Well actually… A thread.
I’m sure you think I’m gonna mention Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, the Black fur trader who is known as the first non-indigenous resident of Chicago. But du Sable was not enslaved when he moved to the mouth of the Chicago river in 1790. So who TF was buying furs?
Well, remember all that was French territory. In 1719 French entrepreneur Philippe François Renault hopped in a boat in the South of France, stopped in Haiti to purchase 200-500 humans beings & headed to “Upper Louisiana” By 1760, 900 ppl were enslaved in “Illinois Country”
They worked primarily in the mines producing profit for France, which is why a FUR TRADER would move to the mouth of the Chicago river. Then there were the Salt mines. The salt mines were so profitable that when Illinois gained statehood the constitution had 3 exemptions
1. The Salt mines and the profits now belonged to the state 2. Illinois would be a free state 3. But it was ok to use slaves in the salt mines
One third of the entire state’s revenue came from the Gallatin salt mines How did private business owners make up for their lost salt revenue? A few started a new business - kidnapping FREE Black ppl & selling them to the salt mines The REVERSE Underground Railroad
They trafficked some further South. Pretty soon, the Black population of Illinois understood there was only one truly safe place in the state: Chicago By then enslavers had began hiring their human property out to build the railroads that made Chicago an national hub
The state had stacked so much slave salt money that they had to find something to spend it on. In 1836, they found something: The Illinois Central The largest railroad in the history of the world was a state funded train from the slave mines to Chicago
But getting to Chicago was a LONG ride. So in 1864, George Mortimer Pullman said: what if I had a nice hotel, but on a train? He didn’t just build a factory, he bought 4000 acres and built an entire TOWN. Fortunately, there were a lot of newly freed employees available
Formerly enslaved men don’t just work as Pullman porters, they helped build the Chicago neighborhood now known Pullman In fact, many of the ppl and events you know from the civil rights movement were Pullman Porters A Phillip Randolph, who planned the March on Washington
ED Nixon, who handpicked a wet-behind-the-ears preacher named Martin Luther King Jr to lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott was a Pullman So was Thurgood Marshall And they were headquartered in Chicago Now here’s the thing: If I say “George Pullman built his business empire”…
You understand that I don’t mean that he hand-placed the bricks on the corporate headquarters In the case of Chicago, the city was built largely through state funds that came from slave labor . The railroad tracks were literally hammered by slaves
Black people built the businesses and infrastructure that made the city bigger than older richer cities like Boston or Philly Black citizens were literally required to carry a “certificate of freedom” But they couldn’t vote
But I understand why @tedcruz is confused He thinks Trump built a wall He thinks he didn’t incite an insurrection And he also thinks that slaves didn’t build Chicago
@tedcruz If you want to know about America than @tedcruz, visit http://ContrabandCamp.com
@michaelharriot @ChicagosMayor @grok where the first slavery start? And truth or false but ottoman has a lot of slavery trade ?
@michaelharriot some black guy did not discover chicago in the 18th century. then you people want land acknowledgements LOL which is it. Was no one on the land ever before that? What a joke
@michaelharriot i can't beleive i replied to some guy that has BLACK AF history. can you say white lives matter? say white childrens lives matter Michael Harriot Writer, board-certified wypipologist, last real Negus alive. BlackAF History/Drapetomaniax podcast/theGrio…At the SAME DAMN TIME.
@michaelharriot 50-70 slaves in IL in 1840 LOL!! @tedcruz @ChicagosMayor @FlipChicagoRed https://x.com/Shoreidan/status...
@michaelharriot Imagine asking a gotcha question, this stupid, and then getting owned this badly…so the whole world can see
@michaelharriot The GREATEST “well actually” in the history of “well actually’s”
@michaelharriot This guy Ted is not that smart. He also picks so many fights and loses that you think he might get better at picking. But nope. Big L again.
@michaelharriot I was waiting on this one TBH
@michaelharriot @threadreaderapp unroll please
@michaelharriot Yeah the left doesn't like to admit that if it wasn't for the Europeans y'all be f*****, but who cares y'all can come up with all the b******* you want
@michaelharriot Admittedly fascinating and enlightening thread. So it seems some of the wealth in early Illinois came from the work of people in salt mines, some of whom were black slaves. Still wondering which slaves built Chicago though?
@michaelharriot @threadreaderapp Unroll
@michaelharriot @tedcruz well? Did you activate your one brain cell to read the thread?
@michaelharriot But they only want to focus on positive stuff and bury all the ugly history. Why are you bringing up all these pesky negative facts?
@michaelharriot @tedcruz you’re dumb and ya wife looks like a dog remember that
@michaelharriot There were literally no white peiple in America till 1930, blacks built and lived in America peacefully until then
@michaelharriot Thank you. Not new to knowledge, coming up on 82 damn years old, advanced degree, taught all over the world . . . and never heard this before. Appreciate it.
@michaelharriot That's like giving credit to the bulldozer for building a road.
@michaelharriot @mehdirhasan The one thing about Teddy is that he doesn’t let those pesky little facts get in the way of his oratory. He’s going to what he’s got to say true or false.
@michaelharriot That's a lot of words to agree with Teddy