Legacies
"George Washington, President of the United States, and, as such approved and signed the bill;thus completing its validity as a law and thus showing that, in his understanding, no line dividing local from federal authority nor anything in the Constitution, forbade the Federal Government, to control as to slavery in federal territory."
Abraham Lincoln
Cooper Union Speech, New York City
Abraham Lincoln is elected President of the United States and S.C. secedes. On April 12th, 1861, the first shot of the Civil War was fired upon Ft. Sumter, Charleston, S.C.
"The Cooper Union Address delivered in New York City on February 27, 1860, propelled Abraham Lincoln to the 1860 Republican Nomination."
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"Lincoln's speech can be divided into three parts. In the first, he showed that twenty-one of the thirty-nine signers of the Constitution were on record that the Federal Government could prohibit slavery in the national territories. In the second, Lincoln explained to the South that Republicans were no threat to slavery where it already existed. Finally, Lincoln spoke to the North. They must fearlessly persist in excluding slavery from the national territories, and therefore, confine it to the states where it already existed."
Map of Indiana
Established under the Public Land Survey System.
As part of the Northwest Ordinance Indiana's townships, counties, and survey system was created that still exist today.
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"The plat of Indianapolis would be like no other in the new “western” lands. The General Assembly hired Alexander Ralston, who assisted Pierre L’Enfant in designing the nation's capital, to plan the new town. Ralston’s 1821 plan, which was a mile square, reflects the heritage of L’Enfant’s Washington, DC, with its central circle, radiating streets, and zoned usage of building sites for the Statehouse, a county courthouse, a city market, and other civic buildings." Later, due to the design Indianapolis becomes known as the Circle City an the Crossroads of America.
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Muncie, Indiana is considered “as representative as possible of contemporary American life”.
Middletown Studies
Historical Hendricks County Map
that displays the county seat, Danville as well as the townships and survey lines.
Quaker yearly meeting house, Plainfield, Indiana - Guilford Township.
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Many of the settlers were from Guilford County, North Carolina hence the choice for the township name. These settlers were Quakers who wanted more freedoms.
Quakers
Quaker families migrated to Indiana and established meeting houses and communities that still exist today. Indiana has one of the largest Quaker populations in the United States.
National Road
The Great Road was began in 1806, and was completed to Wheeling 1821, reached in Columbus 1827, and Indianapolis in 1830. With the road complete, Friends of Virginia and middle states found traveling much easier than early days.
Levi Coffin
"When Quakers Levi and Catharine (White) Coffin moved to Fountain City in 1826, it was called Newport. The young married couple left their home in Guilford County, North Carolina vowing to devote their lives to helping slaves reach Canada where freedom was guaranteed. The 30 or so families who settled here ahead of them had come for the same reason."
Underground Railroad
Article VI of the Northwest Ordinance stated no slavery in the territories and later states but a fugitive slave would have to be returned to the owner and if not it was a criminal act. Indiana became a route over the Ohio River to Canada with help of individuals such as Levi Coffin.
He is considered by many as the President of the Underground Railroad and has been attributed to helping over 2,000 individuals through his home also known as the Grand Central
Station of the Underground Railroad.
