Black people have been a part of the Wisconsin story since the beginning, and groups gathered this week to celebrate that story in preparation for Madison’s annual Juneteenth celebration on Saturday.
Free man and slave, farmer, trapper and grocer, African-Americans helped build the state, historians on Tuesday told an audience of “The Roots of Juneteenth in Wisconsin.”
The program was a joint effort of the Madison Juneteenth Committee in partnership with the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters.
…But the 1848 constitution that made Wisconsin a state gave people of color the right to vote, Benson said.
Blacks in Wisconsin could also testify or seek redress in court, own land, go to school, serve on a jury and marry whoever they chose under the law, as opposed to neighboring states with their “black codes,” he said (more…)
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