Though Oregon was established as a free territory, it was the only state in the Union at the beginning of the Civil War to have laws excluding African Americans from moving there. Settled largely by migrant Missouri farmers in the 1830s and early 1840s, the white settlers mostly opposed slavery. However, they also feared economic competition, and violent conflict between an African American settler and a Native American made them fear that Black settlers would incite a war with the Native American population. The Oregon territorial legislature banned free Blacks from settling in the territory in 1844 and forced those few slaveholders in the territory to move within three years. The law was never enforced, however, and was repealed quickly.