Elijah Lovejoy: The First Martyr of America’s Abolition Movement

On this episode of Our American Stories, minister, newspaper editor, and abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy believed the Bible demanded opposition to slavery, and he was unwilling to stay silent about it. Through his anti-slavery newspaper, Lovejoy condemned slavery’s brutality, defended freedom of the press, and challenged a nation increasingly divided over one of its greatest injustices.

In this installment of 100 Bible Verses That Made America, historian and bestselling author Robert J. Morgan shares the story of the fiery preacher whose printing presses were repeatedly destroyed by mobs before he became the first martyr of America’s abolition movement.

Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)

Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habibe and this is our American stories,
the show where America is the star and the American people.
If you want to know about the history of America,
it's imperative that you know the role that the Bible
played in shaping our country. Here to share another story
is Robert Morgan, who is the author of one hundred
Bible verses that made America, defining moments that shaped our

(00:34):
enduring foundation of faith. Let's take a listen.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
Elijah Lovejoy was born in my wife's home state of
Maine in eighteen oh two. His father was a Congregational
pastor and a farmer. Lovejoy began reading his Bible at
the age of four, and while still very young, he
met rise the entire one hundred and nineteenth Psalm, which
is the longest chapter in the Bible, along with other

(01:07):
passages in many classic hymns. He later graduated at the
top of his class and decided to move west to
Saint Louis. His parents, concern for his spiritual well being,
prayed earnestly for him, and their prayers were answered when
he wrote home telling them he had experienced a personal

(01:28):
relationship with Christ during a revival meeting He also told
them that he was entering the Presbyterian ministry. He enrolled
in Princeton, and as he grew in his knowledge of scripture,
his convictions about the abolition of slavery deepened. Within a year,

(01:48):
Lovejoy was licensed to preach, and while on a preaching
circuit through Missouri, he met Celia and French and fell
in love with her and married her. Love confine his
sermons to the pulpit. Returning to Saint Louis, he became
the editor of a weekly Christian publication called the Saint
Louis Observer. The first issue rolled off the press on

(02:11):
November twenty second of eighteen thirty three. In his opening editorial,
Lovejoy wrote that his paper will seek no controversy, and
it will decline none when by so doing it might
compromise the purity of the faith that was oncefore all
delivered to the saints. The Observer became a vehicle for

(02:33):
teaching scripture, relating the news of the day, and interpreting
the latter by the former. His editorials were must reading,
and sparks began to fly when he set forth the
biblical facts and the brutal truths about slavery. On April sixteenth,
eighteen thirty two, Lovejoy wrote prophetically, while Christians have been

(02:56):
slumbering over it, the eye of God has not slumbered,
nor has his justice been an indifferent spectator of the scene.
The groans and sighs, and tears and blood of the
poor slave have gone up as a memorial before the
throne of Heaven. In due time, they will descend in
awful curses upon this land, unless averted by the speedy

(03:21):
repentance of us all. Love Joy's drumbeat against slavery sparked
an uproar in Saint Louis. Mobs formed, threatening his newspaper
and threatening his life. Officials sought to silence him, demanding
he pass over in silence everything connected to the subject

(03:43):
of slavery. Crowds marched into the street, chanting down with
the observer. Lovejoy was threatened with whipping. He said, I
cannot surrender my principles, though the whole world besides should
vote them down. Asserting his freedom of speech, he fired

(04:07):
off another series of blistering editorials, condemning slavery with all
of its horrors. He compared himself to his namesake in
the Bible, Elijah, who stood before Ahab, rebuking his sins,
and who refused to be silenced. He said, I do, therefore,

(04:28):
as an American citizen and a Christian patriot, and in
the name of liberty and law and religion, solemnly protest
against all these attempts, howsoever and by whomsoever made to
frown down the liberty of the press and forbid the
free expression of opinion. Under a deep sense of my

(04:51):
own obligations to my country and Church and to my God,
I declare it will be my fixed purpose to submit
to no such dictation. Writing to his brother Elijah, Lovejoy said,
men came to me and told me that I could
not walk through the streets of Saint Louis by night

(05:13):
or by day. I was alone in Saint Louis, with
none but God to whom to ask counsel. But thrice,
blessed be his name, he did not forsake me. I
was enabled deliberately and unreservedly to surrender myself to Him.
When it became impossible for Lovejoy to dwell in Saint Louis,

(05:36):
he moved thirty miles away to Alton, Illinois, his printing press,
which was transported by a boat up the Mississippi was
destroyed by a mob upon its arrival. He ordered another
press from Cincinnati, and the paper resume publishing. On August seventeenth,
eighteen thirty seven, another mob surrounded him, shoved him around,

(06:01):
and destroyed his new press. Loved Joy ordered a third one.
About ten pm on November twenty first, in the light
of a full moon, a mob of about thirty men
armed with rocks and pistols left local taverns and began
marching toward Elijah Lovejoy's house. Church bells rang, and by

(06:24):
midnight the whole town had assembled. The mob broke into
his house and one of the rioters shot love Joy.
Three bullets struck his chest, another his stomach, and another
his left arm. His new printing press was destroyed and

(06:45):
thrown into the Mississippi River, and his hearse was hissed
in the streets on the way to the cemetery. He
was buried on his thirty fifth birthday, the first white
martyr in America for the cause of abolition, A fearless
publisher who gave his life for the freedom of the press,

(07:05):
and a preacher of the gospel who once said, I
can die at my post but I cannot desert it.

Speaker 1 (07:14):
And a terrific job on the production, editing and storytelling
by our own Greg Hangler. And a special thanks to
Robert Morgan, the author of one hundred Bible verses that
made America the story of Elijah Lovejoy. Here on Our
American Stories, lie hubib here and I'd like to encourage
you to subscribe to Our American Stories on Apple Podcasts,

(07:37):
the iHeartRadio app, Spotify, or wherever you get our podcasts.
Any story you missed or want to hear again can
be found there daily again. Please subscribe to the Our
American Stories podcast anywhere you get your podcasts. It helps
us keep these great American stories coming