So, Indiana was a “Free State” during the Civil War. This is the common understanding presented throughout the school system and general public. Sounds kinda nice – Free State. No slavery in our State, we are above it all and slightly superior to our slave holding states to the South. The truth is, Article 13 to Indiana’s 1851 State Constitution states;
Article 13 – Negroes and Mulattoes
Section 1. No negro or mulatto shall come into or settle in the State, after the adoption of this Constitution.
Section 2. All contracts made with any Negro or Mulatto coming into the State, contrary to the provisions of the foregoing section, shall be void; and any person who shall employ such Negro or Mulatto, or otherwise encourage him to remain in the State, shall be fined in any sum not less than ten dollars, nor more than five hundred dollars.
Section 3. All fines which may be collected for a violation of the provisions of this article, or of any law which ay hereafter be passed for the purpose of carrying the same into execution, shall be set apart and appropriated for the colonization of such Negroes and Mulattoes, and their descendants, as may be in the State at the adoption of this Constitution, and may be willing to emigrate.
Section 4. The General Assembly shall pass laws to carry out the provisions of this article.
Of course it was classified a Free State, it was a NO NEGRO STATE. This article was written just 9 years before the Civil War. Puts a whole new light on the subject. We tend to promote a myth that the Civil War was fought to free the slaves. Now just think about this. You come from a state where you don’t even allow negroes to exist in your state, and you are going to join the Union army to go and fight for their freedom and potentially DIE in the process. Not very likely. So, maybe the war wasn’t fought to free the slaves. This little fact helps destroy that myth. The freeing of the slaves can be said to have been one of the outcomes that resulted from the war, but that didn’t come until much later. And, it wasn’t with the Emancipation Proclamation, which really didn’t free one slave. Even within that document, words were put in it to make sure no slaves were freed in areas controlled by the Union forces. But, we’ll save that discussion for another time.