Indentured Servants and Laborers
Lawmakers in the Indiana Territory adopted the province's first black law in 1803. They drafted the statute to assure slave holders that they would not loose their slaves when entered Indiana. The slavery prohibition in the Northwest Ordinance had intimidated slave holders, who feared that Article 6 in the Ordinance would automatically free their "chattels" the moment they entered Indiana. Legislators in the Territory recognized the validity of Article 6, although they did not consider it good law. To circumvent the clause, they introduced the practice of indentured servitude. Indiana law compelled in-coming slaves to complete labor contracts, which required them to work for their masters. The law also granted slave holders coercive powers over blacks, giving them license to use the lash when exacting labor or administering punishment. Lawmakers in the territory made only token gestures of civility to African. Americans brought in the province. For example, the law required the whites to provide the blacks with adequate food, shelter, and clothing. These necessities were hardly any better than what blacks had received before, while living in a state of de jure slavery. Indiana, therefore, came as close to recognizing slavery as possible under the laws of the Northwest Ordinance which prohibited slavery.
Indiana Territory. A Law concerning Servants. [This law also applied to Illinois, a part of the Indiana Territory.] Approved September 22, 1803, Laws of the Indiana Territory.