ELIJAH P. LOVEJOY WAS BORN IN RURAL ALBION, MAINE on November 9,1802. eldest of seven siblings, he attended college in 1823 at Waterville (now Colby College). In 1827, the year after his graduation, Elijah moved to St. Louis where he taught school. Discontented by 1829, he went to work for the St. Louis Times, a prominent political newspaper. Despite his conventional Protestant upbringing, Lovejoy shed any strong religious faith and affiliation during his young adulthood, and for this he felt guilty. He converted to Presbyterianism in February of 1832. Almost immediately following his revival experience, Lovejoy enrolled in Princeton Theological Seminary where he studied to become a minister, and the following year he received his license to preach. Shortly thereafter, he accepted an offer from a small group of Protestant proprietors to edit the Observer, a religious newspaper in St. Louis.As editor, Lovejoy espoused very strong beliefs about two major institutions that he felt threatened democracy in the United States: the Catholic Church and slavery. Much has been written about his abolitionist views, however, his nativist, anti-Catholic side has not received the attention that it deserves. More importantly, the connection between his beliefs about these institutions needs to be explored as well. Some who have studied Lovejoy claim that his anti-Catholic sentiments were rooted in his childhood growing up in a household where he learned from other family members who disparaged the faith.1 Initially, Lovejoy served as editor of the St. Louis Observer to advance Protestantism and attack Catholicism2 as part of an ideological struggle between the two churches in the upper Mississippi Valley. Herein lies the first connection: while a number of Protestants (and Presbyterians, more specifically) embraced abolition as part of a millennial spirit, Catholics accepted slavery and rejected the abolitionist cause altogether.3 Other historians acknowledge his views on Catholicism, but choose to focus more on different aspects of his life.4 This is rather unfortunate; especially when one reconsiders the content of his attack on Judge Luke Lawless following the murder of Francis McIntosh in 1836. vicious murder became highly politicized,5 thereby perpetuating the ideological struggle between the churches that had ensued. Lovejoy's response to it illustrates the second connection between his beliefs because Judge Lawless personified the perceived threat to our democratic system. On the surface, Lovejoy's positions regarding these institutions might appear contradictory, but down below these ties are worthy of further examination. Upon re-evaluating his writings, we develop our understanding of not only the strong position he took on both Catholicism and slavery,6 but more importantly, the ties between them.Influential Nativist Works of the 1830sDuring the early to mid 1830s, anti-Catholic rhetoric became increasingly popular as it circulated throughout the country. From the East Coast to the frontier, Protestants besieged Catholics with criticisms of their faith as well as personal religious attacks. Two of the most prominent figures who wrote extensively on this subject were Lyman Beecher and Samuel Morse. In 1834, Samuel Morse published a collection of his articles entitled, Foreign Conspiracy against the Liberties of the United States. It detailed how the Catholic immigrants plotted to settle here and extend their political control in a clandestine manner. He accused Catholics, through political participation in a society that promoted religious toleration, of plotting to undermine American liberty: The conspirators against our liberties who have been admitted from abroad through the liberality of our institutions, are now organized in every part of the country; they are all subordinates, standing in regular steps of slave and master, from the most abject dolt that obeys the commands of his priest, up to the great master-slave Metternich, who commands his Illustrious master the Emperor. …