tv [untitled] March 4, 2012 9:00pm-9:30pm EST
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welcome. good morning. i'm don kennen, a vice president of the united states capitol historical society. it's my pleasure to welcome you to today's lecture observing african american history month. we are pleased to be joined by the illinois state society of washington, d.c. and the knocks college alumni association of washington, d.c. and presenting today's lecture. i want to acknowledge and thank rob ross for his assistance in planning the event. rod -- there he is. thank you very much, rod. i want to invite everyone to attend our second african american month lecture at noon on wednesday, february 15 in room 121 of the canon house office building. you can find further information about this and other upcoming events at the back table or by going online to the society's
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website at uschs.org. later this year the u.s. capitol historical society celebrates its 50th anniversary. we are proud to have survived for five decades as a nonprofit and nonpartisan educational organization on capitol hill. our 50 years of existence pales in comparison of the history of nox college which celebrates its 175th anniversary. i'm pleased to introduce the president of nox college which whoo will introduce today's speaker. teresa is the 19th president and the first woman president in the history of the college.
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she came after a distinguished academic career at several institutions including buck nel, harvard, the university of massachusetts, gettiesburg and hobert and william smith colleges. [ applause ] >> thank you. thank you very much and thank you for that wonderful mention of the 175th anniversary. it is a great honor to join you today for this lecture by my wonderful colleague, owen muelder. i would like to thank the u.s. capitol historical society for the sponsorship of the event and also following in your foot steps thanking our alum rod ross, class of 1965. retired reference arcivest.
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of course, one never really retires from a devotion to the discovery and preservation of our nation's storied past. thank you, rod, for your service in this very important effort that the societies join you in carrying out. one of the many gifts -- let's thank them all. [ applause ] thank you. most fitting. one of the many gifts that a liberal gifts education gives graduates is a life long respect for the power of historical perspectives and the historical imagination and the inspiration that an examination of the record brings to the present and to the future. i want to thank you all for coming to be part of that important effort of discernment and inspiration. we are very proud of our
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abolitions beginnings. our founders imagined into being at a time when this was a heroic effort. a town distinguished by the presence of a college, a college that would be open to all students of talent and promise irrespective of means, race or color or creed. to this day we honor those commitments in many ways on our prairie campus including our lincoln study center home to rodney davis and two time lincoln prize winner douglas wilson. most recent work together the lincoln douglas debates has been hailed as the most complete record of those debates, instructive, perhaps, in this campaign year.
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the fifth of those debates i'm proud to say was held in 1858 # on the knox college campus. i am delighted today to introduce another example of how knox college has served and been inspired by the past, owen muelder class of 1965 -- '63 thank you very much. can't read my own handwriting. owen has been the director of the underground railroad freedom center. his first book, the underground railroad in western illinois available in the back describes the central role of the founders of knox college who are part of an important web of individuals across this country, fighters for freedom. it has been described as an
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essential text for understanding that struggle for freedom in the midwest. his second book entitled "theodore weld and the american society "also describes ang important effort that brought many people together in small and sometimes unrecognized ways to make great and enormous changes which we celebrate this month. we speak about a distinguished member of this house who represented the proud state of illinois. i give you owen muelder. >> thank you. thank you president and i would like to thank you the united states capitol historical
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society, the illinois state society of washington, d.c. and the knox college d.c. alumni club. in the early evening of november 7, 1837 an ugly drunken crowd of violence prone antiabolitionists had gathered together in the city of alten, illinois. by 10:00 that night they had turned into a crazed mob. a few hours earlier this troop of trouble makers had attacked people barcaded in a warehouse belonging to elijah lovejoy. the crowd had learned earlier that day that lovejoy had received a new printing press that would make it possible for him to resume the publication of his antislavery newspaper, the observer. lovejoy had moved across the river to illinois from st. louis
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in 1836 believing he would have been safer expressing his views in the free state of illinois rather than the slave state. alten was a pro slavery community in a free state. its character was much deserve than the yankees owen lovejoy had grown up with and his brother had grown up with in maine. lovejoy soon came to recognize, however, that there was real danger and he was courting very real problems for himself, even in alten. he had written a letter to his mother saying it is harder to fight for the truth when i risk not only my own comfort, ease and reputation and even life but that of a beloved one, as well. i have a family that is dependent upon me and this is
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the bitter ingredient to the cup of sorrow i am called to drink. lovejoy's abolitionist stance had so outraged the majority of citizens that mobs had on three previous occasions stormed his newspaper office and destroyed his presses. on this moon lit night, however, lovejoy and his friends including his brother, owen, were determined not to let that happen again. when the mob made the first attack on the building that night gun fire was exchanged and one man in the crowd was shot to death. the rioters retreated and consumed more liquor and regrouped and charged the warehouse again this time bringing flammable materials. the building was set on fire and when elijah lovejoy emerged from the structure he was shot down. as he lie dying his brother swore he would dedicate his life
