History of slavery in Utah facts for kids
The history of Slavery in what is now Utah is complex. Before Mormon pioneers arrived, the area was part of Spanish and Mexican territory. During this time, Mexican, Ute, and Navajo slave traders often raided Paiute tribes for slaves.
When Mormon pioneers came to Utah, they brought African slavery with them. They also created a local market for Indian slavery. After the Mexican–American War, Utah became part of the United States. Slavery was officially made legal in Utah Territory on February 4, 1852, with a law called the Act in Relation to Service. However, this law was later canceled. On June 19, 1862, the U.S. Congress banned slavery in all U.S. territories.
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Indian Slavery in Utah
From 1824 to 1848, Utah was part of a Mexican province called Alta California. Mexican traders often traveled the Old Spanish Trail, which passed through modern-day Utah. They bought Native American slaves to sell in places like Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico.
Mexicans, Utes, and Navajos would raid Paiute and sometimes Ute villages to capture people for slavery. Even though slavery was made illegal in Santa Fe de Nuevo México in 1812 and in Alta California in 1824, it continued because the laws were not strictly enforced, and there was a lot of money to be made. Boys could be sold for about $100, and girls for $150 to $200. Girls often sold for more because they were known for being good house servants. Mexican laws also allowed for a system called peonage, where people could be forced to work to pay off debts.
Mormon Settlers and Native American Slavery
Soon after Mormon pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, they began to expand into Native American lands. This often led to conflicts. After moving into the Utah Valley, Brigham Young ordered actions against the Timpanogos people. This led to the Battle at Fort Utah, where many Timpanogos women and children were taken into slavery. Some managed to escape, but many others died while enslaved.
In the winter of 1849-1850, after expanding into Parowan, Mormons attacked a group of Native Americans. About 25 men were killed, and the women and children were taken as slaves. News of these events reached the U.S. Government. In September 1850, Edward Cooper was appointed as an Indian Agent and made ending Native American slavery one of his first goals.
Mormons Join the Slave Trade
With encouragement from their leaders, Mormon pioneers began to take part in the Native American slave trade. In 1851, Apostle George A. Smith gave Chief Peteetneet and Walkara special papers. These papers said that Smith wanted them "to be treated as friends." They also stated that since the chiefs wanted to trade horses, buckskins, and Piede children, Smith wished them "success and prosperity and good bargain." In May 1851, Brigham Young met with settlers in the Parowan area. He encouraged them to "buy up the Lamanite children as fast as they could."
However, the Mormons strongly opposed the slave trade run by New Mexicans. In November 1851, a New Mexican slave trader named Don Pedro León Luján asked Brigham Young, who was now the governor of Utah, for a license to trade with Native Americans, including slaves. Young refused to give Luján a license for any trade with Native Americans.
On his way back to New Mexico, Luján's group was attacked by Ute Native Americans, who stole his horses. Luján then kidnapped some Ute children to sell in New Mexico. He and his group were caught in Manti. They were charged with breaking the Nonintercourse Act, which banned trading with Native Americans without a valid license. Luján's property was taken, and the children were sold into slavery to families in Manti. Luján argued that it was unfair to stop him from having slaves while Mormon families were allowed to have them.
Legalizing Indian Slavery
A month after making slavery legal with the Act in Relation to Service, Utah passed another law called the Act for the relief of Indian Slaves and Prisoners. This law officially made Native American slavery legal in Utah. The bill included some protections for the enslaved Native Americans. It required masters to educate and clothe them. It also set a limit of twenty years for their service, which was longer than New Mexico's ten-year limit.
Mormons continued to take children from Native American families long after other slave traders left. They even started asking Paiute parents for their children. They also began selling Native American slaves to each other. By 1853, nearly every household in Parowan had one or more Paiute children. These enslaved Native Americans were used for both domestic (housework) and manual labor (physical work).
In 1857, a politician named Justin Smith Morrill estimated that there were 400 Native American slaves in Utah. Historian Richard Kitchen has found records of at least 400 Native American slaves taken into Mormon homes. He believes even more went unrecorded because many died young. Many enslaved Native Americans tried to escape. Historians Sarah Barringer Gordon and Kevin Waite found that more than half of these Native American children died by their early twenties. Those who survived and were freed often found themselves without a community. They were not fully accepted by their original tribes or by the white communities where they grew up.
African Slavery in Utah
In 1847, Mormon pioneers arrived in Utah with African slaves. This was the first time African slavery was present in the area. Three Black individuals who came with Brigham Young's group were slaves. The Mormons arrived during the Mexican–American War and did not follow Mexico's ban on slavery. Instead, slavery was accepted based on local customs.
Many Christians at the time, including early Mormon leaders, believed in the Curse of Cain and Curse of Ham. These beliefs were used to justify slavery. Early Mormon leaders taught that God had decided that Black people should be "servants of servants." They believed that governments could not change God's decree. While three slaves arrived with the first group of pioneers, more came in later groups.
Slavery Becomes Legal
After Utah territory came under American rule following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, the question of slavery in new territories became a big issue. The Whigs wanted to keep Mexico's ban on slavery, while the Democrats wanted to allow it. During these discussions, a Utah lobbyist named John Milton Bernhisel did not tell members of Congress about slavery in Utah. With the Compromise of 1850, Utah was given the right to decide for itself whether to allow slavery.
By 1850, there were about 100 Black people in Utah, most of whom were slaves. It is hard to know the exact numbers because Utah continued to hide slaves. The 1850 census of Utah territory was taken without the approval of Territorial Secretary Broughton Harris. He complained that the census was done without him and had many errors. The census only reported 26 slaves. It also claimed that all of them were heading to California, making it seem like there would be no slaves left in Utah. It did not include any of the slaves held in Bountiful, Utah.
In January 1852, Brigham Young, who was then the Territorial Governor of Utah, spoke to the Legislature. He supported making slavery legal. On February 4, 1852, Utah passed the Act in Relation to Service, which officially legalized slavery in Utah territory.
Like in other slave states, enslaved people in Utah tried to escape. They were also sold or given away, and they wanted their freedom. Their treatment was often similar to that of slaves in other states. However, Utah's slavery laws had some unique features. An enslaved person could be freed if they were abused. Masters were also required to clothe, educate, and punish their slaves.
When the Civil War began, some slave owners in Utah may have returned to the Southern states. They might have thought they would be more likely to keep their slaves there. On June 19, 1862, the U.S. Congress officially banned slavery in all U.S. territories.
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