Turning Points
in Wisconsin History
Abolition and Other Reforms
The first half of the nineteenth century was a time of dramatic change in the United States. New technology rapidly transformed business and industry, as well as agriculture. The beginnings of industrialization stimulated shifts in population from rural to more urban areas. Waves of immigrants arrived at eastern port cities. And the availability of low-cost land on the western frontier with the continual acquisition of national territory prompted thousands to set out for the West. These economic and demographic dislocations introduced new social problems and aggravated long-existing ones, especially those concerning matters of poverty, morality, and social justice. Though less... more...
Original Documents and Other Primary Sources
 | Reformers organize to curb alcohol abuse in 1840. |
| An experimental community establishes its rules, 1845 |
| A brief history of Ceresco, 1885 |
| A Grant County slave sues his master for wages in 1846. |
| An escaped slave's experience in Wisconsin in 1847. |
| Janesville residents refuse to turn over a fugitive slave in 1861. |
| Letters of Charles Sumner and Wendell Phillips on the Glover Case. |
| A bricklayer recalls storming the Milwaukee jail to liberate Glover |
| A look at the life and legacy of Frances Willard |
| A temperance society forms in 1835 |
| A Wisconsin officer refuses to give slaves back to their owners (1), 1862 |
| A Wisconsin officer refuses to give slaves back to their owners (2), 1862 |
| The Wisconsin Supreme Court reaffirms black voting rights, 1866 |
| Byron Paine argues on behalf of Booth before the Supreme Court, 1854 |
| A Milwaukee newspaper disputes the results of the 1849 referendum on black suffrage |
| An African American attempts to vote in Milwaukee in 1865 |
| A Waukesha editor recalls the underground railroad |
| Recollections of Wisconsin slaves by pioneer settlers. |
| The Abolitionist Movement in Wisconsin Recalled (1907) |
| Joshua Glover's Pursuers State Their Case (1854) |
| Reward Advertisement for Joshua Glover (1852) |
| An Overview of Ceresco |
 | The 6-foot knife that symbolized Northern sentiments in 1860. |
 | Underground railroad conductors recall some courageous escapes. |
| A Wisconsin Republican leader repudiates slavery in 1860 |
| An Abolitionist Recalls Anti-Slavery Days in Wisconsin |
| Wisconsin Outlaws Capital Punishment (1853) |
 | Abolitionist leader and editor, Sherman Booth (1812-1904) |
| An 1854 broadside announcing an abolitionist rally. |
| Photograph of attorney Byron Paine, ca. 1860 |
| A portrait of Ezekiel Gillespie |
| Portrait of Ezekiel Gillespie |
 | A former slaveholder explains how he became an abolitionist, 1840 |
| Activists in Waukesha County organize to fight slavery, 1847. |
| A Racine man looks back on his years with the underground railroad |
| Carl Schurz meets with Abraham Lincoln, July 1860 |
| A former slave sues for back wages in 1840 |
| Gov. Henry Dodge frees his enslaved workers, 1838 |
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