Early Statehood - Race Relations

African American

Indenture of Judith, Pope County, 1818 / Transcription

This indenture was written in 1818, the year Illinois became a state. The indenture system was used to get around the abolition of slavery in Illinois. It resulted in slave conditions, as evidenced by this indenture of a woman named Judith. The 17-year-old was bound to 99 years of service through this indenture.
Citation: Turnbaugh, Dr. Roy C. Jr. and Robert E. Bailey. Windows to the Past: A Selection of Illinois County Records from 1818 to 1880. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 1985. Document 1. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Indenture of Thomas Estes, 1820

This is an indenture written for Thomas Estes. Although Illinois was a free state, it still allowed for long-term servitude through the indenture system.

Journal of the House of Representatives, March 3rd, 1837 / Transcription

Abraham Lincoln and Dan Stone, both legislators from Sangamon County, wrote this entry to protest a resolution from the General Assembly. The resolution stated the Constitution guaranteed the right to own slaves in states that allowed it, and that the federal government could not outlaw slavery in Washington, D.C.. At the same time, Lincoln and Stone also stated that abolitionists may do more harm than good.
Citation: Illinois State Archives Staff. Abraham Lincoln in Illinois: A Selection of Documents From the Illinois State Archives. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 2008. Document 9. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Accessed on 09/17/2016. https://cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/teaching_packages/abraham_lincoln/doc9.html

Constitutional Convention, 1847

The following excerpts were taken out of the Illinois Constitutional Convention Journal of 1847. They deal with the future role African Americans, Native Americans, and people of mixed races in the state of Illinois.
- Excerpt One
- Excerpt Two

Free Negro Bond, 1843 / Transcription

In response to the problem of runaway slaves who came to Illinois, a free state, the General Assembly required free blacks and mulattoes living in Illinois to present certificates of freedom to their county commissioners court, and to post a $1000 bond. The bond was forfeited if the free black or mulatto became a public charge, if they failed to conduct themselves in conformity with Illinois law.
Citation: Turnbaugh, Dr. Roy C. Jr. and Robert E. Bailey. Windows to the Past: A Selection of Illinois County Records from 1818 to 1880. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 1985. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Petition for Frederick Douglas's Use of City Hall, July 12th, 1849 / Transcription

Petition to the city council of Chicago to allow Frederick Douglas and another speaker to use City Hall in July of 1894.
Citation: Bailey, Robert E. and Elaine Shemoney Evans. Early Chicago, 1833-1871 A Selection of City Council Proceedings Files. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 1999. Document 18. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Accessed on 09/17/2016. https://cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/teaching_packages/early_chicago/doc18.html

Resolution Regarding the Fugitive Slave Act, November 29th, 1850 / Transcription

Resolution of the Chicago city council which pursued an act of noncompliance with the The Compromise of 1850, which carried policies against runaway slaves.
Citation: Bailey, Robert E. and Elaine Shemoney Evans. Early Chicago, 1833-1871 A Selection of City Council Proceedings Files. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 1999. Document 19. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Accessed on 09/17/2016. https://cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/teaching_packages/early_chicago/doc19.html

Indenture of Margaret, Fayette County, 1855 / Transcription

In 1819, state law stipulated that underage poor children were to be indentured to respectable households as servants. In return for their labor, indentures were clothed, fed and housed. Female indentures ended at age 18, while male indentures ended at 21. This indenture is for a “poor girl of color” named Margaret. Included in the indenture is a list of forbidden behavior.
Citation: Turnbaugh, Dr. Roy C. Jr. and Robert E. Bailey. Windows to the Past: A Selection of Illinois County Records from 1818 to 1880. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 1985. Document 19. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Petition for the Free Use of State Street Market Hall, December 17th, 1855 / Transcription

Petition to the city council of Chicago for the Reverend William Anderson, a black minister, to speak about the "services of the colored citizens during the Revolutionary War". Proceeds were to go towards the purchase of freedom from slavery for Rev Anderson's half-sister in the south.
Citation: Bailey, Robert E. and Elaine Shemoney Evans. Early Chicago, 1833-1871 A Selection of City Council Proceedings Files. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 1999. Document 33. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Accessed on 09/17/2016. https://cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/teaching_packages/early_chicago/doc33.html

Native American

The Chicago Treaty of 1821

This treaty was an agreement between United States Commissioners, Solomon Sibley and Lewis Cass, and the Ottawa, Chippewa, and Pottawatamie Indian tribes. The US agreed to allow the Native Americans to hunt on the US-owned land in this area, provided that they allow safe construction of and passage through a road connecting Detroit and Chicago.
Citation: Quaife, Milo Milton, ed. Pictures of Illinois One Hundred Years Ago. Chicago: The Lakeside Press, 1918. 163-168.

Indian Removal Act, May 22, 1830 p. 411 / p. 412

This act required all Native Americans to exchange their land east of the Mississippi River for land further west.
Citation: "An act to provide for an exchange of lands..." from "A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation", Library of Congress Statutes at Large section. Accessed 09/17/2016. http://www.memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=004/llsl004.db&recNum=458 and http://www.memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=004/llsl004.db&recNum=459.

John Ross and Thomas N. Clark, Jr Letters

John Ross was appointed chief of the Cherokee nation in 1828. Ross was against of the forced removal of the Cherokee tribe from their lands, but an opposing faction signed the Treaty of New Echota in 1835, agreeing to cede lands by 1838. This forced removal became better known as the "Trail of Tears". These letters cover the tribe's time in Illinois during the harsh winter of December of 1838 and January of 1839, when a large number of the casualties during the removal took place. Thomas Clark, traveling with the tribe, is petitioning Ross for resources and to meet up with the tribe.

Letter from Thomas N. Clark, Jr. to John Ross, Nashville, Tennessee, December 17th, 1838