Civil War Roundtable

The Tuscarawas Valley Civil War Round Table will meet on Thursday, February 13 at 6:30 PM in the Community Room of the Dover Public Library, located at 525 N. Walnut Street in Dover. The featured presenter will be Jay Case, who will present: “The Underground Railroad and the Causes of the Civil War.”

Though not always recognized as such, the Underground Railroad played a critical role as a cause of the Civil War. Local conflicts over fugitives in Ohio and Michigan show how the Underground Railroad compelled many ordinary Americans to respond to issues of slavery and American law. These conflicts also raised questions of states’ rights and federal law, which contributed greatly to the outbreak of war.  But matters did not end there. Once the war began, the Underground Railroad not only continued in a more open and less “underground” manner, it expanded dramatically. It affected military strategy, forced revisions to Union political conduct of the war, and helped change the very purposes of the war itself.