Breaking Chains: Slavery on Trial in the Oregon Territory

DATES AND EVENTS

xiv DATES AND EVENTS July 13, 1787—Congress enacts the Northwest Ordinance, which prohibits slavery in the new Northwest Territory north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River, effectively establishing the Ohio as the boundary between slave states and non-slave states. Treaty of 1818—Provides for joint British and American occupation and settlement of the Oregon Country. Missouri Compromise of 1820—Prohibits slavery in new territories north of a theoretical line drawn from the southern boundary of Missouri, except within Missouri. May 2, 1843—Early inhabitants of Oregon Country meet at Champoeg to establish a provisional government. July 5, 1843—Early settlers and others approve an organic act for the provisional government, which includes a prohibition against slavery. December 25, 1843—The first major emigrant wagon train from Missouri, initially led by Peter Burnett, arrives at The Dalles. June 18, 1844—The provisional government enacts the region’s first exclusion law against blacks, with “lash law’’ punishment. December 7, 1844—Nathaniel Ford’s wagon train from Missouri arrives in Oregon City with slaves Robin and Polly Holmes, the Holmeses’ three children, and another adult slave named Scott. December 19, 1844—The exclusion law is modified to eliminate corporal punishment, but with a new forced-labor penalty for free blacks who refuse to leave. July 25, 1845—Voters approve a new organic act with an anti-slavery provision, but no exclusion law, effectively abolishing the 1844 law before it takes effect. June 15, 1846—The Oregon Treaty with Great Britain is approved, giving the United States jurisdiction over the Oregon Country south of the 49th parallel. May 30, 1848—United States and Mexico ratify the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ending the war with Mexico and conceding to the United States present-day California, Nevada, and Utah, most of New Mexico and Arizona, and parts of Wyoming and Colorado. August 14, 1848—Congress establishes the Oregon Territory with the provisional government’s anti-slavery law intact. The new territory embraces all of the Pacific Northwest south of the 49th parallel and east to the Rocky Mountains. Dates and Events d D xv September 21, 1849—The new Oregon Territorial Legislature enacts a second exclusion law against blacks, although it doesn’t apply to existing residents. Sometime in 1849—The Ford family undertakes its gold-mining expedition to California, taking along the slaves Robin Holmes and Scott. Sometime in 1850—Nathaniel Ford gives Robin and Polly Holmes their freedom, but keeps three of their children. September 18, 1850—Congress enacts the Compromise of 1850—with a new Fugitive Slave Act—that clears the way for California statehood. September 27, 1850—The Donation Land Act for Oregon is enacted, providing up to a square mile of free land for the earliest settlers. September 2, 1851—Oregon’s 1849 exclusion law is enforced against Jacob Vanderpool, the only instance of an African American being expelled under one of Oregon’s exclusion laws. April 16, 1852—Former slave Robin Holmes files a custody suit against Nathaniel Ford, seeking freedom for his children. March 2, 1853—Congress establishes the Washington Territory north of the Columbia River. July 13, 1853—Judge George Williams rules in favor of Robin Holmes in his custody case, returning his children. It is the only slave case adjudicated in Oregon courts. September 1, 1853—Robert Shipley arrives in Oregon from Missouri with his slave Reuben Shipley. May 1, 1854—Oregon’s 1849 exclusion law is repealed. May 30, 1854—The Kansas-Nebraska Act is enacted by Congress, repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820. March 6, 1857—U.S. Supreme Court issues Dred Scott decision denying citizenship and constitutional protections to African Americans, whether slave or free. July 28, 1857—Judge Williams’ Free State Letter, arguing slavery won’t work in Oregon, is published in the Oregon Statesman. August 18, 1857—The Oregon Constitutional Convention convenes in Salem. November 9, 1857—Voters approve Oregon’s constitution with both a prohibition against slavery and an exclusion clause barring African Americans. July 18, 1857—Former slave Reuben Shipley marries Mary Jane Holmes. February 14, 1859—Oregon gains statehood, the only free state admitted into the union with an exclusion clause in its constitution. xvi d D Breaking Chains November 6, 1860—Abraham Lincoln is elected President. April 12, 1861—The Civil War opens with a Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in South Carolina. May 11, 1861—Reuben and Mary Jane...