A timeline of the events that shaped Nance's case, and slavery in the territory of Illinois.

  • 1800: Indiana Territory, including Illinois, created by Congress; Gabriel's slave revolt near Richmond, Virginia, spread fear and harsh slave-treatment laws.
  • 1803: Governor William Harrison passed "indentured servitude" (de facto slavery) law, eventually making Illinois and Indiana the only two states to permit indentured servitude in the 19th century.
  • 1809: Illinois Territory created by Congress; indentured servitude continued; Lincoln born in Kentucky.
  • 1813: Nance born to slaves Randol and Anachy Legins in a large guesthouse that also hosts the Illinois territorial government. She was the property of Captain Thomas Cox.
  • 1815: Nance's sister, Dice, born. 
  • 1817: General Assembly bill to abolish indentured servitude vetoed by Governor Ninian Edwards.
  • 1818: Illinois statehood initiated congressional debate over the number of slave versus free states; settled with Missouri compromise of 1820.
  • 1822: Illinois' first abolitionist governor, Edward Coles, elected; (now Colonel) Thomas Cox chaired committee to make slavery permanently legal. News of Denmark Vesey slave revolt reached Illinois.
  • 1825: Illinois State Bank failed; Cox, now a drunk, bankrupt, under crushing debt and suspicion of mismanaging state office funds, mortgaged Nance and her sister Dice.
  • 1827: Nance and her sister, along with other items owned by Cox, are auctioned to Cromwell to help repay Cox's debts.
  • 1827: Nance's auction upheld as legal by the Illinois Supreme Court in Nance, a Woman of Color v. John Howard.
  • 1828: The case is tried again as Nance, a girl of Color v. Howard. Nance loses again, re-establishing indentured servitude as legal.
  • 1831: Nat Turner slave revolt occured in Richmond. 
  • 1833: England abolished slavery. 
  • 1836: Nance, now pregnant, was sold to Bailey, an abolitionist; Nance re-asserted her freedom.
  • 1837: Anti-abolition riots occured throughout Illinois.
  • 1839: Nance's previous owners challenged the sale to Bailey in court. Bailey lost and Nance is once again property of the Cromwell family.
  • 1840: Nance married Benjamin Costley; Lincoln agreed to take her case.
  • 1841: Lincoln wins Bailey v. Cromwell, effectively freeing Nance. 
  • 1845: Illinois Supreme Court outlawed all forms of slavery in the state.
  • 1848: Illinois legislature made all slavery unconstitutional. 
  • 1865: Lincoln signed the Thirteenth Amendment.