid in Union
Object Description
Title | "The Ante-Bellum Black Community in Michiana" October 1994 |
Subject |
African Americans--Indiana African Americans--Michigan Indiana--History |
Description | This paper was written by Terry Goldsworthy as a member of the African American Historic Sites Project Committee. The paper enumerates pre-Civil War Black settlement in St. Joseph County, Indiana, Cass County, Michigan, and Indiana, in general. It includes a review of Black settlement communities, employment fields open to Negroes, and percentages of Blacks born in Indiana. |
Original Date | 1994-10 |
Time Period | 1990s (1990-1999) |
Digital Date | 2016-10-31 |
Digital Reproduction Specifications | Full View: 300 dpi pdf; Archived: 300 dpi pdf; Scanner: Epson Expression 10000XL |
Language | en |
Size | 3 pages; 27.86 x 21.62 cm |
Identifier | CRAAH-SMALL-084 |
Repository Collection | Small Collection of the Civil Rights Heritage Center |
Physical Repository | Indiana University South Bend Archives |
Usage Statement | Digital reproductions of archival materials from the Indiana University South Bend Archives are made available for noncommercial educational and research purposes only. The Indiana University South Bend Archives respects the intellectual property rights of others and does not claim any copyright interest for non-university records or materials for which we do not hold a Deed of Gift. It is the researcher’s responsibility to seek permission from the copyright owner and any other rights holders for any reuse of these images that extends beyond fair use or other statutory exemptions. Furthermore, responsibility for the determination of the copyright status and securing permission rests with those persons wishing to reuse the materials. If you are the copyright holder for any of the digitized materials and have questions about its inclusion on our site, please contact the Indiana University South Bend Archivist. |
Contributors | African American Historic Sites Project Committee |
Creator | Goldsworthy, Terry |
Provenance | St. Joseph County Public Library (South Bend, IN) |
Rating |
Description
Title | page 1 |
Usage Statement | Digital reproductions of archival materials from the Indiana University South Bend Archives are made available for noncommercial educational and research purposes only. The Indiana University South Bend Archives respects the intellectual property rights of others and does not claim any copyright interest for non-university records or materials for which we do not hold a Deed of Gift. It is the researcher’s responsibility to seek permission from the copyright owner and any other rights holders for any reuse of these images that extends beyond fair use or other statutory exemptions. Furthermore, responsibility for the determination of the copyright status and securing permission rests with those persons wishing to reuse the materials. If you are the copyright holder for any of the digitized materials and have questions about its inclusion on our site, please contact the Indiana University South Bend Archivist. |
Transcription | The Ante-bellum Black Community in Michiana St. Joseph County (Indiana) & Cass County (Michigan) In the decades preceding the Civil War, free Blacks and fugitive slaves (not unlike white settlers) brought their culture, skills, and labor power to Michiana to seek greater opportunities and freedoms. Three groups of Blacks migrated to Michiana in the ante-bellum era. These included: (1) Blacks who were free prior to migration (2) recently emancipated Blacks who were legally forced after their emancipation (manumission) to leave the slave state in which they resided (3) fugitive slaves (runaways) Legal Restraints & Black Migration to Michiana Black settlers confronted the hostility of a new frontier and the legal and social racial restraints of the nation and the state. Although similar to Southern slave and free Black codes, legal restraints in Indiana were not as extensive or as strongly enforced. Prior to 1830 the rights of suffrage, court testimony, interracial marriage, and state militia service were legally taken from Blacks in Indiana. From 1850 to 1869 Black children were not legally permitted to attend public schools regardless of local sentiments. In 1851 the Indiana Constitutional Convention delegates voted 93 to 40 to approve Article 8 that stated "No negro or mulatto shall come into or settle in the State..." (Blacks constituted only 1 % of Indiana's population from 1830 to 1860.) The Elkhart County electorate, however, voted against Article 8 (one of four northern counties). The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 increased the precarious situation of Blacks in Michiana and the nation. The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 allowed the re-enslavement of any Black person in the North or South who did not possess a certificate of freedom. The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 and Article 8 decreased Indiana's Black population growth to only 1% from 1850 to 1860. Michiana's Black population growth rate was drastically different; St. Joseph Co.'s Black population increased 133% and Cass Co. saw a 250% growth rate in the decade before the Civil War. The national and state legal hostilities of the 1850s influenced: (1) why Blacks chose to relocate to Michiana (a community of distance from slave states) (2) where Blacks would reside within Michiana Black & Quaker Communities in Michiana Cass Co.'s Black population primarily settled in townships with large Quaker populations (Calvin and Porter Townships). Quakers (Friends) nationwide and in Michiana were active in or supported anti-slavery movements and the Underground Railroad. By 1860 Mariah Coleman's family resided near Solomon Palmer, a worker on the Underground Railroad in St. Joseph County. In the late 1840s, the foundation of a small rural Black settlement (the Huggart settlement) was laid in Union |
Provenance | St. Joseph County Public Library (South Bend, IN) |
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