february 7, 1958. "let the mason dixon line disappear. let the country be one united whole, the rights of all equally respected." he rejected tony's interpretation of the constitution. if human beings are property why isn't it declared as piracy. it was called human beings not property. the speech became the basis of lovejoy's reelection campaign. on april 5, 1860 lovejoy delivered his most controversial speech about slavery in congress. it resulted in a timulltuous fray on the house floor. he was barely finish would the first paragraph before southern congressmen rose with clinched fists. northern republican congressmen

leap to their feet to defend lovejoy. lovejoy left the podium and walked towards the southerners which was technically against the house rules. he continued his fiery remarks attacking the immor ality of slavery and told his wife i poured on a rain storm as hot as i could. as it continued insults were shouted throughout the room. at one point barts dale of mississippi shouted at lovejoy you shall not come up on this side of the house and congressman singleton called out and a negrothief in the bargain. georgiaen martin baven caulked his pistol. the fray continued. lovejoy finally decided to gradually move back to the podium. he called out no one can intimidate me.

finally once he was back at the podium the house chair was able to establish a degree of order. lovejoy finished his speech by saying slave owners ruled the same as pirates. every slave has a right to freedom and a right to run away. i cannot go into a slave state and open my lips. no yelled martin of virginia. we would hang you. that night and for the next few days washington was a buzz with what had happened. telegraph operators relayed the news of the uproar across the nation. lovejoy told a friend the fire eaters may help me to notoriety. abraham lincoln won the nomination for presidency. lovejoy made over 100 speeches for lincoln during that campaign and later said he never worked

harder for anyone in his life than he did that year for lincoln. lovejoy himself easily won reelection of the house and was congratulated by party leaders for being instrumental in helping lincoln's victory and election at the white house. in 1862 lovejoy returned to his congressional district. it had been reconfigured. this posed problems for him politicly. he only held on to one of the third county districts. lovejoy faced a very difficult campaign. and when the final votes were counted he was barely reelected to congress. during the civil war lovejoy returned to illinois in order to help raise five illinois army volunteer companies. he strongly backed efforts to arm black troops during the war. he worked hard to prevent

radical abolitionists of being too critical of the war policy. in february of '62 he introduced a bill for the establishment of department of agriculture. this bill gave 160 acres of man to any man or woman who paid a small registration fee and lived on the homestead for five years. during this time frame lovejoy helped pass legislation that ended the slave trade in the district of columbia. in the winter of 1863 lovejoy started to experience poor healthism even though his physical well being continue today decline seriously he pressed hard for the war effort and vigorously supported lincoln's plans for reelection. on the 16th of march, 1864 ailing badly from liver and kidney disease owen lovejoy died

in brooklyn heights, new york. when portrait artist informed lincoln and the white house of lovejoy's death the president responded lovejoy was the best friend i had in congress. thank you. [ applause ] we have time for a few questions. i hope it will not be like english class when no one raises their hand. yes. >> i'm curious if you can talk about underground railroad routes. there was no central coordinator in cincinnati explaining how to go? was this like by chance the routes were followed? >> well, the answer to that question is sometimes these underground railroad activities

were fairly well coordinated. many of these people in a certain region of a state were familiar with each other. as antislavery societies and state antislavery organizations started to form across the north these organizations would meet at least once a year and that would give people the opportunity to meet one another, become familiar with one another. and not all but many of those people took the more radical step of involving themselves with the underground railroad. this meant they were able to make plans or semi plans on how they might operate. i would answer your question by saying that in some cases they were reasonably well organized and other instances they were not. sometimes a fugitive slave would be aided by an underground railroad operator, be sent on their own way, travel alone and

then come into contact with somebody who is not necessarily an abolitionist but had some degree of sympathy and would give them a little aid. they would go along their way for a while and sometimes they would find another underground railroad operator. we'll never know the total number of fugitives who escaped but we know that many, many of them made their way to freedom as i mentioned in my remarks on their own. sometimes these trips took incredibly long times. yes. >> what was the impact of the federal fugitive slave act of 1850 on the underground railroad and lovejoy? >> my good friend who is an underground railroad scholar has written a book "bound for canen" and is working on a new book

about the great debate of 1850. in 1850 southerners were so upset with abolitionist activities and underground railroad actions that one of the key components of the compromise of 1850 was a much stronger antislavery fugitive slave law. the first fugitive slave law was passed by congress in 1793, the same year that the cotton gin was patented and i always tlaut might be a connection, but a much stronger fugitive slave law was passed by the united states congress signed by president filmore. this came as a big body blow to abolitionists. people involved with the antislavery movement considered this a very real setback. it also made many of them very,

very angry. and in many ways i believe that between 1850 and the time that the civil war breaks out the effect of that fugitive slave law was to instill into abolitionists a higher degree of resolve and indeed underground railroad activity was strengthened after that. remember this. the underground railroad heads out of the south in every direction. if you live in illinois we tend to think of fugitive slaves heading towards canada. in fact, fugitive slaves escaped in any direction they could. they went into arkansas and texas and down into mexico. they escaped in boats into caribbean sea and sea craft up along the eastern sea coasts. in some cases fugitive slaves taken abroad by their masters waited until they were in

