Oregon black exclusion laws

The Oregon black exclusion laws were attempts to prevent black people from settling within the borders of the settlement and eventual U.S. state of Oregon. The first such law took effect in 1844, when the Provisional Government of Oregon voted to exclude black settlers from Oregon's borders. The law authorized a punishment for any black settler remaining in the territory to be whipped with "not less than twenty nor more than thirty-nine stripes" for every six months they remained.[1] Additional laws aimed at African Americans entering Oregon were ratified in 1849 and 1857.[2] The last of these laws was repealed in 1926.[3] The laws, born of pro-slavery and anti-black beliefs,[2][4] were often justified as a reaction to fears of black people instigating Native American uprisings.[5]

  1. ^ Brown, J. Henry (1892). Brown's Political History of Oregon: Provisional Government. Portland: Wiley B. Allen. LCCN rc01000356. OCLC 422191413. Pages 132–135.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference McClintock was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Davis was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Brooks was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Taylor was invoked but never defined (see the help page).