Racial Tension in Omaha, Nebraska - 19th Century

19th Century

The Nebraska Territory was created in 1854 with the condition that the area stay slave-free. But, from 1855 on, there was debate in the Territorial Legislature about whether slavery should specifically be prohibited. As there were few slaves in the state, some legislators did not think the bill was needed. In 1859, the Daily Nebraskian newspaper reported its favoring of slavery, writing,

The bill introduced in Council, for the abolition of slavery in this Territory, was called up yesterday, and its further consideration postponed for two weeks. A strong effort will be made among the Republicans to secure its passage; we think, however, it will fail. The farce certainly cannot be enacted if the Democrats do their duty.

During that period, some local newspapers openly editorialized against the presence of blacks in Omaha, for the Confederacy and against the election of Abraham Lincoln. The 1860 census showed that of the 81 Negroes in Nebraska, only 10 were slaves.

Because a clause in the original proposed Nebraska State Constitution limited voting rights in the state to "free white males", as had been common in many states, Nebraska was delayed about a year from entering the Union. In 1865, the Nebraska Territorial Legislature changed the proposed State Constitution to provide expanded suffrage. The territory gained statehood soon after.

After the Civil War, enough blacks lived in Omaha to organize St. John's African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1867 as the first church for African Americans in Nebraska. The first recorded birth of an African American was that of William Leper, recorded in Omaha in 1872. In 1891 a mob lynched George Smith, an African American man, for allegedly raping a "white" woman. No one was charged in his murder.