An estimated 6,000-10,000 enslaved people passed through Illinois between 1820 and 1861, using the Mississippi, Ohio and Illinois rivers as their guides. Though Illinois was a free state, it wasn’t considered as safe as others, and most freedom seekers continued on to Canada or Detroit.
Technically no one is indigenous to North America as everyone who came here pre-columbian did so by walking a frozen land bridge, or now, as increasingly accepted, by raft or boat.
A largely unasked question is becoming glaring: Is Illinois doing all it should to use artificial intelligence to make government cost less and work better? So far, the evidence says no.
“indigenous peoples”
Technically no one is indigenous to North America as everyone who came here pre-columbian did so by walking a frozen land bridge, or now, as increasingly accepted, by raft or boat.