Chapter 50: The admission of Oregon shows how fearful Northerners are of all Blacks

In February 1859, the Oregon Territory becomes the 33^rd U.S. state.

While opting for Free State status, it becomes the first to ban all Black people, slave or freedmen, from residing within its borders. Thus Article 1, Section 35 defines the Exclusion and goes on to outline punishments that will accrue to any violators — including fines for Whites and public whippings for Blacks.

The racial animus and fear exhibited here is not new. It mirrors the long line of “Black Codes” present in statutes across the North, from Ohio, Indiana and Michigan to Illinois, Kansas and California. But Oregon becomes the first state to put Black Exclusion into its Constitution.

And Washington accepts the document after 89% of the Oregon public votes in favor. It stands as one more demonstration of the racial divide in the nation.

(An historical footnote: the Oregon ban is not overturned until 1929.)