The Frontier Against Slavery by Eugene Berwanger traces the 19th century struggle to prevent the extension of slavery in the areas Northwest of the Ohio, California, the Plains states, and the Pacific Northwest. History has documented the moral and economic issues behind the question of slavery and its extension. Berwanger goes further and provides evidence that the resolution of the "Negro Question" was fraught with deep racial hatred as well. The prospect of residing in close proximity to free blacks, who whites assumed would flock to their states to associate with black slaves, was a determining factor in the decision by nonslave states to reject the extension of slavery.
Supporters of slavery were extremely proactive in getting state legislators to send petitions to Congress on the matter in the area Northwest of the Ohio between 1787-1824. The main impetus for their zeal was economic. Many were land speculators who noted the reluctance of slaveholders to move to Ohio as long as the slavery issue was unresolved: "Proslavery arguments stressed that slavery would relieve economic distress and increase the price of land" (16). Most of the new residents who settled in the region were nonslaveholders, but held little political influence. So committed were legislators to the passage of laws that would guarantee slavery, and thus lure slaveholders into the area, that the antislavery faction concentrated on sending counter-petitions to Congress rather than waste time on futile attempts to dissuade local politicians. Congress sided with the antislavery faction on the issue, which led the proslavery group to suggest alternatives aimed at the adoption of some form of limited forced labor.
Just as the Old Northwest was restricted legally by the dictates of Congress on the issue of slavery, the region was also limited regarding the degree of anti-black legislation it could pass. Legislators in the Old Northwest feared that bla...