Description: Bond filed October 18, 1837, from Miami County, Ohio, for Betsey Jackson, an African American woman who is bound to the state for $500. In 1787, Congress enacted the Northwest Ordinance, establishing a government for the Northwest Territory. While the African American population was small — there were 337 blacks in the Northwest Territory in 1800 — the 1802 Constitutional Convention made clear that the first state created in the Territory would honor the Northwest Ordinance pledge that slavery would not exist northwest of the Ohio River. Beginning in 1803, a series of laws known as the “Black Laws” was enacted in Ohio, in part to slow black migration, and upon entering the state, any black person was soon required to post bond for $500 and file evidence of free status. African Americans were not permitted to work unless they carried documentation of their free status with them. While slavery was not legal, the rights of blacks were nonetheless severely limited. By 1830, the number of African Americans in Ohio reached nearly 10,000, and in 1849, Ohio's “Black Laws” were partially repealed, meaning that African Americans were no longer required to post bond or register freedom papers. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: VFM5543_01
Subjects: Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights; African Americans--History; Black Laws; Law & legal affairs; Women--Ohio--History;
Places: Miami County (Ohio);