foreign lands to escape. >> one of the problems is how many people it actually assisted. the numbers thwart a lot of us. i'm curious what you might be able to say based on your research about the volume of people who might have been assisted by lovejoy and other groups. >> i smile because my brother-in-law is a statistician at the university of minnesota. when i was writing my book i started to develop two or three different ways that i could analyze the numbers. when i read them to my brother-in-law he said my goodness that is terrible, don't use it. i have always been a little leery of guessing at those numbers. we do know this. we can look at certain regions

where there were underground railroad operator whose kept records. one kept a wonderful diary of his life living in western illinois. and it's a real piece of gold for a person that does the kind of research that you and i take part in. and in the diary heeludes to hard numbers. he says i aided a fugitive slave today making 21 # in number of those who passed through the region since i have lived here. i probably would be better off asking you if you want to answer your own question but i am leery on making an estimate on those numbers. i'll say this, as you well know, it is one of the things that fascinates all of us who have studied this subject. >> we have today, we have a feeling for the underground railroad. during the time in the 1850s,

how much do people in the country know about the underground railroad? >> well -- >> in newspapers. >> absolutely. there are a number of ways that you have to dig into the subject. this is a very difficult subject to research because for the most part these people were secretive about what they were up to with some exceptions like owen lovejoy. there were numerous accounts of fugitive slaves escaping. there were some sections of newspapers have reward posters advertisement after advertisement talk about it. in addition newspapers were keen on getting accounts of fugitive slaves who were escaping, court case that was going on and full blown abolitionists took the opportunity to insert stories in newspapers. the american antislavery society

had publications that were, of course, designed to speak solely to the subject of antislavery issues and many of the people who wrote stories for these kinds of journals were very clear about their commitment and their organization with others. so there were a variety of ways that people heard about it. fugitive slaves who were living in slave states most of them, of course, could not read or write. some slaves could read and write and they would sometimes get ahold of newspapers even on a plantation and would become aware of the underground railroad that way. >> if i were a slave on a plantation especially in the deep south, how would i know about the underground railroad? how would i find my way? >> the fact of the matter is this is what makes this story so heroic in many ways because many

of these fugitive slaves who escaped had only the slightest idea of how they might get away. now, it is true that in those days unlike today people who were not literate were very familiar with the stars so they knew how to find the north star and they knew that at nighttime on a clear night you could head in that direction by finding the north star. many of them knew or became informed of the fact that particularly if you moved into an area like iowa and illinois and others in the north you could move against the current of the river. to answer your question a bit further, however, there is some wonderful irony in the fact that there are slave that slaves who worked particularly not field hands but so-called house slaves who worked in and close to the slave owner's property

sometimes heard slave owners and their friends complaining about underground railroad operators, sometimes mention them by name and the towns they lived in. so there were some occasions when slaves who were planning to escape learned about underground railroad locations or operators that way. but for the most part they took off and were on their own and much of what happened is that they came up on underground railroad operators by pure chance. yes? >> i'm a little surprised that such a radical hot bed such as knox college became one of the sites. i thought lincoln and republican mainstream kept their distance from radicals. i'm wondering how that came to be. >> when douglas was so instrumental in passing the kansas-nebraska act it back fired in many ways on him and caused him some real problems in

illinois. he was concerned about whether or not he would be reelected to the senate in illinois in '58. so for that reason douglas was interested in maybe having these debates. on the other hand, abraham lincoln was not very well known in 1858. and the effect of the debates really catapulted his name and reputation across the nation. so lincoln was interested in having these debates because it would enhance his name and increase familiarity with his name throughout illinois. so in '58 both of them and both of their political allize on both sides decided that these debates would be beneficial to each of them. there were seven debates because there were seven political, congressional districts in illinois at that time. and when lincoln and douglas

come to galesburg, lincoln knew very well what president and i know and the knox alums know which is lincoln knew very well about galesburg and knox college's reputation. he knew he was on very good ground that day. although you must understand there were many, many supporters of douglas in the audience that day, lincoln had a very friendly crowd that day. at one point he turns to douglas and says, you are blowing out the moral lights around us. you're putting us in the dark. if you consider any person to be a slave owner and another person to be a slave. he took a moral stand on the issue of slavery that he had only eluded to in one of the earlier debates briefly. bullet in ga but in galesburg he really put

it on moral grounds. in alton, illinois, at the last debate he delivers in my view one of the most elegant remarks in regard to slavery's imorality. i think we have time for one more question. >> in germany in 1848 very much against slavery, how much were they involved in the underground railroad? >> they were involved i know extensively in the underground railroad in parts of pennsylvania. the fact of the matter is the american antislavery society was very aware that many of these german immigrants were opposed to slavery and, in fact, the american antislavery intentionally sent antislavery agents that were hired to lecture for them into parts of

pennsylvania with that very idea in mind. thank you very much. i have appreciated your attention. [ applause ] all weekend long american history tv is in shreveport, louisiana, to explore the rich history of this southern city founded in 1836. you're watching american history tv 48 hours of people and events telling the american story.

