procured work for him as a rough carpenter. By dint of perseverance and
industry this Negro within a few years became a master workman,
employing at times six or eight men, but he never received a single job
of work from a native-born citizen from a free State.[21]

The hardships of the Negroes of this city, however, had just begun. The
growth of a prejudiced public opinion led not only to legal proscription
and social ostracism but also to open persecution. With the cries of the
Southerners for the return of fugitives and the request of white
immigrants for the exclusion of Negroes from that section, came the
demand to solve the problem by enforcing the "Black Laws." Among certain
indulgent officials these enactments had been allowed to fall into
desuetude. These very demands, however, brought forward friends as well
as enemies of the colored people. Their first clash was testing the
constitutionality of the law of 1807. When the question came up before
the Supreme Court, this measure was upheld.[22] Encouraged by such
support, the foes of the Negroes forced an execution of the law. The
courts at first hesitated but finally took the position that the will of
the people should be obeyed. The Negroes asked for ninety days to comply
with the law and were given sixty. When the allotted time had expired,
however, many of them had not given bonds as required. The only thing to
do then was to force them to leave the city. The officials again
hesitated but a mob quickly formed to relieve them of the work. This was
the riot of 1829. Bands of ruffians held sway in the city for three
days, as the police were unable or unwilling to restore order. Negroes
were insulted on the streets, attacked in their homes, and even killed.
About a thousand or twelve hundred of them found it advisable to leave
for Canada West where they established the settlement known as
Wilberforce.[23]