Bleeding Kansas

What was Bleeding Kansas?

Between the years of 1854 and 1859, Bleeding Kansas, also known as Bloody Kansas or the Border War, was a small war that broke out in the United States, violence occurring all along Kansas territory and into western Missouri. The war broke out between proslavery and antislavery advocates alike all over control of Kansas territory under popular sovereignty and the legality and morality of slavery in Kansas, a political and theological debate. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 was set to hopefully eliminate the tensions between the sides over land, allowing for territorial self-government but ultimately, that did not work. Instead, antislavery advocates banded together to populate Kansas while proslavery advocates came in from Missouri in hopes to claim it as a slave state. This led to the destruction left behind by Bleeding Kansas.

“Bleeding Kansas describes the period of repeated outbreaks of violent guerilla warfare between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces following the creation of the new territory of Kansas in 1854”

-History.com Editors Apr. 7, 2021

Where it All Began

When the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed in 1854, by Senator Stephen A. Douglas, it not only repealed the Missouri Compromise making Kansas a free state, but it created the territories allowed for popular sovereignty. This is known to be the decisions amongst the people as to whether or not territories would become free states or slave states. While some people genuinely arrived at that territory just looking to settle, most were politically motivated antislavery and proslavery settlers looking to add the state to their list of followers. Then started a mini civil war known as Bleeding Kansas.

A Nation Divided

The state eventually divided into capitals, having a proslavery capital in Lecompton and an antislavery capital in Lawrence and Topeka. The anger, opposition and violence ensued over time. Both sides fought fiercely in an effort to lean the state majority one way or the other. Proslavery activists were in such support of their cause Senator David Atchison led over 1,700 men from Missouri over into the border of Kansas. These men became known as “Border Ruffians” which would attack people and threaten them to be shot or hanged should they choose to oppose slavery. These men were originally brought over to just cast a vote for their representation, but obviously, this would be just one of the many examples of violence amongst the people during Bleeding Kansas. Proslavery gained the numbers and antislavery settlers were vastly outvoted. This was a big win for the proslavery movement as it passed a harsh legislature, got their leaders appointed and gained support.

Then What?

As time progressed, the antislavery population in Kansas increased greatly and they began to far outnumber those on their mission to be proslavery. They became organized and known as the “Free Soilers” who came up with their own free state system of government and legislature, even with their own leaders all located in Topeka. Naturally this was not received well. Antislavery followers and leaders were pushing to introduce their legislation all the while proslavery followers were doing the same. Furthermore, abolitionist followers such as John Brown (see below for his story) and his sons committed many crimes to further the efforts of the movement, whichever side they supported between proslavery and antislavery, that is. Though this was a very drawn out dispute, it didn’t really accumulate many deaths. In fact, it is said to have killed about 55 people. Regardless, after Bleeding Kansas was entirely over, many things came to follow. Let’s discuss SOME of the crucial ones. 

The Damage is Done

For one, it became one of the top initiators of the Civil War and in some cases only furthered the argument on slavery. Politics were in a complete uproar even resulting in the destruction of some political parties, such as the old Whig coalition, and creation of others, such as the Republican Party. Violence ensued, including beating Senator Charles Sumner to the ground for being an antislavery Republican. Also, the sacking of Lawrence when proslavery settlers ransacked Lawrence, Kansas to emphasize their mission on making Kansas a slave state. Everything mentioned is just some of what happened during the time and shortly after the mini-war known to be Bleeding Kansas. In the end, antislavery settlers were victorious and Kansas became a free state in 1861.

                                        

John Brown and the Pottawatomie Massacre (May 24-25, 1856)

In May of 1856, five men who were currently living on the proslavery settlement on Pottawatomie Creek in Franklin County, Kansas were murdered in cold blood in the dead of night. This became known as the Pottawatomie Massacre. A radical abolitionist by the name of John Brown took some friends and family members to the settlers cabins to seek vengeance for the sacking of Lawrence days prior, attack on Charles Sumner at the U.S. Senate and the proslavery movement altogether. John Brown chose to make a stand for his faithful cause and show loyalty to the people, but what happened was perhaps more than he bargained for. This event sparked much of the violence, anger and terror that surrounded the years of Bleeding Kansas.

Sources:

​​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleeding_Kansas

https://www.britannica.com/event/Bleeding-Kansas-United-States-history

https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Bleeding_Kansas

https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Kansas_Nebraska_Act.htm

​​https://www.ushistory.org/us/31b.asp

https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/bleeding-kansas

https://civilwaronthewesternborder.org/encyclopedia/pottawatomie-massacre