In the Old Northwest, networks of activists across dispersed communities took controversial direct action against prejudice and slavery. By largely eschewing the growing cities that disproved the Old Northwest rule, this is a study of reform as it would have impacted most people, at the local level in the smaller communities of the territory that would define the future of the young nation. For these reasons, the oft-neglected states of the Old Northwest are essential to understanding the history of racial politics in antebellum America. The extraordinary activists of the region were determined to face down slavery in its hostile borderlands. The battles over slavery and the "Black Laws" in the Old Northwest were not merely of local concern, for the region was the central battleground in the extended antislavery campaign. Old Northwestern reformers defended their values in the face of constant attacks--both ideological and physical--from the supporters of the slave system. The "peculiar institution" obeyed no state boundaries, and these racial radicals formed a distinctive movement in response to the singular challenge of living as literal and cultural neighbors to slavery. There, often-isolated individuals found both enthusiastic support and enraged mobbing. Few people maintained neutrality, and their ideological differences often emerged in legal and physical battles. Discussion of race and slavery ignited this region in a particularly explosive fashion, impacted organizations, gender roles and expectations, and generated new ideas about rights, especially freedom of speech. As stalwart reformers struggled against the northward-reaching tentacles of slavery, the social and political culture of the Old Northwest assumed national importance. The region became a stronghold of political anti-slavery by the 1850s, and increased in prominence as the nation approached the final battle over slavery in the political--and ultimately the martial--realms. What Old Northwest activists had been experiencing for decades--intense and inescapable clashes over slavery--became the national experience. Inspired by a human rights vision that mandated direct action for racial justice, they advocated the free produce movement and fought the "Black Laws." As sectionalism increased, the Republican Party rose to prominence, and the Civil War began

Last modified

• 08/14/2018

Creator

• Dana Elizabeth Weiner

DOI

• https://doi.org/10.21985/N2RM76

Subject

• History

Keyword

• abolition
• race
• black laws
• freedom of speech
• grassroots activism
• mob violence

Date created

• 2007-07-31

Resource type

• Dissertation

Rights statement

• In Copyright