Slavery at the Second Fort Crawford

Slavery at the Second Fort Crawford. . , Between 1829 and 1856, offices stationed at the second Fort Crawford illegally held about 200 enslaved men and women. Of this number, two Black women, Rachel and Courtney, successfully gained their freedom., Fort Crawford was one of seven US military posts located in the upper portion of the Northwest Territory. The Northwest Ordinance forbade slavery and involuntary servitude in 1787, but some army officers ignored this ban, using an allowance from the federal government to employ their human property as their servants., Lt. Thomas Stockton purchased Rachel in St. Louis and took her to Fort Crawford. When he resigned from the army, Stockton sold her and her son James Henry to William Walker in St. Louis., Courtney was born enslaved in Virginia. Capt. John Spotswood Garland forced Courtney to the Northwest Territory., After being transferred, Garland sold Courtney and her son Joseph to Alexis Bailly. Years later, Bailly sold Courtney and her younger son, William, to Samuel Rayburn in St. Louis., In October 1834, Rachel filed a freedom suit for herself and her son James Henry, stating they were free having lived in "free territory." In October 1835, Courtney filed a freedom suit for herself and her son William. Rachel, Courtney, and their sons gained their freedom in July 1836. Courtney returned to Prairie du Chien as a free woman but the fate of Rachel remains unknown., Dred and Harriet Scott cited Rachel v. Walker as precedent when they filed their ultimately unsuccessful suits for freedom in 1846. That ruling invalidated the Missouri Compromise -- which had made slavery illegal in some territories -- fueling the growing conflict that led to the Civil War.