Polly Strong

Polly Strong (–unknown) was an enslaved woman in the Northwest Territory, in present-day Indiana. She was born after the Northwest Ordinance prohibited slavery. Slavery was prohibited by the Constitution of Indiana in 1816. Two years later, Strong's mother Jenny and attorney Moses Tabbs asked for a writ of habeas corpus for Polly and her brother James in 1818. Judge Thomas H. Blake produced indentures, Polly for 12 more years and James for four more years of servitude. The case was dismissed in 1819.

In 1819, attorneys John W. Osborn and Amory Kinney, sought to test the legality of slave arrangements made prior to 1816. They sued for Strong's freedom at the Knox County Circuit Court in Polly v. Lasselle in 1820, but the court ruled that she was to remain enslaved. The case was appealed to the Indiana Supreme Court in State v. Lasselle. Based upon the 1816 Constitution of Indiana, the justices ruled that "slavery can have no existence" in Indiana. Strong was freed. Other enslaved people were not automatically freed, but there was a precedent that others could use in the courts. In 1821, the Mary Clark v. G.W. Johnston case was tried in the Indiana Supreme Court, which ruled that indentured servitude was no longer legal in Indiana. The number of enslaved people reduced over the next couple of decades. There were three slaves in the state in both the 1830 and 1840 censuses.

Background

By 1746, African and Native American enslaved people were owned by Catholic priests and French traders, and the practice continued during the period when Great Britain controlled the area that is Indiana. The frontier north and west of the Ohio River became the Northwest Territory in 1787. Article VI of the Northwest Ordinance prohibited slavery and involuntary servitude. Many slaveholders took this to mean that the ordinance excluded people who already owned slaves.

Slavery and involuntary servitude were prohibited by the 1816 Indiana Constitution. Strong had been purchased before the Northwest Territory had been established, and if she could be freed then a precedent would be set whereby all other slaves in the state could also be set free.

The ruling was made on July 22, 1820, Strong was free, but the decision did not free other enslaved people. However, it made the Indiana Constitution the authority for decisions regarding slavery and involuntary servitude in Indiana courts.

The 1820 US census revealed that there were 190 slaves in Indiana and 1,200 free blacks. The number of slaves dropped off dramatically and there were only three slaves in the state in both the 1830 and 1840 censuses.

In 1821, Kinney filed a suit to free an indentured servant, Mary Bateman Clark. As with Strong's case, Clark lost in the Circuit Court, but appealed the decision with the Indiana Supreme Court, where they won. This was a landmark case for indentured servants and foretold the end of bondservants in Indiana.

Later life On March 2, 1822, Joseph Huffman sued Strong to collect money that he lent her. Strong was arrested, and bail was set and paid six days later. Strong denied the charges, but the jury found in favor of Huffman and awarded him $35 in damages.