[Libs-Or] October Oregon Encyclopedia History Night Features "Asahel Bush, Slavery, and the Statehood Debate"

[Tania Hyatt-Evenson]

Greetings from The Oregon Encyclopedia.

Please see the attached press release from the Oregon Encyclopedia (The
OE), an on-line resource of Oregon history and culture. In partnership with
McMenamins, The OE continues its History Night series with a look back at
the people and events that have shaped our communities. Special guests and
historical images are a part of every event.

"Oregon Democracy: Asahel Bush, Slavery, and the Statehood Debate”
Presented by Barbara Mahoney
Monday, October 1, 2012
7:00 p.m. Doors open at 6:00 p.m.
McMenamins Mission Theater, 1624 NW Glisan Street, Portland
Free and open to the public.

As the editor of the pioneer Salem newspaper, the *Oregon Statesman*, and a
leader of the Democratic party,
Asahel Bush shepherded the Oregon territory to statehood in the midst of
the national controversy over
slavery that led to the Civil War. As early as 1843, the people of the
territory had rejected slavery. Opposed
to slavery as unsuitable for Oregon, Bush used the *Statesman* to shape the
debate, always portraying the
issue as one of economics, not morality. After considerable and bitter
argument, the drafters of the future
state’s constitution specifically outlawed it. The dispute fractured the
Democratic party, ending its decade long
dominance of Oregon politics. When the Civil War came, many in Oregon
supported the Confederacy.
Bush’s influence and his adamant loyalty to the United States led several
contemporaries to conclude that
he played the key role in keeping Oregon in the Union.

See the attached press release for more details. For more information
please visit: www.oregonencyclopedia.org.

-- 
Tania Hyatt-Evenson
Community Relations and Outreach Coordinator
The Oregon Encyclopedia
503.725.3990
pdx05508 at pdx.edu
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