it would start off with a big roar and they would off witg roar. the first thing they would ask, is anybody here from texas? of course, a roar would go up in the auditorium and it would start off with all of that. then, who's here from arkansas? mississippi? alabama? >> good evening, everybody. from the municipal auditorium. >> it was like magic when you walked in this building. the vibes for that saturday night were so exciting. the louisiana hayride is actually known as the cradle of the stars. and it really was the "american idol" of its day.

the louisiana hayride embraced young talent. all of the great stars that were here that became so famous all over the world from the louisiana hayride have never been equalled. it actually started april 3rd, 1948. and it was a live show broadcast in this wonderful building on this stage. and it was broadcast by kwkh. horse logan was the producer. frank page was the announcer along with norm and several others. and it just became a regular saturday night radio show. this building, it's kind of hard to believe, but every saturday night back in the '40s and '50s, this building was packed with people that would drive hundreds of miles to come to the louisiana hayride.

the show was very loose. >> you know, folks, i had a pleasant surprise tonight. an old friend of mine dropped in to visit with me. i talked him into coming out here on the stage and singing a song for you folks. he says, furthermore, if you like his singing, he'll come back next saturday night and sing just all the songs you want to hear. it's been a long time since he's been on the show. come out here. hank williams! >> thank you, horse. >> bob sullivan, he said the louisiana hayride wasn't produced. it just happened. this is a hallway in the great municipal auditorium with a lot of the portraits of the stars of the louisiana hayride. of course, here is the man in black, johnny cash, who began here with his first record on

sun records back in the early '50s. and here is his beautiful bride, june carter. they both performed on the louisiana hayride many, many times. june is part of the great carter family who's mother, maybelle, and her sisters, the carter family, played here on the hayride many times. of course, here's little ole elvis. and, of course, elvis didn't have sideburns back then. he was a little teenager coming from memphis. kind of sandy-headed. and cute as he could be. and, of course, stole all the hearts of the fans of the louisiana hayride and became famous from the louisiana hayride stage when he was still a teenager. and down here is, of course, the great hank williams.

hank williams was actually the first really big star of the louisiana hayride. he was the greatest back then and is still the greatest. he left here after he became a big hit. went to the grand ole opry. unfortunately, he had a problem -- he had a drinking problem. but he was in really poor health, and he was fired from the grand ole opry and came back to shreveport. and whorace logan immediately said, hank, you'll always be a member of the louisiana hayride. and he -- and we continue that. he will always be a member of the louisiana hayride. this is the back door entrance where the entertainers would come up the steps. this is actually where i made my first entrance into the municipal auditorium at the

hayride. and we all came in through this back door and would either go in to one of these dressing rooms or go on stage. there was always a crowd back here of singers, musicians, songwriters, everybody visiting before the show and all during the show, actually. and this is a larger dressing room which back in its day was very fancy with its own shower and facilities. they put some photographs in here of elvis. and -- however, this was not elvis's dressing room when he first came here because, as you remember, he was not a star. he was a newcomer and a teenager, and he mixed and mingled with everybody and became good friends with a lot

of the entertainers who were performers and singers on the hayride. and he loved all the girls, of course. >> he's only 19 years old. he has a new, distinctive style. elvis presley. let's give him a nice hand. ♪ ♪ that's all right with mama, that's all right with you ♪ >> there were always just literally dozens of musicians. and it was very lively. and, of course, the stage was all set. and the music was playing, and we would -- the person who was coming on would be waiting about right here. the engineer's booth was right over there. bob sullivan who was the engineer on the hayride. and the announcer's podium was

over here. and so it was just a lot of mingling around back here. but i guess the most awesome thing that when you came out here, the roar of the crowd in this building was just enormous. ♪ >> okay. thank you. nice to be back to the hayride, shreveport. >> you can hear the music playing. it seems to never end in this building. and all of the great artists that performed here, it seems to me their presence is still in this building. the last regular saturday night show was in 1960, and the people that owned kwkh just decided to close it.

i guess, you know, there are many opinions on why shreveport did not develop its music industry and nashville did. a lot of it had to do with leadership. the people in nashville, they were very smart people, very kind and loving toward the music community. shreveport really, as far as i can understand, never embraced their music community. it was something that the leadership here did not understand as a value for economic development, for cultural development. it was something that was absent from the mindset of a lot of people here. and it still is.

i mean we've had a big battle fight t for the louisiana hayride. we actually created shreveport's historic music district plan to revitalize the neighborhood to restore the old buildings, to create a music-grounded atmosphere here. but that will give shreveport what it should have behad a lon time ago. a music presence. >> all right. elvis has left the building. i've told you absolutely straight up to this point, you know, that he has left the building. he left the stage and went out the back with the policeman and he is now gone from the building. all weekend long american history tv is featuring shreveport, louisiana. learn more about shreveport and find out where c-span's local