Most Northerners in 1855 were barely aware slavery was controversial.

Evidence

But it is hard to imagine that the ordinary nonsoutherner in 1855 would have had reason to be concerned about the plight of his “black brother” in a land several days’ journey away—certainly not reason sufficient to make any visible contribution to his political responses. Indeed, we are tempted to the heresy that there were very substantial portions of the nonsouthern population in that period who were only dimly aware that slavery or a controversy about it existed. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 1969

Categorization

• QUESTION: Is this heresy actually borne out by 1850s evidence, or does it overstate popular ignorance about slavery?
• XREF: Connects to arguments about elite-mass gaps in issue salience found in Lippmann’s Public Opinion and Zaller’s work.