transcript of those of the more
southern states, where the great number of slaves makes it necessary for
the safety of the whites, that the laws for their government, and
concerning free blacks, should be very strict.--But, there being no such
motive here, the necessity of such laws ceases, and consequently their
injustice and cruelty are the more apparent. The latter are found every
day more and more defective and inefficient; and kidnapping has now become
a regular trade, which is carried on to a vast extent to the country
bordering on the lower Mississippi, up the Red River, and to the West
Indies. To put an immediate and effectual stop to this nefarious traffic,
is the imperious duty of the Legislature."(522)

The house of representatives referred the governor's remarks concerning
kidnapping to a select committee. A bill was reported, but after being
weakened by amendments it was tabled.(523) In his message in 1826 the
governor renewed his recommendations,(524) and a section of the criminal
code of January, 1827, provided that kidnapping should be punishable by
confinement in the penitentiary for not less than one nor more than seven
years.(525) An act of January, 1825, provided that anyone who had failed
to give the bond required by the black code of 1819 from those who
emancipated slaves, should be released from any verdict or judgment
arising from such failure, upon indemnifying the county for any money
expended for the relief of the freedmen.(526) By an act of 1829 relating
to slaves, whites were not to marry blacks, slaves were not to come to the
state in order to be free, and runaway slaves should be advertised in the
newspapers of the state.(527) The number of slaves in Illinois decreased
after 1820. In 1820 there were 917 slaves in the state; in 1830, 747; in
1840, 331,(528) and before the next census slavery in the state was
abolished.

The vote of 1824 against calling a constitutional convention marked the
end of the slavery question as an obstacle to the immigration of an
anti-slavery population. Slaveholders, never a large proportion of the
immigrants, practically ceased to come to the state, while the immigration
of anti-slavery southerners continued, and the aggregate immigration
greatly increased. The population of the state was 55,162 in 1820; 72,817,
in 1825; and 157,445 in 1830. Missouri, more populous than Illinois by
more than 11,000 in 1820, was less so by 17,000 in 1830.(529) Governor
Coles,