Bleeding Kansas: Border Ruffians Bloody Fight for Slavery
- Bleeding Kansas in Context The outbreak of the violence that dominates the Kansas territory in 1856 comes less than two years after you ventured west. ...
- The Roots of Bloody Kansas Most settlers in Kansas Territory at the time were from states east of Kansas Territory, not New England. ...
- Settling Kansas: Free Soil or Slave Power ...
What contributed to the events of Bleeding Kansas?
The proslavery forces raided Lawrence a center of the anti slavery forces. Five proslavery men from Pottawortonie Creek were dragged from their homes and hacked to death. The efforts of each group to influence the popular sovereignty votes lead to violence and counter violence in bleeding Kansas.
What events started Bleeding Kansas?
Bleeding Kansas was a series of events that precipitated after the Kansas-Nebraska Act, when the popular sovereignty was implemented. It aroused several controversial events, including the famous John Brown's Pottawatomie Massacre as well as the brutal conflicts between the Topeka "free staters" and the established pro-slavery legislation.
How do you explain what happened in Bleeding Kansas?
Bleeding Kansas was part of the political storm that occurred throughout the United States before the Civil War. The anti-slavery forces prevailed as Kansas entered into the Union a free state on January 29, 1861. This turbulence illustrated the beginning of the terrifying bloodshed that was to come during the Civil War.
What were the main causes of Bleeding Kansas?
Bleeding Kansas started here, when a anti-slavery settlers wounded a pro-slavery sheriff. It was here that 5 pro-slavery settlers were killed in front of their families by anti-slavery settlers. Anti-slavery settlers who moved to the Kansas territory in hopes of claiming Kansas as a free state.
What was the name of the era of killing in Kansas?
This era became forever known as Bleeding Kansas. During Bleeding Kansas, murder, mayhem, destruction and psychological warfare became a code of conduct in Eastern Kansas and Western Missouri. A well-known examples of this violence was the massacre in May 1856 at Pottawatomie Creek where John Brown and his sons killed five pro-slavery advocates.
What was the name of the state that was bleding before the Civil War?
Please accept the sincere regards of your future repentance. Sene Campbell. Bleeding Kansas was part of the political storm that occurred throughout the United States before the Civil War. The anti-slavery forces prevailed as Kansas entered into the Union a free state on January 29, 1861.
What political groups occupied Kansas?
Three distinct political groups occupied Kansas: pro-slavery, Free-Staters and abolitionists. Violence broke out immediately between these opposing factions and continued until 1861 when Kansas entered the Union as a free state on January 29. This era became forever known as Bleeding Kansas.
What act established the boundaries of Kansas and Nebraska?
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 established the territorial boundaries of Kansas and Nebraska and opened the land to legal settlement. It allowed the residents of these territories to decide by popular vote whether their state would be free or slave. This concept of self-determination was called popular sovereignty.
What battle did Montgomery and his men fight?
In April of 1858, Montgomery and his men fought U.S. troops stationed at Fort Scott in the battle of Paint Creek. One soldier was killed in this encounter. In May of 1858, Montgomery and his men drove pro-slavery forces from Linn County.
What was the Kansas-Nebraska Act?
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 instituted a policy known as popular sovereignty in the Kansas Territory, allowing the settlers to decide by vote whether the territory would be admitted to the Union as a slave or free state. Activists from each side flooded the territory in an attempt to influence the outcome, leading to violent, often deadly, clashes that foreshadowed the national civil war to come.
What happened to the Western Hotel in 1858?
On June 5, 1858, Montgomery and his raiders tried to burn down the Western Hotel. Several shots were fired into the hotel and surrounding homes, but the hotel was saved. Violence such as this caught the governor's attention. On June 15, 1858, he held a meeting at the Western Hotel in order to settle political unrest.
When was the poem "Bleeding Kansas" published?
Weyman, published in the newspaper on September 13, 1856: Far in the West rolls the thunder—.
What was the civil war in Kansas?
