Ramsey County History – Spring 1965: “A Fateful Decade—The Negroes in Minnesota and the Role They Played”

A Fateful Decade—The Negroes in Minnesota and the Role They Played
Author: Earl Spangler

The decade mentioned in the title was 1850–1860. Though African Americans in Minnesota (most of them living in Ramsey County) were few at this time, their presence brought the national issues of race and slavery to the area. The national debate affected the 1856 and 1860 Presidential elections in the state, the anti-slavery agitation of Jane Grey Swisshelm, and the drafting of the state constitution in 1858. “By 1858, each state was a microcosm of the nation and Minnesota was no different.”
PDF of Spangler article