Abolition

Title: Minnesota State Constitution
Type: Document
Date: 1858
Source: Minnesota State Constitution

Description: The Minnesota State Constitution forbids slavery.
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Activities:

1. In what cases were Minnesotans allowed to be forced into involuntary servitude?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: Minnesotans could only be slaves if they had been convicted of acrime and slavery was the punishment.
2. Do you think all slaves who came to Minnesota with their masters were immediately freed?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: No. Many slaves who came to this state remained slaves while in Minnesota and returned to the South with their masters.
3. Why might a slave choose to stay with a master as a paid servant, even if they had their freedom?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: Being free didn't mean that a former slave had a place to live and food to eat. Some freed slaves may have felt they had nowhere to go, so they chose to stay with the life they already knew.
4. Why might Minnesotans not have fought to free every slave that came to Minnesota with a master?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: Southerners spent a lot of money on vacation in Minnesota, and merchants didn't want to drive away their business by freeing their customers' slaves.