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to the cause. as word of the martyrdom spread across the nation the antislavery cause in the united states was galvinized, view other events would trump in significance the murder of elijah lovejoy. scores of newspaper editorial i register their outrage. was the assault on freedom of speech and freedom of the press. the death of lovejoy also brought about the fame of a very famous american abolitionist, wendell phillips established his reputation as a famous antislavery orator by delivering a brilliantly crafted speech. shortly after the killing owen
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lovejoy returned east to help compile a publication about his brother's death. he told abolitionist con rads there that elijah done more by his death. the offices of the american antislavery society on nassau street in new york city remained owen's head quarters until his brother's memorial volume was released. owen lovejoy returned to illinois in the spring where he attended the episcopal church convention. he went to jacksonville or hoped to be ordained as a minister. the day before his ord nation the bishop asked lovejoy to sign a pledge promising not to discuss the topic of abolitionism. lovejoy refused to accept this condition and so was not
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ordained. a few weekz later covering the rally. he had designs on finding a church that would accept him as their pastor. galesburg had been founded by abolitionist george washington gale who established the college on the prairie in western illinois. the school became an antislavery strong hold. the town became the most noted abolitionist underground railroad community in down state illinois. before owen lovejoy left jacksonville, however, a friend suggested to him that he had a bit farther north to princeton. the congregation in that community had very poor health. the community was looking for a new minister. lovejoy decided to go to
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princeton and that decision put into motion a series of events that culminated in owen lovejoy becoming the most famous underground railroad operator in illinois and the most famous across the north. when lovejoy arrived in princeton he was made the temporary minister of the church but within a year he was appointed as the church's regular pastor at a salary of $600 a year which was a with rather good salary in illinois. when he arrived in princeton he was introduced to a handful of people with the cause. another brother of theirs was a famous poet william bryant who resided in the east. lovejoy was also introduced in other residents involved with
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the underground railroad. lovejoy wasted no time proproclaiming his antislavery views but his advocacy was unenthusiastically received by the majority of his proficieari. many of the people in bureau county changed their minds about the institution of slavery. by the mid 1840s princeton became one of the most important underground railroad stops in the state. there were four primary underground railroad routes through illinois. all of them twisted and zigzagged and sometimes made hair pin turns in order to confuse pursuers. one route traced the court of the rock river. this will lean on the
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mississippi river, move towards dixon where the rock river turns north towards wisconsin. a second route left southern illinois starting in cairo. this route split apart in chester, illinois. it usually swept east through woodferred counties and eventually turned towards chicago. the other leg of the cairo line after separating at chester ushered fugitives towards alton and then followed the course of the illinois river northwards. a third route followed the course out of st. louis bupt often times moved well away from the river to remote outposts. the fourth escape route, the so-called quincy line carried freedom seekers from quincy to galesburg to princeton.
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but along this line there were numerous satellite stations on farms and rural hamlets in and close to places like mccomb, farmington. the quincy line through western illinois possessed ideal conditions to help run away slaves escape. each of four rivers provided natural water courses for fuge tchbs to follow. if escaping slaves stayed close to the river or their tributaries all freedom seekers needed to do was move against the current of the water and they would ultimately be heading in a northern direction. a second geographical feature was the existence of tall prairie grass. the tallest grew there, still does in our backyard, big blue
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stem stood as high as six and a half and as high as seven feet. by mid summer and well into the fall fugitive slaves literally disappeared inside this grass. three distinctive prairie ranges dominated the landscape of western illinois, the bushinal prairie, carthage and enormous hancock prairie. fugitive slaves heading out of the slave state of missouri crossed into these illinois counties taking advantage of the numerous underground stations that operated inside of the grassy region. slaves working on barges and steam boats as deckhands, barbers, cooks, maids also fled
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from these river crafts. if they would leave they had a decent chance of escaping safely. this was not to suggest that fugitive slaves were home free once they arrived in western illinois. many never made contact with underground railroad agents. these fugitives made their way depending on their own wit, guile and sheer determination. others were tracked down and returned to bondage. slave owners hired detectives or full time slave trackers to go after escapees. many trackers use what were called negrodogs specifically trained to hunt down run away slaves. these dogs could tear a slave to pieces. bounty hunters were quick to turn in a slave for handsome rewards. owen lovejoy unlike most underground railroad operators
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was remarkably open about his involvement. lovejoy made virtually no attempt to hide what he was up to. lovejoy advocated the use of violent tactics. one of his daughters recalled that in the late 18 50s when a group of run away slaves pulled up to the lovejoy homestead lovejoy asked them if they had any weapons. they said they only had clubs. he told them not to hesitate to use them. one of his daughters,idea, said that her grandmother asked owen lovejoy later that day if that had been good advice and she remembered hur father saying yes i am sure. in may of 1843 lovejoy was indicted for helping two fugitive slaves, nancy and aginous, make their way to freedom. the trial did not start until
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october. however, during the spring and throughout the summer the case received wide spread attention both regionally and across the state. lovejoy during the summer self confidently inserted an advertisement in the chicago newspaper, the western citizen. it read, notice of the canada line of stages cheap, cheap. the subscriber would inform ladies and gentleman who wish to travel north for the benefit of their condition to the falls of niagara, the above line of stages will be in action and efficient operation during the summer. passengers will be carried all the way through for nothing. for further particulars inquire of the subscriber at his residence at princeton county signed owen lovejoy. when the case finally came
