this post was submitted on 19 Mar 2026
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Illinois was established by a free black man, and has never allowed slavery.
It's important to remember that all of America benefited economically from the slave trade.
Illinois had de facto slavery (indentured servitude) and initially, after the territory was acquired from the French, many slaves were kept in bondage based on prior treaties.
Chicago was built as a trading hub for shipping Southern cotton, sugar, and tobacco to Eastern markets and Europe. So while the value of labor was most apparently stolen in the south, middlemen in Chicago eventually got a cut of that stolen value.
Finally, Illinois farmers sold massive amounts of corn, pork, and beef to Southern plantations. Plantations in the South devoted essentially all of their agricultural capacity to cash crops so they needed to be fed by the Midwest to remain viable. This arrangement allowed the nation as a whole to maximize the export value it derived from slavery.
https://will.illinois.edu/news/story/illinois-issuesslave-state
That's a nice combination of splitting hairs and moving the goalposts. There's some truth in it. However, we know that's not what Mayor Johnson was trying to say. I despise Ted Cruz as much as any decent human should, but this ain't it chief.
TL;DR: America was built by slaves and Chicago got rich off them
Weird take. Seems like like you need Johnson for something..
I have no idea what that's supposed to mean. If you're accusing me of something, just say it instead of making vague insinuations.
Suuuuure you don't.