Lesson plan

Richard Eells

Richard Eells (1800–1846) was an abolitionist and medical doctor from Illinois. Born in Connecticut, he moved to Quincy, Illinois, in 1833. A Yale College graduate, he set up a medical practice and quickly involved himself in abolitionism. His house became known as a place of refuge for escaped slaves. On August 21, 1842, an escaped slave known only as Charley, owned by Chauncey Durkee of Monticello, Missouri, came to the house seeking help and transport. A freedman, Barryman Barnett, had spotted Charley swimming across the Mississippi and directed him to Eells’s house. Dr. Eells attempted to hide Charley in his carriage and drive across town, to where a safer hiding place awaited. However, a posse of slave catchers tried to intercept them. Charley was returned to Durkee, who requested that Eells be charged with “harboring and secreting a fugitive slave”, a crime in the Illinois Criminal Code at the time. County Circuit Judge Stephen A. Douglas fined Eells $400. He appealed the ruling to the Illinois Supreme Court in 1844, where he lost again. In the meantime, the celebrated case brought Eells to the attention of the wider abolitionist movement. He was made president of the Illinois Anti-Slavery Party in 1843. He unsuccessfully ran for governor of Illinois in 1846. However, the costly legal proceedings undermined Eells’s finances and health.…

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Article summary

Richard Eells (1800–1846) was an abolitionist and medical doctor from Illinois. Born in Connecticut, he moved to Quincy, Illinois, in 1833. A Yale College graduate, he set up a medical practice and quickly involved himself in abolitionism. His house became known as a place of refuge for escaped slaves. On August 21, 1842, an escaped slave known only as Charley, owned by Chauncey Durkee of Monticello, Missouri, came to the house seeking help and transport. A freedman, Barryman Barnett, had spotted Charley swimming across the Mississippi and directed him to Eells’s house. Dr. Eells attempted to hide Charley in his carriage and drive across town, to where a safer hiding place awaited. However, a posse of slave catchers tried to intercept them. Charley was returned to Durkee, who requested that Eells be charged with “harboring and secreting a fugitive slave”, a crime in the Illinois Criminal Code at the time. County Circuit Judge Stephen A. Douglas fined Eells $400. He appealed the ruling to the Illinois Supreme Court in 1844, where he lost again. In the meantime, the celebrated case brought Eells to the attention of the wider abolitionist movement. He was made president of the Illinois Anti-Slavery Party in 1843. He unsuccessfully ran for governor of Illinois in 1846. However, the costly legal proceedings undermined Eells’s finances and health.…

Key claims

  1. date of birth: 1833 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  2. date of death: 1846 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the date of birth is "1833". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. The record states that the date of death is "1846". What evidence would count against this claim?
  4. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  5. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1361463762

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.