History of slavery in Missouri

The history of slavery in Missouri began in 1720, predating statehood, with the large-scale slavery in the region, when French merchant Philippe François Renault forced about 500 enslavd people of African descent from Saint-Domingue up the Mississippi River to work in lead mines in what is now southeastern Missouri and southern Illinois. These were the first enslaved Africans brought in masses to the middle Mississippi River Valley.

Source: Wikipedia — History of slavery in Missouri (CC BY-SA 4.0)