There were two different capitals (Lecompton and Lawrence/Topeka), two different constitutions (the anti-slavery Topeka Constitution and the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution ), and two different legislatures, the so-called "bogus legislature" in Lecompton and the anti-slavery body in Lawrence. Both sides sought and received help from outside, the pro-slavery side from the federal government; President Buchanan openly helped the pro-slavery partisans. Both claimed to reflect the will of the people of Kansas. The pro-slavers used violence and threats of violence, and the free-soilers responded in kind. After much commotion, including a Congressional investigation, it became clear that a majority of Kansans wanted Kansas to be a free state. However, this required Congressional approval, and was blocked there by Southerners.
What were the arguments against slavery in Kansas?
However, at the time, the most persuasive argument against introducing slavery in Kansas was that it would allow rich slave owners to control the land to the exclusion of poor non-slaveholders who, regardless of their moral inclinations, did not have the means to acquire either slaves or sizable land holdings for themselves.
What was the name of the battle between Dred Scott and Sandford?
Dred Scott v. Sandford. Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas, or the Border War was a series of violent civil confrontations in Kansas Territory, and to a lesser extent in western Missouri, between 1854 and 1859. It emerged from a political and ideological debate over the legality of slavery in the proposed state of Kansas.
Why was the Kansas–Nebraska Act important?
In May 1854, the Kansas–Nebraska Act created from unorganized Indian lands the new territories of Kansas and Nebraska for settlement by U.S. citizens. The Act was proposed by Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois as a way to appease Southern representatives in Congress, who had resisted earlier proposals to organize the Nebraska Territory because they knew it must be admitted to the Union according to the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which had explicitly forbidden the practice of slavery in all U.S. territory north of 36°30' latitude and west of the Mississippi River, except in the state of Missouri. Southerners feared the incorporation of Nebraska would upset the balance between slave and free states and thereby give abolitionist Northerners an advantage in Congress.
How many issues are there in The Kents?
The Kents, a 12 issue mini-series of comics written by John Ostrander exploring the history of Superman's adoptive family set against the conflicts of the Bleeding Kansas era.
How many people died in the Battle of the Spurs?
However, approximately 56 people died in Bleeding Kansas by the time the violence ended in 1859.
What did the sponsors of the Kansas-Nebraska Act expect?
Sponsors of the Kansas-Nebraska Act (May 30, 1854) expected its provisions for territorial self-government to arrest the “torrent of fanaticism” that had been dividing the nation regarding the slavery issue.
What happened after the sack of Lawrence?
Three days after the Sack of Lawrence, an antislavery band led by John Brown retaliated in the Pottawatomie Massacre. After the attack Brown’s name evoked fear and rage in slavery apologists in Kansas. Periodic bloodshed along the border followed as the two factions fought battles, captured towns, and set prisoners free.
What was the name of the raid that brought the tensions between the slaves to a new level?
Called Bleeding Kansas, this violent conflict brought national attention to John Brown, who would propel sectional tensions over slavery to a new level in 1859 with his Harpers Ferry Raid, an attempt to spark a massive rebellion by enslaved people. Before Brown’s raid, in 1857 the…
What was the name of the raid that John Brown led to?
Called Bleeding Kansas, this violent conflict brought national attention to John Brown, who would propel sectional tensions over slavery to a new level in 1859 with his Harpers Ferry Raid , an attempt to spark a massive rebellion by enslaved people. Before Brown’s raid, in 1857 the….
What was the political struggle between the Lecompton and Brown?
John Brown, oil on canvas by John Steuart Curry, 1939. A political struggle to determine the future state’s position on slavery ensued , centred on the Lecompton Constitution proposed in 1857.
When was Kansas admitted as a free state?
The question was finally settled when Kansas was admitted as a free state in January 1861, but, meanwhile, “Bleeding Kansas” had furnished the newly formed Republican Party with a much needed antislavery issue in the national election of 1860.
Who was the antislavery band that led the attack on Charles Sumner?
Engraving showing the attack on Charles Sumner on the floor of the Senate, 1856; from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. Three days after the Sack of Lawrence, an antislavery band led by John Brown retaliated in the Pottawatomie Massacre.
Why is Kansas called Bleeding Kansas?
