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

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 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 res

but our 50 years of existence pales in comparison to the proud history of knox college of galesburg,hich later this month celebrates its 175th anniversary. i'm pleased to introduce the president of knox college who will in turn introduce today's speaker. teresa amott is the 19th president and the first woman president in the history of knox college. she came to knox college after a distinguished academic career at several institutions including bucknell, harvard, the university of massachusetts, wellesley, gettysburg, and hobart and william smith colleges. professor amott. [ applause ] >> thank you, thank you very much. and thank you for that wonderful mention of knox college's 175th anniversary. it is a great honor to join you today for this lecture by my wonderful knox college colleague owen mue lder. i would like to think the illinois state society, the d.c. knox club for their sportsmanship of tsponsorship of the event and also thanking our alum rod ross, class of 1965. retired reference archivist at the national archives and records administration. of course, one of course, one

he had designs on finding a church that would accept him as their pastor, close to galesburg, founded as president arnaut by abolitionist george washington gale who established the colony on northwestern illinois. the community and school immediately became an anti-slavery stronghold. the town eventually 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 head a bit farther in illinois to princeton. the congregationalist minister in the community had poor health at the time, the community was looking for a new minister. lovejoy decided to go to 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, indeed one of the most famous operators across the north. when lovejoy arrived in princeton, he was initially made the temporary minister of the hampshire colony church but then he was appointed a salary of $600 a year, a rather good salary in those days for illinois

on the issue of slavery that he had only alluded to in one of the earlier debates briefly, but in galesburg he really put it on moral grounds. he followed up at the sixth debate in quincy with that same moral theme and in alton, illinois, at the last debate he delivers in my view his most elegant remarks of any of of the seven debates in regard to slavery's immorality. i think we have time maybe for one more question. yes, sir? [ inaudible question ] -- of 1848, he was pretty much against slavery, how much were they involved in the underground railroad? >> they were involved in the underground railroad in parts of pennsylvania and the fact of the matter is that the american anti-slavery society was very aware of what you just mentioned, that many of these german immigrants were opposed to slavery and in fact the american anti-slavery intentionally sent anti-slavery agents hired to lecture for them into parts of pennsylvania with that very idea in mind. well thank you very much. i've appreciated your attention. [ applause ] >>> you're watching american american >> there's a new website for w

route, the so-called quincy line, carried freedom seekers through western illinois from quincy to galesburg to princeton, but along this line, there were numerous satellite stations on farms and in rural hamlets, in and close to places like menden, mccomb, farmington, canton, tulon, and geneceo. the quincy line possessed ideal conditions that helped runaway slaves escape within the region, each of four rivers, the lemoyne, spoon, edwards and green, provided natural water courses for fugitives 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'd ultimately be heading in a northerly direction. a second geographical feature of much of northern illinois and iowa was the existence of tall prairie grass, the tallest prairie grass in the world grew there, still does in our backyard, a little patch, big, blue stem which stood as high as six, six and a half and in some summers as high as seven feet. by mid summer and well into the fall, fugitive slaves literally disappeared inside this gras