Frederick Douglass was the leading black abolitionist in the country. He was a former slave who had run away to the North.
The Underground Railroad did much more than just bring runaways North. It also had a number of groups set up to help the former slaves find a place to live. The groups found jobs for them too.
Frederick Douglass was a famous runaway helped by a New York committee. Douglass soon became active with the Underground Railroad himself. He also became a well-known anti-slavery speaker and writer. His powerful words moved the hearts and minds of many people.
You didn’t have to work on the Underground Railroad to help the system. One such man was a newspaper publisher named Elijah Lovejoy. Lovejoy often wrote articles against slavery and about the Underground Railroad. Slave owners wanted to put Lovejoy out of business. Pro-slavery mobs threw his printing presses into the Mississippi River three times.
Frederick Douglass was the leading black abolitionist in the country. He was a former slave who had run away to the North.
On November 7, 1837, Lovejoy’s fourth printing press arrived. Local slave owners found out about it. They demanded that he hand it over to them. Lovejoy would not do it. So a group of thugs attacked his warehouse. Shots rang out. Lovejoy was hit and died on the spot. The mob still destroyed the dead man’s printing press. Then they threw the pieces into the Mississippi River.
Elijah P. Lovejoy
A mob gathered outside the offices of the Alton Observer, Elijah Lovejoy’s newspaper. The mob set fire to the building and shot and killed Lovejoy.