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before the court, witnesses for the state testified that lovejoy used his house to help run away slaves. one witness told the jury that he had seen the slave nancy with lovejoy in his rig and that lovejoy had told him that she was an escaped slave. lovejoy's lawyer during cross examination made the point that nancy's owner had brought her into illinois from missouri and once she arrived in the free state of illinois she was no longer a slave. on october 7, judge instructed the jury on the strict language of illinois law and explained that if a slave master voluntary brought a slave within the state, the slave became free. the judge went on to say that if any illinois residents harbored such a person the individual who aided the fugitive slave had not committed an offense against illinois law. the jury must have been over by
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both lovejoy's lawyer and the judge's presentation for when the trial ended lovejoy was acquitted. the most famous underground railroad story associated with owen lovejoy unfolded in the late 1840s. a fugitive slave by the name of john buckner had escaped from missouri and headachen up residents as a farm hand. the farm was close to princeton. the fugitive had decided to stay with someone who would employ him until he could accumulate enough money to make his way to canada. in 1849 buckner was mowing when two men, one of whom was his former owner approached him with guns fold. the slave was marched towards princeton. the slave trackers plan to take him to the river to transport
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him to st. louis. a friend of lovejoy's saw them on the road. took a short cut to lovejoy's house and told him what was going on. lovejoy immediately tweent the justice of the peace and got a warrant for the slave trackers to be arrested for rioting. when buckner and the two men arrived the sheriff put the two under arrest and a court hearing was hastily called. as the proceeding got underway a group of pro slavery men brought a wagon to the courthouse. one of these men a tavern owner rushed in calling for buckner's arrest. the sheriff ordered the man to leave the building. shouting, pushing broke out. during this melee someone cut buckner loose. a hired man put buckner on a horse and told him to run off to
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lovejoy's homestead. the crowd rushed out and moved towards lovejoy's house. when owen lovejoy arrived he calmly shut the gate to the property and started to deliver an antislavery lecture. while lovejoy was speaking a rioter on horseback bolted from the barn and people call out there goes john. lovejoy continued to give his speech. shortly thereafter a horse drawn carriage left the barn, sitting next to the driver was an individual covered by a sun bonnet. the driver who had been camouflaged escaped in another direction. we do not have enough time to relate all of the accounts and stories about all of the underground railroad activities. let me present one last story which lovejoy himself discussed on the floor of congress. he had been accused of buying a
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ticket for an elderly slave and putting him on a railroad passenger car to chicago. by the mid 1850s the old chicago burlington and quincy railroad had been built and track extended from chicago to the mississippi river. western illinois underground railroad conductors started putting fugitive slaves on real trains headed to lake michigan. towards the end of one of lovejoy's speeches on the house floor he eluded to this episode. towards the end of his remarks he said a single word is to the charge of negrostealing. anyone who chooses may transform himself into a bloodhound. i will never do this. owen lovejoy lives in princeton, illinois, three quarters of a mile east of the village and aides every fugitive slave that
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comes to his door. thou invisible demon of slavery i bid you defiance in the name of my god. i should turn now to a discussion of owen lovejoy's political career. in the 1840s lovejoy joined that ring of the cause that wanted to take the movement in a political direction. he supported the liberty party in 1840. in 1848 he backed efforts of the free soil party. in the '48 election lovejoy was an unsuccessful candidate for congress on the free soil ticket. in 1854 he was elected to the state legislature. by that time the passage of the kansas nebraska act had nullified the act. it had opened up to the possibility of eventually
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becoming slave states. the kansas nebraska act as many of you know was negotiated through congress by illinois senator steven douglas. the effect of the kansas-nebraska act seriously effected the political coalitions across the united states. people who are moving towards a new party struggled with what name they might call this party, fusion party, people's party, independents and antinebraska were considered. the republican party became the most prominent. antislavery, northern democrats, some of whom called themselves free democrats, former supporters of the liberty party and free soil party along with a good number of know nothing loyalists helped establish the
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republican party. many of these people were part of what was then called the antinebraska movement and thus northern democrats came to be known as antinebraska democrats. in 1856 a group of illinois antinebraska newspaper editors called for a convention of people opposed to the kansas-nebraska act to be held. this gathering is remembered as the time and place that the republican party was established in illinois. on july 2 at the republican convention for the third congressional district the delegates chose owen lovejoy as their candidate but only by a slim margin. lincoln expressed disappointment that his friend leonard sweet had not received the nod. many republicans found lovejoy's radical abolitionist position too risky and some considered voting for an alternate
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candidate. but over that summer lincoln became convinced that lovejoy's popularity would make it unwise for the party not to back him and they did decide to fully back him. when the general election was held lovejoy was overwhelmingly elected and defeated democratic candidate. lovejoy now 46 was as radical as any antislavery man ever elected to congress. slave holders considered his name. in 1856 although democrat james buchanan had won the white house and the democrats controlled congress as the majority party, they still had to deal with a formedable group of political rivals. lovejoy made his first lengthy speech in the house chamber
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