This period of guerrilla warfare is referred to as Bleeding Kansas because of the blood shed by pro-slavery and anti-slavery groups, lasting until the violence died down in roughly 1859. Most of the violence was relatively unorganized, small scale violence, yet it led to mass feelings of terror within the territory.
What was the significance of the canning of Sumner and Bleeding Kansas?
The canning of Sumner and Bleeding Kansas drove many northern Know Nothings to the Republican Party, as they viewed it as the only political party actively opposing the slave power. In order to justify their party’s existence, Republicans required evidence of the slave power’s continual harassment of northerners, which Bleeding Kansas easily provided. As the Republicans gained power the Democrats continued to fracture along sectional lines, which only increased with the crisis over the Lecompton Constitution. To southern Democrats, Bleeding Kansas illustrated the danger free soilers (who they lumped in with abolitionists) posed to the southern society, and yet, many southern Democrats felt that the northern wing of the party remained sympathetic to free soilers and were unwilling to denounce them. These increased demands to bend to the will of the southern wing of the party alienated many northern Democrats who wanted their politicians to act in the best interest of northerners, which further divided northern and and southern Democrats.
What happened in 1856?
On May 21, 1856 hundreds of border ruffians once again crossed the border between Missouri and Kansas and entered Lawrence to wreak havoc— setting fire to buildings and destroying the printing press of an abolitionist newspaper. Although no one was killed, the Republican press labeled this event as the “Sack of Lawrence,” which officially ignited a guerrilla war between pro-slavery settlers aided by border ruffians and anti-slavery settlers. It is important to note that sporadic violence existed in the territory since 1855. This period of guerrilla warfare is referred to as Bleeding Kansas because of the blood shed by pro-slavery and anti-slavery groups, lasting until the violence died down in roughly 1859. Most of the violence was relatively unorganized, small scale violence, yet it led to mass feelings of terror within the territory. The most horrific incident occurred in late May 1856 when one night abolitionist fanatic John Brown and his sons forced five southerners from their homes along the Pot tawatomie Creek and murdered them in cold blood. While their victims were southerners they did not own any slaves but still supported slavery’s extension into Kansas. Republicans used Bleeding Kansas as a powerful rhetorical weapon in the 1856 Election to garner support among northerners by arguing that the Democrats clearly sided with the pro-slavery forces perpetrating this violence. In reality, both sides engaged in acts of violence—neither party was innocent.
What was the Kansas Nebraska Act?
In May 1854, Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act which formally organized the territory west of Missouri and Iowa ( Kansas and Nebraska) and opened this space up to settlers. In a departure from previous territorial and state organization bills, Congress did not explicitly designate these territories to be either free or enslaved. Rather, the Kansas-Nebraska Act adhered to popular sovereignty a principle where the people residing in Kansas and Nebraska would determine if the territory shall be free or enslaved either by a popular referendum or through the election of pro-slavery and anti-slavery representatives to draft a constitution. Consequently, free state and slave state proponents rushed to Kansas to try to stake their claim in their efforts to either legalize or prohibit slavery there. There was not the same flurry in Nebraska as it was largely assumed that it would become a free state without much debate; however, Kansas was a different story. Located directly west of Missouri, under the Missouri Compromise, slavery would be prohibited in the Kansas territory; however, the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act opened up the possibility for slavery to exist in this territory and many southerners remained committed to take advantage of this opportunity and make Kansas a slave state.
What were the settlers who moved to Kansas?
Most of the settlers who first moved to Kansas after the land went on sale were small midwestern farmers and non-slave holders from the Upper South and both groups had little interest in slavery’s extension. While there were few slave owning settlers, pro-slavery proponents were determined to legalize slavery in Kansas. On March 30, 1855 hundreds of heavily armed Missourians poured over the border, exploited a loophole as to what constituted “residency” in Kansas and voted in the first territorial election. Not only did they illegally cast their own ballots but these border ruffians also stuffed the ballot box with hundreds of fictious ballots. Consequently, a high majority of pro-slavery men were voted into the territorial legislature. This territorial legislature immediately passed draconian pro-slavery laws, including a law that stipulated the possession of abolitionist literature to be a capital offense. In response, the anti-slavery men formed their own government in Lawrence, Kansas, which the Pierce administration denounced as an illegitimate and outlaw regime. With this split between a pro-slavery government and an anti-slavery government it was only a matter of time before violent clashes broke out.
