The Newberry Seminar in Early American History
Co-sponsored by University of Illinois at Chicago, Roosevelt University, and Northwestern University
Defending Against Slavery: The Free States during the Era of Good Feelings.
Matthew Mason, Eastern Michigan University
November 21, 2002, 3:30 to 5:30 PM
This paper explains why representatives of states bordering the South, not of New England, led the fight to restrict slavery from Missouri. Following the War of 1812, slavery quickly expanded into the Deep South and also seemed poised to exceed its traditional boundary at the Ohio River. Moreover, in meeting the demands of this growing market slaveholders did not limit themselves to purchasing slaves and, instead, often took to kidnapping free blacks from Northern states. Inhabitants of the border states interpreted these developments as an attack upon their identity as “the free states” and worked to preserve their distance from slavery.
E-mail scholl@newberry.org or call 312-255-3524 to receive a copy of the paper. We prefer to send papers as e-mail attachments. Please include your e-mail address with all correspondence.
The seminar format assumes that all participants have read the essay in advance, and that those requesting the paper will attend the seminar. Please do not request a paper unless you plan to attend. We encourage faculty members to call the seminar to the attention of graduate students.
The full schedule for this and other Scholl Center seminars is available on our website.
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