Residence & Residency Quotes
Statement made during televised debate with Walter Mondale, October 21, 1984 (see citation).
Ever since the Civil War, there has been an imbalance between the areas of the country with large unemployed populations and those areas where jobs were available. Even in 1870, the authorities were trying to get the unemployed to relocate but this was a hard thing to do at the time—physically, economically, and psychologically. It was not until the 2nd World War when huge numbers of Blacks migrated from areas of poor economic prospects in the South to areas of opportunity in the North. Also, note the classic welfare dilemma expressed whereby if humanitarian assistance is provided, people will not be desperate enough to move to areas with better opportunities.
The law went even further by requiring anyone employing a Black to have seen their certificate of freedom. This law in effect made slave escape to Ohio legally very difficult.
This was the Illinois solution to the problem caused by the Fugitive Slave Act. Pennsylvania and other States had experienced pitched battles over slave owners or their agents trying to forcibly remove blacks. Illinois could claim to the slave catchers that there were no runaway slaves in the State as a result of their law. As anti Black as the second part seems to indicate, there was a catch. The Blacks could enter Illinois and stay for 10 days—enough time to rest and obtain nourishment and then be on their way to Canada. It turned out that the law offended everyone as often happens when compromise is attempted on fundamental principles like slavery and racism.
