Slavery means owning other human
beings as your personal property and
forcing them to work without pay.
On July 13, 1787, Congress adopted
what became known as the “Northwest
Ordinance.” An ordinance is a law or
command, and this ordinance said that
slavery was forever banned in the
Northwest Territory, a large region that
eventually became Michigan and four
other states. However, people living in the
territory were allowed to keep slaves they
already owned.
In Michigan, slavery began after the
arrival of the French in the 1600s. When
the British arrived in 1761 they discovered
Native American and African slaves. In
1782, a census, or count of the number of
people living in an area, showed 78 male
and 101 female slaves living in Detroit.
The number of slaves declined after the
British left Detroit in 1796. Only 15
African-Americans lived in Detroit in 1805.
It is unclear how many were slaves, but
businessman Joseph Campau owned
ten slaves at the time.
Most Michiganders neither owned nor
approved of slavery. In 1807 a Canadian
living in Windsor demanded that his two
escaped African-American slaves – then
living in Michigan – be returned to him.
Territorial Judge Augustus Woodward
denied the request. He declared that
slavery did not exist in the Michigan
Territory and that every “man coming
into this Territory is by law of the land
a freeman.”
The 1830 U.S. census showed 32 slaves
living in the Michigan Territory, but these
numbers dwindled quickly. Michiganders
became more critical of slavery and many
began calling for its abolition – the act of
officially ending something. As the Civil
War neared, some worked in the
Underground Railroad to help people
escape from slavery.
The Underground Railroad was not
a real railroad; “Underground” means
secret or hidden, and the name referred to
secret routes used to move escaping
slaves, as well as to the homes where they
were hidden. Traveling by night and
hiding by day, escaping slaves often wore
disguises as they made their way north.
Railroad terms were used as code words.
Most southern Michigan towns had
“conductors,” people who helped
escaping slaves by hiding them in barns
or homes, called “depots.” At night slaves
were moved to a new depot in the next
town on foot, in wagons, or by horseback.
Some slaves stayed in northern states like
Michigan, where they could be free.
Others crossed the Detroit River to freedom
in Canada. Escaping was dangerous.
If caught, slaves were often whipped or beaten and placed in chains. Nonetheless,
many who made it to the North worked to
help other slaves escape using the
Underground Railroad.
An African-American woman named
Sojourner Truth escaped from slavery in
1827. Later, she made her home in Battle
Creek. As an abolitionist, a person who
worked to end slavery, she made powerful
speeches denouncing the practice. She
was one of many Michiganders who
fought against slavery and worked to
extend equal rights to all people.







