Abolitionism
Elijah Lovejoy edited a controversial abolitionist newspaper, the Observer, in St. Louis, Missouri, before being driven out by a mob. He fled to Alton, Illinois. As one of the border states, Missouri was exempt from President Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation decreeing the freedom of slaves in all territory then held by Confederate forces. Governor Thomas C. Fletcher ended slavery in Missouri on January 11, 1865, by executive proclamation.
Read more about this topic: History Of Slavery In Missouri