The Town That Started the Civil War

by Nat Brandt

Book Overview

Before the War Between the States, there was the war between the U.S. government and Oberlin, Ohio. . . . "A fascinating, gripping narrative."--James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom On a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0440503965
• ISBN13: 9780440503965
• Release Date: July 1991
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Length: 338 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

A fascinating look into what led up to the War Between the States

Reading this book changed the direction in which my recently finished novel went! My historical novel, A Small War in Paradise, grew and improved because of what Mr. Brandt so skillfully explained. Not only educational, but inspiring and an exciting read. Kudos.

astonishing, suspenseful, and true...

This book brings to vivid life the underground railroad and the politics of a nation poised on the brink of civil war. Slave catchers lurk around the edges of communities, hunting for escaped slaves or free blacks that they can kidnap. Radical abolitionists were militant about blocking any such kidnappers from reaching the south (regardless of the legality of the act). This book tells the true story of an escaped slave who is captured and then freed by a large group of Oberlin and Wellington abolitionists. This leads to a trial which made sensational national headlines and crystallized the growing crisis between north and south. It is absolutely gripping.

Town and gown

The Ohio River, pursuing a serpentine course between Ohio and Kentucky, was useful to the underground railroad. After 1849 Kentucky became a major market for the purchase and sale of slaves. The river froze over in 1855-56. John and Dina escaped from John Parks Glenn Bacon. They left on two horses with Frank from a neighboring area. Four miles into Ohio they encountered a Quaker. They stayed with him for two weeks and when fit to travel were sent on their way. Eventually John and Frank were taken to a college community, Oberlin. The fugitive slave law was a paradox. It drove many of the Northerners into the antislavery camp. It was signed into law by Millard Fillmore in 1850. Jerry was saved by a mob in Syracuse, N.Y. and transported to Canada and freedom. States passed personal liberty laws. The real life travails of Anthony Burns, Margaret Garner, (Toni Morrison evidently used this episode in BELOVED, the killing of a child to spare her from being enslaved), and Joshua Glover did not excite as much attention as the woes of the characters in UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. Mrs. Stowe had lived in Cincinnati for eighteen years. Three hundred thousand copies of the novel were sold in the first year. In Oberlin the college's atmosphere pervaded the town. Even the hotel was a temperance hotel. Black families resided in the town and were members of the First Church. School and town had both been founded in 1833. Oberlin became a haven for renegade teachers at Lane Theological Seminary in Cincinnati who favored immediate emancipation. Charles Grandison Finney was one of the presidents of Oberlin College. He was pastor of First Church. In 1858 the tone of Oberlin was tense. Slave hunters had made three attempts to seize black families. The man, John Price, was taken to Wellington, Ohio by hunters. Abolitionists in Oberlin endevored to act. The campus was astir. Many young men and others rushed to Wellington. John was removed and returned to Oberlin to a hideaway at the home of Professor James Fairchild. John's captors were pleased to escape the wrath of the crowd gathered at Wellington. Thirty-seven of the Oberlin rescuers were indicted. The Rescue Case had an impact on public opinion. Defense attorneys were aware they were playing to the press. Oberlin was called by one person the Babylon of Abolitionism. The defense tried to raise as an issue the constitutionality of the fugitive slave law. The defendants were found guilty. The rescuers were jailed. The rescue of John Price had been accomplished primarily by the black residents and white students.