How do you make history?
Joshua Glover was enslaved in St. Louis, Missouri. As a young man he sought freedom in Wisconsin, only to be recaptured after a friend betrayed him. Defying the Fugitive Slave Act, Sherman Booth and other abolitionists helped Joshua escape via the Underground Railroad, and he later settled in Canada as a free man. These actions were part of a chain of events that led to the formation of the Republican Party and the declaration of the end of slavery in the United States.
Meet Joshua Glover
Questions to Consider
We can infer some ideas about what Joshua’s life might have been like as an enslaved person, but we don’t have sources to confirm specific details of his early life. Why not? What does this tell you about how history is recorded?
Breaking Joshua out of jail was one in a series of efforts made by abolitionists in the fight to end slavery. What outcomes did these efforts lead to in Wisconsin? In the United States?
How does knowing about Joshua’s story change what you’ve learned about slavery in the United States? How does it change what you think about Wisconsin’s history?
Peek Into the Past
Joshua Glover
A print of Joshua Glover.
Wisconsin Historical Society. WHi-6270.
Life Under Slavery
A group of enslaved people outside their home in Alabama.
LOC. 2010. WPA Slave Narratives, A917, vol. 1 (87)
Auction
Enslaved people were often sold in an auction, as in this depiction of an auction at Richmond, Virginia, from 1856.
Prints and Photographs, LOC. LC-USZ62-15398.
Benammi Garland
A painted portrait of Benammi Stone Garland.
Lynchburg Museum System. ID 84027.
The Drinking Gourd
The Drinking Gourd is a constellation; people living under slavery followed it north to find freedom.
PBS Wisconsin Education.
Seeking Freedom
Enslaved people escaped north to find freedom.
Wisconsin Historical Society. WHi-41426.
Reward Poster
A poster offering a reward for the return of an enslaved person who fled to find freedom (1858).
DC Public Library. 2009. Flickr.
Sherman Booth
Sherman Booth, an abolitionist, helped free Joshua Glover from jail.
Wisconsin Historical Society. WHi-9485.
Courthouse
The Milwaukee County Courthouse where Joshua Glover was kept (1870).
Wisconsin Historical Society. WHi-40833.
Steamboat
Joshua Glover traveled to Canada to seek his freedom on a steamboat like this.
Wisconsin Historical Society. WHi-71932.
Man and Woman
A free man and his wife outside their Alabama cabin (1915).
Wisconsin Historical Society. WHi-9464.
Woman and Child
An enslaved nurse with her slaveholders’ child (1858).
Missouri History Museum. Identifier: PHO:21596.
Republican Party
The Republican Party Birthplace, a schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin.
Wisconsin Historical Society. WHi-39661.
Read On
Joshua Glover: And the End of Slavery
Get the full story with this biography book. Audio files are available on each page if you’d like to listen along!
Project Credits
Producer
Dan Kaplan
Becky Marburger
Kurt Griesemer
Associate Producer
Joe Young
Illustration
The Brave Union
Animation
The Brave Union
Audiobook Narration
Jonathan Horne
Audiobook Editing
Kerman Eckes
Captioning
Catie Pfeifer
Vicki Way Kipp
Educator Support Materials
Mia Forslund
Web
John Vieth
Erika Kachama-Nkoy
Tim Schneider
Design
Charles Barrows
Translation Services
University of Wisconsin-Madison Cultural Linguistic Services
Executive Producer
Peggy Garties
Special Thanks
Marta Bechtol
Story Advisors
Brenda Autz
Park Elementary School
Middleton, WI
(2013)
Kaitlyn Beguhl
Section Elementary School
Mukwonago, WI
(2021)
Charlene Dupler
Lakeview Elementary School
Wind Lake, WI
(2013)
Kristen McDaniel
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
Madison, WI
(2013)
David J. O’Connor
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
Madison, WI
(2013)
Amanda Price
Marshall Elementary School
Marshall, WI
(2013)
Valisa Rias Harmon
Gilmore K-8 Fine Arts School
Racine, WI
(2021)
Corey Thompson
Cardinal Stritch University
(2013)
Stephanie Unertl
Lake Mills Area School District
Lake Mills, WI
(2013)