In reality it was far too common in Oregon, a state that was explicitly founded as a kind of white utopia. America’s history of racial discrimination is most commonly taught as a southern issue. That’s certainly how I learned about it while going to Minnesota public schools in the 1980s and 90s.
Full Answer
Was Oregon a white state until 1926?
Racial History: Oregon Was Whites-only Until 1926. In 1857, Oregon citizens voted to reject the institution of slavery within the state but not allow free blacks in the state. In 1857, approximately 10,000 residents of Oregon had the task of voting for their new state constitution, and they were asked three questions.
Is there a history of white supremacy in Oregon?
White supremacy has made recent local news, between Jeremy Christian’s murder trial in Portland, and the presence of white nationalist groups in rallies across the state. A special edition of the Oregon Historical Quarterly is out now, that reminds residents that the problem is actually rooted deep in state history.
Were Oregonians opposed to slavery?
It wasn't so much that they were opposed to slavery, as they didn't like blacks." Walidah Imarisha, a professor in the black studies department at Portland State University, travels around Oregon facilitating programs on Oregon's racial history.
Why didn't early settlers in Oregon want black people?
David F. Walker, a writer and adjunct professor at Portland State University explains to us by email, "It was pretty simple, early settlers in Oregon didn't want black people here. It wasn't so much that they were opposed to slavery, as they didn't like blacks."
Why did they come to Oregon?
Why did they come, these people from the East and the Midwest? What prompted such great numbers of people to travel nearly two thousand miles to find new homes? The interest in the Oregon Country was a result of the convergence of events and circumstances that gathered momentum in the aftermath of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and especially the War of 1812. In 1818, Great Britain and the United States settled agreed to the 49 th Parallel as the northern boundary of the Oregon Country, but both nations’ interest in Oregon prompted negotiators to establish a Joint Occupancy of the region. In essence, the treaty symbolized the contest between an ambitious and expanding American nation and a diminishing European presence in North America.
What were the reasons for the Oregon fever?
He was inclined toward a more conventional list of motives: the lingering effects of the Panic of 1837; several years of flooding in Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois; the lure of free land; the promise of economic betterment; the quest for adventure and excitement; and the promise of physical health. Chronic sickness and disease in the Mississippi Valley, Bowen concludes, rank ahead of economic considerations and all other factors as motives for people moving to Oregon. Other scholars, including historian Carlos Schwantes, argue that agrarian societies equate wealth with landholding and that hard-pressed midwestern farmers found the promise of abundant and fertile land a sufficient attraction to undertake the arduous two-thousand-mile journey to the Willamette Valley.
How did missionaries help the Northwest?
Missionaries greatly aided in disseminating information about the Northwest, especially in their favorable descriptions of the agricultural potential of places such as the Willamette Valley. Published in religious journals, missionary reports praised the prospects of a promised land and offered visions of a limitless future. From the vantage of the Waiilatpu mission in the Walla Walla Valley in present-day southeastern Washington, Marcus Whitman praised the region’s fertile soil, its “mild equable climate,” and its superior “advantages for Manufactories and Commerce.” Although Protestant mission organizations commissioned the Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, Henry and Eliza Spalding, and Jason and Daniel Lees to convert Indians to Christianity, their greatest efforts were directed toward urging white settlement of the region. As John McLoughlin wrote in 1847, “It always seemed that the great influx of American missionaries and the statements of the Country these missionaries sent to their friends circulated through the United States in the public papers were the remote cause” of white settlement.
Where did the North West Company establish farmsteads?
To the south, along the Willamette River in French Prairie, former employees of the North West Company and HBC, including sizable numbers of French Canadians, were establishing rudimentary farmsteads and raising a few livestock. At Fort Vancouver, McLoughlin reported in a lengthy letter to HBC officials in November 1834, Boston merchant Nathaniel Wyeth had arrived, in addition to Methodist missionaries Jason and Daniel Lee and naturalists John Kirk Townsend and Thomas Nuttall.
Why was Oregon sent north?
troops were withdrawn and sent east. Volunteer cavalry and infantry were recruited in California and sent north to Oregon to keep peace and protect the populace.
What is Oregon Territory?
Oregon Country, a large region explored by Americans and the British (and generally known to Canadians as the Columbia District ); Oregon Territory, established by the United States two years after its sovereignty over the region was established by the Oregon Treaty; and. Oregon, a U.S. state since 1859.
What caused the 1700 Cascadia earthquake?
