This Day in History

Nov. 7, 1837: Elijah Parish Lovejoy Murdered

Time Periods: 1800

Themes: Economics, Media, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery and Resistance

Wood engraving of the pro-slavery mob setting fire to Gilman & Godfrey’s warehouse. Library of Congress

On Nov. 7, 1837, minister, journalist, newspaper editor, and abolitionist Elijah Parish Lovejoy was murdered by a pro-slavery mob in Alton, Illinois during their attack on his warehouse to destroy his press.

As reported at the Colored Conventions Project, abolitionist Henry Highland Garnet said of Lovejoy’s murder:

[Elijah P. Lovejoy] was targeted by white terrorism . . . White terrorism, which justifies racial policing, is inextricably linked to the racist politico-socio hierarchal structure in the United States. White violence was deployed to silence through murder and terror. Continue reading.

The 1838 booklet by Edward Beecher, Narrative of Riots at Alton: in connection with the death of Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy, can be read online at the National Archives.

Learn more about Lovejoy and the people’s history of the media in News for All the People. Find resources for teaching about institutional racism, terrorism, and the abolition movement below.

Related Resources

Teaching Activities (Free)

The Color Line

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. 6 pages.
A lesson on the countless colonial laws enacted to create division and inequality based on race. This helps students understand the origins of racism in the United States and who benefits.

collage of six Black abolitionists in the United States.

Teaching Activities (Free)

‘If There Is No Struggle…’: Teaching a People’s History of the Abolition Movement

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools. 16 pages.
In this lesson, students explore many of the real challenges faced by abolitionists with a focus on the American Anti-Slavery Society.

protester holding up signs reading "Economic Justice" and "Reparations Now!"

Teaching Activities (Free)

Repair: Students Design a Reparations Bill

Teaching Activity. By Ursula Wolfe-Rocca.
In this activity, students take on the role of activist-experts to improve upon a Congressional bill for reparations for Black people. They talk back to Congress’ flimsy legislation and design a more robust alternative.

Two men carry children blinded by the Union Carbide chemical pesticide leak to a hospital in Bhopal, India, Dec. 5, 1984.

Teaching Activities (Free)

Whose “Terrorism”?

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools. 11 pages.
Using scenarios based on real situations, this lesson helps middle and high school students examine the definition of terrorism and the use of the term terrorism in the media and U.S. foreign policy.

Teaching Guides

Teaching a People’s History of Abolition and the Civil War

Teaching Guide. Edited by Adam Sanchez. 2019. Rethinking Schools. 181 pages.
Students will discover the real abolition story, one about some of the most significant grassroots social movements in U.S. history.

Profiles

Black Abolitionists

Profiles. Zinn Education Project. 2014.
Brief biographies of 25 Black abolitionists.

Books: Non-Fiction

News for All the People: The Epic Story of Race and the American Media

Book — Non-fiction. By Juan González and Joseph Torres. 2011. 256 pages.
The history of media in the United States, through the lens of race.

Books: Non-Fiction

Until Justice Be Done: America’s First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction

Book — Non-fiction. By Kate Masur. 2021.
The movement for equal rights in the decades before the Civil War.

This Day in History

Dec. 23, 1815: Henry Highland Garnet Born

Henry Highland Garnet, abolitionist and minister, called for a militant slave revolt.

William Whipper. Published in The Underground Railroad by William Still, Philadelphia, 1879.

This Day in History

Sept. 16, 1837: Abolitionist William Whipper Advocated Non-Violence

William Whipper published “An Address on Non-Resistance to Offensive Aggression.”

This Day in History

Oct. 16, 1859: Abolitionist Raid on Harpers Ferry

An abolitionist raid against a federal armory in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia in an attempt to start an armed revolt against the institution of slavery.