University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Liberty protected by law: race, rights, and the Civil War in Illinois

Heinzel, Sally E

Content Files
HEINZEL-DISSERTATION-2015.pdf

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/78635

Description

Title
Liberty protected by law: race, rights, and the Civil War in Illinois
Author(s)
Heinzel, Sally E
Issue Date
2015-04-20
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Levine, Bruce
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Levine, Bruce
Committee Member(s)
  • Hoxie, Frederick E.
  • Roediger, David
  • Gifford, Ronald
Department of Study
History
Discipline
History
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Date of Ingest
2015-07-22T22:33:36Z
Keyword(s)
  • Illinois
  • race
  • politics, 19th century
  • Black laws
  • Civil War
Abstract
Illinois was a hostile place for free blacks to live before the Civil War. Its racial laws, built on the principles of white supremacy and exclusivity, were among the most restrictive in the antebellum North. Illinois’s legal code discouraged blacks from moving to the state and severely circumscribed the rights of those who did. Yet, only weeks before the Civil War ended, Illinois lawmakers repealed the state’s most oppressive black laws. This dissertation explores how the war destabilized the racial order that white Illinoisans had constructed. It travels from the home front to the frontlines in order to understand the ways civilians and soldiers responded to a war that evolved into an assault on slavery. As Illinois soldiers became willing participants in the process of emancipation, Republicans back at home strove to eliminate the vestiges of slavery by striking down state statutes that denied blacks natural rights and equal protection under the law.
Graduation Semester
2015-5
Type of Resource
text
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/78635
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2015 Sally E. Heinzel

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