Elijah P. Lovejoy

Lovejoy eatablished a Presbyterian newspaper in 1834. He talked about how slavery was a sin. After he said that his words got him in big trouble. With his life and his families safety at stake Lovejoy moved him and his family to Illinois which was a free state.When he moved slavery avocated pushed his printing press into the river. Lovejoy brought his second press. In his first issue of the Alton Observer he stated that " American negro Slavery is an awful evil and sin, and it is the duty of us all to effect the speedy and entire emancipation of our fellow- men in bonage". On the night of November 7, 1837 an angry mob of 200 men surrounded the warehouse that Lovejoy was in and they demanded him to abandon the building. Lovejoy refused to come out and a big riot broke out in front of the warehouse he was in. The angry mob set the roof of the building on fire after he refused to leave. Lovejoy ran out the blazing warehouse and he was shot dead by the angry mob. Lovejoy's death transformed the Abolition Movement. His death was because he was defending the freedom of press.