[billbears]

Oregon Constitution 1859

No free Negro, or mulatto, not residing in this state at the time of adoption of this constitution, shall ever come, reside, or be within this state, or hold any real estate, or make any contract, or maintain any suit therein; and the legislative assembly shall provide by penal laws for the removal by public officers of all such free negroes who shall bring them into the state, or employ or harbor them therein

For the better part of Illinois' antebellum history, free blacks were only allowed to enter the state after posting a $1000 bond. In 1848, Illinois changed its constitution to absolutely prohibit the entrance of free blacks. In 1853, Illinois enacted legislation to enforce the ban. Further, Indiana's Constitution barred free blacks from owning property or entering contracts. Perhaps we need to discuss how many free blacks there were in a slave state such as Virginia (58,042) or North Carolina (30,463) compared to the 'free' states of Vermont (709) and Maine (1,327). But did Oregon's constitution work? Well apparently it did because in 1860 only 128 free blacks lived in the state out of a population of 52,456. From my understanding of the Illinois codes, blacks could be grandfathered in, so that any that lived there before 1853 still lived there. But it looks as if Oregon and Vermont (who both sided with the union) did quite well in enforcing their black laws now doesn't it?

[Non-Sequitur]

Oh crap, billbears. We've been down this road time and again and every time you get challenged you toss out wild-ass guesses as to why you claims don't hold water. Grandfathered in Illinois? The number of free blacks rose 50% between 1850 and 1860. If your claim was true then that number should have remained constant or declined. Like the way the number of free blacks declined in Mississippi and Arkansas during that period. Nobody is denying the Oregon Constitution, but you mention Virginia which had a Constitution that required any slave freed in the state to leave within 12 months or else face being sold back into slavery. Sure Virginia had 58,000 free blacks in 1860. In 1850 Virginia had 54,000 so during the same period that the free white population was increasing 25% the free black population increased 7%. During the same period the free black population in Illinois was increasing 50% the free black population in Mississippi decreased by 20%. So if the North was the one with these restriction why wasn't the free black population in the south growing? The slave population sure was.