What war did the Kansans fight?
Between roughly 1855 and 1859, Kansans engaged in a violent guerrilla war between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces in an event known as Bleeding Kansas which... Between roughly 1855 and 1859, Kansans engaged in a violent guerrilla war between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces in an event known as Bleeding Kansas which...
When did Kansas legalize slavery?
While there were few slave owning settlers, pro-slavery proponents were determined to legalize slavery in Kansas. On March 30, 1855 hundreds of heavily armed Missourians poured over the border, exploited a loophole as to what constituted “residency” in Kansas and voted in the first territorial election.
What were the crimes of bleeding Kansas?
Murder and Mayhem. During "Bleeding Kansas", murder, mayhem, destruction and psychological warfare became a code of conduct in Eastern Kansas and Western Missouri. Well-known examples of this violence include the massacre in May 1856 at Pottawatomie Creek where John Brown and his sons killed five pro-slavery advocates.
What society terrorized free state settlers and attempted to drive them from Kansas?
It was suspected that they were sponsored by the Southern Emigrant Aid Society and were members of the Dark Lantern Societies. These societies terrorized free-state settlers and attempted to drive them from Kansas. A Town Divided. Fort Scott and the surrounding area were not immune from the violence.
What was the Marais Des Cygnes massacre?
The Marais Des Cygnes Massacre. published September 1858. The years of 1854-1861 were a turbulent time in Kansas territory. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 established the territorial boundaries of Kansas and Nebraska and opened the land to legal settlement. It allowed the residents of these territories to decide by popular vote whether their state ...
What happened in 1858?
In May of 1858, Montgomery and his men drove pro-slavery forces from Linn County. In retaliation, eleven free-staters were pulled out of their homes, taken to a ravine and shot down. This incident, known as the Marais des Cygnes Massacre was rumored to have been plotted in the Western Hotel.
What was the name of the political storm that occurred throughout the United States before the Civil War?
Sene Campbell. A Nation Divided. "Bleeding Kansas" was part of the political storm that occurred throughout the United States before the Civil War. The anti-slavery forces prevailed as Kansas entered into the Union a free state on January 29, 1861.
What were the three groups that occupied Kansas?
Three distinct political groups occupied Kansas: pro-slavers, free-staters and abolitionists. Violence broke out immediately between these opposing factions and continued until 1861 when Kansas entered the Union as a free state on January 29th. This era became forever known as "Bleeding Kansas". Murder and Mayhem.
What is the concept of self-determination in Kansas?
This concept of self-determination was called popular sovereignty'. In Kansas, people on all sides of this controversial issue flooded the territory, trying to influence the vote in their favor.
What act established the boundaries of Kansas and Nebraska?
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 established the territorial boundaries of Kansas and Nebraska and opened the land to legal settlement. It allowed the residents of these territories to decide by popular vote whether their state would be free or slave. This concept of self-determination was called popular sovereignty'.
What political groups occupied Kansas?
Three distinct political groups occupied Kansas: pro-slavers, free-staters and abolitionists. Violence broke out immediately between these opposing factions and continued until 1861 when Kansas entered the Union as a free state on January 29th. This era became forever known as "Bleeding Kansas".
When did Montgomery try to burn down the Western Hotel?
On June 5, 1858 , Montgomery and his raiders tried to burn down the Western Hotel. Several shots were fired into the hotel and surrounding homes, but the hotel was saved.
What battle did Montgomery and his men fight?
In April of 1858, Montgomery and his men fought U. S troops stationed at Fort Scott in the battle of Paint Creek. One soldier was killed in this encounter.
What was the Kansas-Nebraska Act?
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 instituted a policy known as popular sovereignty in the Kansas Territory, allowing the settlers to decide by vote whether the territory would be admitted to the Union as a slave or free state. Activists from each side flooded the territory in an attempt to influence the outcome, leading to violent, often deadly, ...
When did the first Kansas election take place?
A second party of 200 men, women and children arrive in September. Kansas Voting. November 29, 1854 – First election held in Kansas.
