Sentiment was boiling with respect to the issue of slavery. There was a delicate balance in Congress----eleven Free states and eleven slave states. Missouri wants to join the union as a slave state, a challenge to the fragile equilibrium of the political era. Henry Clay helps to provide the answer with the Missouri Compromise. It simply stated that Missouri would join the union as a slave state, while Maine would detach from Massachusetts as a free state (Etcheson 1). Furthermore, slavery would be outlawed in lands north of the southern border of Missouri, except of course, Missouri (Etcheson 1). This compromise was a band aid fix to the many cracks appearing in the national argument for and against slavery. However, it did succeed in thwarting unrest and rebellion for nearly thirty years until the question of Kansas and Nebraska arose. According to the Missouri Compromise, these areas should have abolished slavery much to the dismay of southerners. Attempts to legitimize the territories failed frequently because the southern states had no desire for the addition of Free states (Etcheson 2). Stephen Douglas then modified the Missouri Compromise. The Kansas-Nebraska Act effectively canceled the abolishment of slavery in the northern part of the Louisiana Purchase and replaced the slavery question with the idea of popular sovereignty, which simply put means that the people decided what was best for their territory (Etcheson 2). In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act replaced the Missouri Compromise, effectively putting the slavery issue at the hands of the people (Etcheson 2). Needless to say, the North was left seething.
Many people from the North and South only wanted to build a homestead and were neutral in the debate. Most of the Free State settlers were not against slavery based on some high moral principles. They wanted their land to be for white people (Etcheson 4). Most slaves worked on large plantations, thereby taking up the land that could have been used for homesteading (Etcheson 4).
Missourians who lived near the Kansas border wanted Kansas to be a slave state. They were called the “Border Ruffians” (“Border Ruffians”). They were adamant in finding a way to destroy the anti-slavery Free Staters and eager to drive them out of the territory. However, it would not be easy. When the time neared for a territorial legislature to be chosen, thousands of men poured into Kansas from Missouri and voted fraudulently (“Border Ruffians”). Even though the majority of the settlers in Kansas were anti-slavery, they were outnumbered by these pro-slavery Missourians (“Border Ruffians”). The consequence was an overwhelming pro-slavery government in the territory. This legislature passed a series of bold measures. They included the death penalty for persons who would dare assist a slave in escaping or rebelling, harsh punishment and fines for merely speaking out against slavery, and legalizing the votes of the thousands of men who crossed over to vote from Missouri (“Border Ruffians”). However, anti-slavery residents greatly outnumbered the pro-slavery residents and refused to follow the laws of a government that had been dishonestly established (“Border Ruffians”). They elected a governor and erected their own legislature (“Border Ruffians”). The band aid fix had fallen apart and waves of inconsolable fury would shake Kansas to its core.
Lawrence, Kansas was founded as an anti-slavery hub, settled by Free Staters from the Northeast. It was a thorn in the side of the pro-slavery movement. On November 21, 1855, a native of Missouri, Franklin Coleman, murdered a Free Stater, Charles Dow, over a land issue (“Border Ruffians”). The victim’s friend, Jacob Branson, was arrested and jailed, but Free Staters rescued him and took him to Lawrence (“Border Ruffians”). The sheriff then called for assistance from the governor, who called for the militia and soon Lawrence was surrounded by pro-slavery forces (“Border Ruffians”).The people of Lawrence were put on defense. Free Staters from the North came to assist the settlers. Sharps rifles had been delivered to Lawrence and put fear into the Missourians, causing a halt to any ambition of attack.
. Many of the Free Staters coming to assist in Lawrence were shocked to discover that the Free Staters were only trying to protect their town (“Border Ruffians”). The residents of Lawrence sent word to Governor Shannon of this sentiment, and he came to Lawrence himself to figure out the true situation. Upon inspection, Governor Shannon called a meeting between the opposing forces, where the leaders signed a treaty, effectively ending the stand-off (Etcheson 3). This was known as the Wakarusa War, so named because the pro-slavery faction had camped out near the Wakarusa River (Etcheson 3). However, this would not be the final provocation.
In the spring of 1856, Douglas County Sheriff Samuel Jones was intent on arresting the Free State men in Lawrence, Kansas. Samuel Jones gathered around eight hundred men and a cannon. These men went on a rampage. They destroyed two printing presses and tried to blast the Free State Hotel with the cannon but missed and burned it down instead (Etcheson 3). They looted shops and homes and left a disaster in their wake.
The events in Lawrence riled the blood of one man in particular, John Brown. John Brown was a stalwart abolitionist. He was incensed by the events in Lawrence. So Brown decided to take matters into his own hands. He and a few men went to Pottawatomie Creek in Franklin County, Kansas (Chowder 2). There, they dragged five men out of their homes and hacked them to death (Chowder 2). Southerners were incensed, and Brown became a hunted man. This event became known as the Pottawatomie Massacre (Chowder 2).
These events in Kansas, termed Bleeding Kansas, were only a harbinger of what was to come. They set off a chain reaction that would ultimately lead to the Civil War, where almost 700,000 men would perish in the bloodiest conflict the country would ever know.
Works Cited
“Border Ruffians.” UShistory.org. Independence Hall Association, n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2016. <http://www.ushistory.org/us/31b.asp>
Chowder, Ken. "The Father of American Terrorism." American Heritage. American Heritage Publishing Company, Feb.-Mar. 2000. Web. 3 Apr. 20165. <http://www.warrencountyschools.org/userfiles/1635/Classes/13760/john%20bron%20americna%20terrorism.pdf?id=532570>.
Etcheson, Nicole. Essential Civil War Curriculum | Nicole Etcheson, Bleeding Kansas | June 2012 (n.d.): n. pag. The Essential Civil War Curriculum. Virginia Center for Civil War Studies at Virginia Tech, June 2012. Web. 5 Apr. 2016. <http://www.essentialcivilwarcurriculum.com/assets/files/pdf/ECWCTOPICBleedingKansasEssay.pdf>.
