Elijah Parish Lovejoy Analysis

The country was divided on the subject of slavery especially in Alton where Illinois was a free state, but St. Louis, Missouri across the river, was considered a slave state. The year is 1837 and the slavery movement is well underway. Many people condone slavery because it will make their life easier. It will cost the owner a lot less to by 2 slaves at $1,500 each, (CITE THIS) than to pay for someone to work their land every year or pay for a maid to clean their house that will cost them thousands of thousands of dollars. While there were thousands of people who were pro slavery, there were some who thought it was inhuman and unethical to treat a person with that little respect. Elijah Parish Lovejoy was one of those who thought it was not. Abolitionist Elijah Parish Lovejoy, his church the Upper Alton Presbyterian Church, …show more content…
Elijah Parish Lovejoy’s Life Elijah Lovejoy was an abolitionist who fought to end slavery in St. Louis, Missouri and Alton, Illinois. He began writing against slavery in the St. Louis Observer when he moved there in 1833 (Nammari, 2001). When the mobs came after him, angry that he was writing about how wrong slavery was in a slave state, a man was killed causing those who led the mob to be put on trial. “The judge blamed Elijah Lovejoy for stirring up the mob by printing anti-slavery views in the Observer.” (Nammari, 2001). This shows just how much a person can be bias to their ways. A man died and all the judge could see was a man who incited a mob by saying how it was unethical to own a slave in a state where most thought it was a basic right. After this, Mr. Lovejoy wrote about how mad he was with the judge