Slavery

Percentage of slaves among residents of each county in Arkansas. Source: "A Map Showing the Distribution of the Slave Population of the Southern States of the United States, Compiled from the Census of 1860" (United States Coast Survey, 1861).

Slavery was outlawed in Arkansas under the thirteenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution at the conclusion of the Civil War. In the last census of slaves taken in 1860, Arkansas held in bondage 117,104 men, women, and children, 25.5 percent of the total population of the state. In Central Arkansas in that year, 30 percent of Pulaski County residents were slaves, 12.3 percent of Saline County residents were slaves, 12.3 percent of Perry County residents were slaves, and 12.0 percent of Conway County residents were slaves. Faulkner and Lonoke counties had not yet been formed in 1860.