HISTORY

HISTORY 1837, an anti-abolitionist mob in Alton, Illinois, shot and killed Elijah Lovejoy, an editor of an abolitionist newspaper. In 1860, Abraham Lincoln of Springfield, Illinois, was elected Republican president of the United States. Trace the course of American antislavery attitudes between the 1830s and 1860. How did the movement evolve from one characterized by radical reformers with little support to one supported by most northerners? As you trace the growth of political antislavery pay particular attention to: a) differences between abolitionists and Republicans in philosophy and action; and b) the importance of the following events: the Wilmot Proviso, the Compromise of 1850, Kansas, the Dred Scott case, John Brown’s raid, and the election of 1860. (lectures; Give Me Liberty!, Chapter 13; For the Record, Chapter 15.)