Bleeding Kansas

Few events have changed American life and US history more than the civil war. Fought from 1861 to 1865 under the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, the civil war redefined the whole of American culture. States' rights, though still cherished as part of Constitutionally-ordained federalism, took a backseat to national authority, with local sovereignty having been painted by the treasonous racism of the Confederacy. Before the civil war, people referred to the United States as a plural entity, saying "the United States are" or "the United States was" instead of "the United States is" or "the United States was". That habit died alongside the 620,000 Union and Confederate soldiers massacred by southern rebel Jefferson Davis. On a more positive note, racial equality became a real priority for the American government and people. Reconstruction set a precedent for Thomas Jefferson's words in the Declaration of Independence applying to all people, not just white men. Images of the civil war have also been glued to the American consciousness. "4 score and 7 years ago", "a new birth of freedom", and "government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the Earth" - all lines from Lincoln's famous Gettysburg Address - are now sewn into the vernacular. Gettysburg, Fort Sumter, and Appomattox Court House are famous battlegrounds. Secession has now become a threat, being used to haunt unpopular federal officials with memories of the civil war. What many people don't know is that this infamous quartet of years tainted by bloody fighting was foreshadowed by another 4-year era of civil conflict: Bleeding Kansas.

To truly understand why Bleeding Kansas took place, we need to go back to 1803, when Thomas Jefferson had just completed the Louisiana Purchase. In the years following this decision, the balance of free and slave states in Congress remained stable, with 11 of each type of state existing. However, on December 18, 1818, Missouri became the first area obtained in the Louisiana Purchase to apply for statehood, threatening to rupture this balance. The result was a period of then-unprecedented civil unrest known by historians as the Missouri Crisis. No matter what, Missouri entering the Union would kill the balance of free and slave state representation in Congress, especially the Senate. For this reason, people on both sides of the slavery issue were determined to ensure Missouri joined the Union adopting policies that echoed their own views. A civil war appeared to be on the horizon. However, this was prevented when, on March 6, 1820, James Monroe signed the Missouri Compromise. With this legislation, Monroe, unfortunately, admitted Missouri into the Union as a slave state. But the Missouri Compromise also preserved the Congressional balance by admitting Maine into the Union as a free state. Most importantly in regard to Bleeding Kansas, the Missouri Compromise banned slavery in all parts of the Louisiana Purchase located north of Missouri's southern border, exempting only Missouri itself.

Much later, in 1852, Franklin Pierce defeated Winfield Scott in that year's presidential election. Soon after being inaugurated on March 4, 1853, Pierce, although generally opposed to federal infrastructure spending for legal reasons, began seeking the construction of a transcontinental railroad. In other words, Pierce wanted to build a railroad that would wrap around the whole nation, stretching from the eastern seaboard to the Pacific coast. To this end, Pierce requested that Congress organize the Nebraska Territory - the remaining area of the Louisiana Purchase still not organized into a territory - into a status resembling statehood. This is because, under federal law, public lands could not be sold until the region they inhabited was organized into a formal territory. Pierce wanted to sell the land to private settlers so that he could fund the completion of this railroad track. Southern Congressmen were appalled by this idea. Because of the aforementioned Missouri Compromise, the new territories would ban slavery by default. As a result, these free lands would be closer to statehood if Pierce got his wish, adding further weight to anti-slavery influences in Congress. Thus, the bill trying to organize the Nebraska Territory was instantly shot down.

Stephen Douglas, a Democrat like Pierce, was disappointed by these results. Douglas desired the construction of a transcontinental railroad just as much as Pierce did. Douglas, though having been born in Vermont, launched his political career in Illinois and so relied on the votes of people in Illinois. If this transcontinental railroad materialized, then there would be spots and stations linked to the network located across Illinois, increasing the Union's reliance on Illinois and boosting Illinois' economy through the spending of people briefly stopping by within the state's borders. So, on January 4, 1854, Douglas proposed an early version of what would become the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. Under the bill written by Douglas, residents of the Nebraska Territory would be allowed to vote on whether or not their area would permit slavery. This was an attempted compromise between northern and southern Congressmen. It was actually based on a similar policy: Back in 1850, Millard Fillmore tried to quell debates over the status of slavery in lands gathered by the US during the Mexican-American War by allowing residents of these areas to vote on their laws regarding enslavement. Douglas, who supported Fillmore's policy, even stole the exact wording from the 1850 law.

However, like the Compromise of 1850, the Nebraska bill failed to appease both sides. This was because the Nebraska Territory was incredibly large, constituting far more than the modern state of Nebraska alone. Depending on how the people in Nebraska voted, the entire region would take either the northern or southern stance on slavery. This was an unacceptable proposition to both halves of the slavery debate. So, Douglas scrapped the original bill and wrote a new one: The Kansas-Nebraska Act. Under this bill, the Nebraska Territory would be organized into two new territories, a northern one still called the Nebraska Territory and a southern territory called the Kansas Territory. From there, the Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed residents of these two regions to vote on whether or not they'd allow slavery, just as Fillmore did and just as Douglas wanted to do with the initial Nebraska Territory. Southern Congressmen were satisfied with these terms, believing the separation of Nebraska to be code for "Kansas will be a slave state, while Nebraska will be a slave state". Northern Congressmen weren't as eager, however, even establishing the Republican Party in March 1854 to mobilize opposition against the bill.

