Oregon Historical Quarterly

Abstract:

In this research article, Jim M. Labbe documents little-known abolitionists who migrated to Oregon in 1851 and anti-slavery politics in Oregon leading up to statehood. According to Labbe, “the emergence and growth of the American abolitionist movement between 1830 and the Civil War closely paralleled the overland migration to Oregon.” As abolitionists entered the political arena — rejecting slavery in favor of greater racial equality — anti-slavery politics in Oregon were rooted in White supremacy. Through anti-slavery arguments prominent leaders in Oregon “amplified anti-Black prejudice, dismissed abolitionists as fanatics, and fortified assumptions about the purity the White race and its exclusive claims to the region.” Labbe argues that “the political marginalization of abolitionists during Oregon's founding partially explains their loss to historical memory,” and that “better understanding these voices of dissent in Oregon's past can enlighten and inspire the related choices and actions we face today.”