Arkansas and Indian Territories both joined the Confederacy and fought for the South during the Civil War. Slavery in Arkansas was abolished by President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. Indian Territory, however, was governed not by the United States; the Five Civilized Tribes had the right to self-govern and were not under the same federal legislations as Arkansas. Whereas Arkansas passed laws to free their slaves in 1863, most of the Native American Tribes clung to the institutions of slavery after that date.
Arkansas and Indian Territory: Important Dates
For a detailed timeline and record of African American history in Indian Territory and Arkansas click below to visit their individual pages: