Canada is well known for being sanctuary to 30,000 American slaves, desperate to reach the end of the Underground Railroad, north of their border. Much is also said of the tens of thousands of Canadians who donned blue uniforms and enlisted with Lincoln's Union army during the American Civil War. But, leading members of this country's political, media, business, and religious elite were conspiring to help the South win. This took the form of harbouring spies, financial assistance, terrorism, and even welcoming Lincoln's would-be assassin John Wilkes Booth. Julian Sher discusses his latest book, "The North Star: Canada and the Civil War Plots Against Lincoln."
00:00 Intro
00:40 A Confederate plaque in Montreal, Quebec
02:18 The Confederate president visits Ontario to a hero’s welcome
03:14 Confederate President Jefferson Davis
04:30 Why would Canadians side with the separatist pro-slavery South?
06:17 Toronto and Montreal were Confederate hang outs
07:10 Newspapers supporting the South
08:19 John Wilkes Booth plotting in Montreal
11:13 1800s Terrorism
12:15 Abraham Lincoln murdered. Accomplices escape to Montreal
13:26 Civil War biowarfare
15:08 Piracy on the Great Lakes
17:45 Canadians who supported and fought for the North; Canada’s first native-born Black doctor
21:56 Canadian woman disguises herself as a man to fight for Lincoln
22:52 The Canadian who hunted down Lincoln’s killer
25:17 Legacy and the Lost Cause Movement
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