Excerpt from Slavery: Attitudes About Slavery; Segregation As Illinois prepared for statehood in 1818, a census was taken between April 1 and June 1. Of a total population of servants or slaves numbered 733, free people of color, 313. The holders of slaves and indentured servants were worried. They knew that the state constitution would have to prohibit slavery, but they were determined to retain their property. They hit upon a devious expedient: they would give lip service to the principle of freedom, and then, after attaining statehood, change the constitution to permit slavery. A state was sovereign, wasn't it? Accordingly, the constitution adopted on August 26, 1818, contained an article declaring that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall hereafter be introduced into this State otherwise than for the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted. The remainder of the article dealt with indentures, in effect validating those already existing but limiting the terms of those to be made in the future. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.