What was the first battle in the U.S. over slavery?
August 30, 1856 – Battle of Osawatomie – John Brown leads a raid on proslavery sympathizers in a small Kansas settlement on the Pottawatomie Creek. It is the first battle over slavery in the U.S. Five men are killed. The division in the Kansas territory over slavery leads to much violence in “Bleeding Kansas”.
What happened in the Battle of Hickory Point?
September 16, 1856 – The Battle of Hickory Point occurred when James H. Lane led a force of Jayhawkers against Hickory Point, a proslavery settlement in Jefferson County, Kansas. 1857 – Men in favor of slavery meet in Lecompton to hammer out ...
What prompted the influx of pro-slavery individuals into the new territory when it opened up for settlement?
The proximity of Kansas to slave-owning Missouri and the lack of any natural border between the two regions prompted an influx of pro-slavery individuals into the new territory when it opened up for settlement.
What happened in 1854?
May 30, 1854 – The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed and signed by President Franklin Pierce, and Kansas Territory was organized and opened up for settlement.
Where was the Battle of Fort Titus?
Fort Titus, Lecompton, Kansas today by Kathy Weiser-Alexander. August 16, 1856 – The Battle of Fort Titus occurred at Lecompton, Kansas when about 400 free-staters under the command of Samuel Walker attacked Fort Titus. August 30, 1856 – Battle of Osawatomie – John Brown leads a raid on proslavery sympathizers in a small Kansas settlement on ...
Overview
Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas, or the Border War was a series of violent civil confrontations in Kansas Territory, and to a lesser extent in western Missouri, between 1854 and 1859. It emerged from a political and ideological debate over the legality of slavery in the proposed state of Kansas.
The conflict was characterized by years of electoral fraud, raids, assaults, and …
Origins
As abolitionism became increasingly popular in the United States and tensions between its supporters and detractors grew, the U.S. Congress maintained a tenuous balance of political power between Northern and Southern representatives. At the same time, the increasing emigration of Americans to the country's western frontier and the desire to build a transcontinental railroad that …
Constitutional fight
Much of the early confrontation of the Bleeding Kansas era centered formally on the creation of a constitution for the future state of Kansas. The first of four such documents was the Topeka Constitution, written by anti-slavery forces unified under the Free-Soil Party in December 1855. This constitution was the basis for the Free-State territorial government that resisted the federally authorized government, elected by Missourians who, Congressional investigation soon revealed…
Open violence
On November 21, 1855, the so-called Wakarusa War began in Douglas County when a pro-slavery settler, Franklin Coleman, shot and killed a Free-Stater, Charles W. Dow, with whom Coleman had long been engaged in a feud that was unrelated to local or national politics. Dow was the first American settler to be murdered in the Kansas Territory. The decision by Douglas County Sheriff Sam…
Kansas admitted as a free state
The Congressional legislative deadlock was broken in early 1861 when, following the election of Abraham Lincoln as President, seven Southern states seceded from the Union. Kansas's entry as a free state had already been approved by the House of Representatives, but had been blocked by Southern senators. When, early in 1861, the senators of the seceding states withdrew from Congress or were expelled, Kansas was immediately, within days, admitted to the Union as a fre…
Legacy
In 2006, federal legislation defined a new Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area (FFNHA) and was approved by Congress. A task of the heritage area is to interpret Bleeding Kansas stories, which are also called stories of the Kansas–Missouri border war. A theme of the heritage area is the enduring struggle for freedom. FFNHA includes 41 counties, 29 of which are in eastern Kansas and 12 in western Missouri.
See also
• Constitutions of Kansas
• Origins of the American Civil War
Further reading
• Territorial Kansas Online 1854–1861. A virtual repository for Territorial Kansas History, University of Kansas and Kansas State Historical Society, 2018
• Brown, Salmon (June 1935). "John Brown and Sons in Kansas Territory". Indiana Magazine of History. Vol. 31, no. 2. pp. 142–150. JSTOR 27786731.
• Sanborn, F. B. (February 1908). "The Early History of Kansas, 1854–1861". Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 3rd. 1 [Vol…