The 1700 Cascadia earthquake resulted from a rupture at the Cascadia subduction zone along the coast of the Pacific Northwest. The earthquake caused a tsunami that was destructive in Japan; it may also be linked to the Bonneville Slide, in which a large part of Washington 's Table Mountain collapsed into the Columbia River Gorge, damming the river and forming the Bridge of the Gods, a land bridge remembered in the oral history of local Native Americans.
How did the railroads affect Oregon?
This included the connection of the state to the Eastern United States via links to the transcontinental railroads that allowed for faster movement of goods and people. Immigration to Oregon increased after the connection to the east. Additional transportation improvements included the construction of several locks and canals to ease river navigation.
What are the states of Oregon?
The term "Oregon" may refer to: 1 Oregon Country, a large region explored by Americans and the British (and generally known to Canadians as the Columbia District ); 2 Oregon Territory, established by the United States two years after its sovereignty over the region was established by the Oregon Treaty; and 3 Oregon, a U.S. state since 1859
What are the five eras of Oregon?
state, may be considered in five eras: geologic history, inhabitation by native peoples, early exploration by Europeans (primarily fur traders ), settlement by pioneers, and modern development.
Why did the settlement increase in the 1850s?
Settlement increased because of the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850, in conjunction with the forced relocation of the native population to Indian reservations. The state was admitted to the Union on February 14, 1859.
The Settlement of the Willamette Valley in Global Context, 1800–1870
During the nineteenth century, historians and Oregon Trail pioneers crafted a popular story of Oregon’s founding that emphasized the exploits and accomplishments of Anglo-American settlers.
Experience Oregon Series
Please join us for free public lectures and discussions that dive deeper into significant themes from the vast history introduced in Experience Oregon. Through these talks, academic and community scholars will offer audiences new ways of understanding the people, places, and events that have shaped Oregon.
Overview
The history of Oregon, a U.S. state, may be considered in five eras: geologic history, inhabitation by native peoples, early exploration by Europeans (primarily fur traders), settlement by pioneers, and modern development.
The term "Oregon" may refer to:
• Oregon Country, a large region explored by Americans and the British (and ge…
Geology
Volcanic activity in the region has been traced to 40 million years ago, in the Eocene era, forming much of the region's landscape. In the Pleistocene era (the last ice age, two million to 700,000 years ago), the Columbia River broke through Cascade Range, forming the Columbia River Gorge.
The Columbia River and its drainage basin experienced some of the world's gre…
Native people
Although there is considerable evidence that Paleo-Indians lived in the Pacific Northwest 15,000 years ago, the first record of human activity within the boundaries of present-day Oregon came from archaeologist Luther Cressman's 1938 discovery of sage bark sandals near Fort Rock Cave that places human habitation in Oregon as early as 13,200 years ago. Cressman found more evid…
Early European exploration
The perception of Oregon by early European explorers and settlers varied according to the purpose and method of exploration. Official explorers came, at first, primarily by sea, in many cases seeking the Northwest Passage, and later over land, but missed many areas of the state now known as Oregon. Fur traders and trappers, initially from the Hudson's Bay Company, explored the lan…
Oregon boundary dispute
Great Britain and the U.S. both claimed ownership of Oregon, ignoring any claims by indigenous peoples to their territories. The dispute, friendly at first, escalated into the threat of war before it was resolved amicably in 1846 by splitting the region 50-50.
Following the Anglo American Treaty of 1818, the region was "jointly occupied" …
Settlement by pioneers
The Astor Expedition of 1810–1812, financed by American businessman John Jacob Astor, brought fur traders to the future site of Astoria by both land and sea. Fort Astoria was the first permanent white settlement in the region. Although the fort would remain under American control for only a short time, it would become a component of the United States' later claim on the region. A party returning east discovered the South Pass through the Rocky Mountains, which would bec…
Oregon in the Civil War
At the outbreak of the American Civil War, regular U.S. troops were withdrawn and sent east. Volunteer cavalry and infantry were recruited in California and sent north to Oregon to keep peace and protect the populace. Oregon also raised the 1st Oregon Cavalry that was activated in 1862 and served until June 1865. During the Civil War, immigrants continued to clash with the Paiute, Shoshone and Bannock tribes in Oregon, Idaho and Nevada until relations degenerated into the b…
Railroads and growth
In the 1880s, the proliferation of railroads assisted in marketing of the state's lumber and wheat, as well as the more rapid growth of its cities. This included the connection of the state to the Eastern United States via links to the transcontinental railroads that allowed for faster movement of goods and people. Immigration to Oregon increased after the connection to the east. Additional transportation improvements included the construction of several locks and canals to ease river …