256 The Winning of the West 



was of small importance in the early years. West 

 of the Alleghanies slaves were still to be found al- 

 most everywhere, while almost everywhere there 

 were also frequent and open expressions of hostility 

 to slavery. The Southerners still rather disliked 

 slavery, while the Northerners did not as yet feel 

 any very violent antagonism to it. In the Indiana 

 Territory there were hundreds of slaves, the prop- 

 erty of the old French inhabitants and of the Ameri- 

 can settlers who had come there prior to 1 787 ; and 

 the majority of the population of this Territory 

 actually wished to reintroduce slavery, and repeat- 

 edly petitioned Congress to be allowed the reintro- 

 duction. Congress, with equal patriotism and wis- 

 dom, always refused the petition; but it was not 

 until the new century was well under way that the 

 anti-slavery element obtained control in Indiana and 

 Illinois. Even in Ohio there was a considerable 

 party which favored the introduction of slavery, and 

 though the majority was against this, the people 

 had small sympathy with the negroes, and passed 

 very severe laws against the introduction of free 

 blacks into the State, and even against those already 

 in residence therein. 8 On the other hand, when 

 Kentucky's first constitutional convention sat, a res- 

 olute effort was made to abolish slavery within the 

 State, and this effort was only defeated after a hard 

 struggle and a close vote. To their honor be it said 

 that all of the clergymen three Baptists, one Meth- 

 odist, one Dutch Reformed, and one Presbyterian 



8 "Ohio," by Rufus King, pp. 290, 364, etc. 



