The area that is now the American state of Iowa was part of New France when first settled by Europeans. As such, it was governed by its slavery laws. French settlers first brought African slaves into Upper Louisiana from Saint-Domingue around 1720 under the legal terms of the Code Noir, which defined the conditions of slavery in the French empire and restricted the activities of free Black persons.^[1]^[2]

At the time, nine hundred slaves lived in Upper Louisiana, as well as at least three hundred slaves the French took with them as they left for the lands west of the Mississippi River, including modern-day Iowa. The institution of slavery continued after Britain acquired the Illinois Country in 1763 following the French and Indian War.^[3]

In the pre-state Iowa Territory, there are sporadic accounts of slaves in Iowa.^[4] In the 1840 United States census 16 enslaved people were recorded in Iowa Territory, all living in Dubuque County. The only recorded slave sale occurred in 1841, when O. H. W. Stull, the Iowa territorial secretary, purchased an enslaved boy in Iowa City.^[5] Josiah Smart, a U.S. Government Indian Agent, owned two slaves while working at Fort Des Moines before 1845.^[6]

Slavery was outlawed in Iowa when it obtained statehood in 1846. In the years leading up to the Civil War, many Iowans became involved in the Underground Railroad, and famed abolitionist John Brown used Iowa as a base for his anti-slavery campaigns, 1856-1859.^[7] The state of Iowa played a significant role during the American Civil War in providing food, supplies, troops and officers for the Union army.

References

^ Ethan A. Snively, "Slavery in Illinois", Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society, 1901.
^ "Slavery In Illinois, Freedom Trails: 2 Legacies of Hope". Archived from the original on 2016-02-04. Retrieved 2016-12-10.
^ Lehman, Christopher P. (2011). Slavery in the Upper Mississippi Valley, 1787–1865: A History of Human Bondage in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. p. 27. ISBN 978-0786458721.
^ Brodnax, David Junius, Jr. (2007). Breathing the Freedom's Air: The African American Struggle for Equal Citizenship in Iowa, 1830-1900. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University. pp. 27–29. Retrieved 15 January 2024.((cite book)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ History of Johnson County Iowa. Iowa City. 1883. p. 464. Retrieved 22 April 2021.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ "Slavery in Iowa". The Annals of Iowa. 10 (4): 303–304. 1872. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
^ "John Brown and the Underground Railroad". Cedar Rapids Gazette. 8 June 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2021.

History of slavery in the United States

States

Federal district

District of Columbia

Territories

Topics

History	Slavery among Native Americans Slavery in New Spain Slavery in New France Slavery in the colonial history of the United States Indentured servitude in the Americas Slavery in the United States Slave trade in the United States Slave markets and slave jails in the United States Kidnapping into slavery in the United States Slave states and free states Slave labor on United States military installations 1799–1863 Slavery at American colleges and universities Glossary Bibliography
Cultural and social history	American proslavery movement Slavery as a positive good in the United States Treatment Health Mandatory illiteracy Education during the slave period Slave quarters Domestic slave trade List of American slave traders Runaway slave ad Slave catcher Abolitionism Underground Railroad Freedmen's towns Black Canadians List of abolitionists African American founding fathers Plantations Field slaves Gang system Task system Planter class List of plantations Native American slave owners Black slave owners American Colonization Society
Law and politics	Slavery and the United States Constitution American slave court cases Freedom suits Fugitive Slave Clause Three-fifths Compromise Slave and free states History of slavery by U.S. state Fugitive slaves Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves (1808) Gag rule (1836–1840) Nullifiers Fire-Eaters Movement to reopen the transatlantic slave trade Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 Partus sequitur ventrem Dred Scott v. Sandford Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution Presidents and slavery George Washington and slavery Thomas Jefferson and slavery James Madison and slavery John Quincy Adams and abolitionism John Tyler and slavery Zachary Taylor and slavery Abraham Lincoln and slavery Andrew Johnson and slavery Vice presidents Members of Congress Supreme Court Justices
Marriage, sexual slavery and procreation	Sexual slavery Female slavery Sexual relations and rape Slave breeding Marriage of enslaved people Plaçage Children of the plantation Shadow family
Civil War and after	Origins of the American Civil War Slavery during the American Civil War End of slavery in the United States Compensated emancipation Contraband Colored Troops Emancipation Proclamation Juneteenth Reconstruction era Radical Republicans Freedmen's Bureau Civil rights movement (1865–1896) Family reunification ads after emancipation Freedmen's town list

See also

References