Pierce was also hesitant to endorse the bill, though not for moral reasons. He feared the political consequences of signaling support for Douglas' law (even though he helped Douglas write it!) and so wanted to pressure the Supreme Court into ruling in favor of popular sovereignty (the idea that new states and territories should be allowed to vote on their policies regarding slavery) in Nebraska. Still, when Congress approved the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Pierce signed it into law on May 30, 1854. Northerners were outraged, while southerners were outraged about the outrage of northerners. The country became even more divided, making civil war all the more likely. With the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, people from across the US began flocking to Kansas to try and sway the elections in favor of their view on slavery. No one went to Nebraska as they all agreed that it would be a free state. Kansas was more disputed. Missourians began moving to Kansas in massive numbers, planning to vote for policies that would permit and enforce slavery. Abolitionist groups published pamphlets describing all the economic opportunities tucked within Kansas, hoping to entice northerners into moving there and voting to prohibit slavery. Chester A. Arthur was among those who traveled to the newborn state. They also founded the Emigrant Aid Company to help northerners come to Kansas.

On March 30, 1855, the election regarding the fate of slavery in Kansas was held. Those hoping to vote for slavery were known as Border Ruffians, while those intending to vote against slavery were dubbed Free-Staters. Unsurprisingly, the Border Ruffians stuffed the ballot boxes, causing Kansas to artificially become a slave state. With political power now concentrated in their hands, the Border Ruffians required all government officials in Kansas to take a formal oath pledging to uphold the legality of slavery. They also made protecting an escaped slave punishable by 10 years of hard labor and made promoting anti-slavery literature punishable by death! In retaliation, the Free-Staters set up a series of governments in exile that banned slavery. Amidst this increased tension, at the end of 1855, Border Ruffians and Free-Staters began clashing with one another, sparking Bleeding Kansas.

In early 1856, the federal government accused supporters of these new anti-slavery governments of being guilty of treason. Soon after, on May 11, 1856, federal authorities added yet more detail to these allegations, claiming that residents of a mainly Free-Stater town called Lawrence had given refuge to the treasonous organizers of these governments. Outraged, a group of Border Ruffians attacked Lawrence on May 21, 1856. During the ambush, known as the Siege of Lawrence, the Border Ruffians destroyed homes, set fire to a hotel, and shattered printing presses used by abolitionist newspapers. John Brown, one of the many abolitionists who moved to Kansas to help sway the elections against slavery, was furious when he learned about the Siege of Lawrence. So, 3 days later, on May 24, 1856, Brown abducted 5 men who participated in the attack on Lawrence and, along with some of his sons, brought them to the Pottawatomie Creek. Then, by the edge of this body of water, Brown and his sons beheaded the men in what is known by historians as the Pottawatomie Massacre. Just like Brown when he learned about the Siege of Lawrence, Border Ruffians informed of the Pottawatomie Massacre were indignant. They started searching for Brown.

Just over a week later, on the morning of June 2, 1856, Border Ruffian forces encountered Brown and his men in a field near a town called Black Jack. Brown, sensing that an attack was imminent, launched his other preemptive counteroffensive, sparking the Battle of Black Jack. Immediately after, Brown and his men hid in a nearby ditch. For the next 5 hours, the Border Ruffians searched for Brown in vain, eventually giving up. The Free-Staters led by Brown emerged from their chasm, demanding unconditional surrender from the Border Ruffians. When the Border Ruffians refused, the fighting resumed. Brown's Free-Stater forces then spread out along the edges of the battlefield, preventing the Border Ruffians from escaping. Realizing that they couldn't win the battle, the Border Ruffians announced their intent to surrender. Yet again, Brown ordered an unconditional surrender. This time, however, he threatened to shoot the leaders of the Border Ruffians in the head if they did not agree to an unconditional surrender, scaring them into admitting defeat. Thus far, Bleeding Kansas was going very well for the Free-Staters!

However, the Free-Staters' fortunes soon began to dissipate. In August,.they intercepted plans by the Border Ruffians to attack a majority Free-Stater town called Osawatomie. The plan was set to be carried out on August 30, 1856, and that morning, the Free-Staters prepared to resist the invasion. However, they also received false intelligence that the Border Ruffians were planning to ambush Osawatomie from the east, but in reality, they were going to attack from the west. For this reason, the Battle of Osawatomie quickly began to develop against the Free-Staters and in favor of the Border Ruffians. Before long, the Border Ruffians had set fire to much of Osawatomie. Wanting to spare what was left of the town, Brown and the other Free-Staters fled to a nearby log cabin, hoping that that would divert the wrath of the Border Ruffians. However, this did not work, and the town continued to fall victim to the pro-slavery massacre. From there, Brown surrendered, ending the Battle of Osawatomie in a major Border Ruffian victory. A few months later, in November 1856, that year's presidential election took place. This was the first election where the Republicans ran a candidate, nominating John C. Fremont. The Democrats, however, won the election, with James Buchanan securing the presidency.

Buchanan was inaugurated, replacing Pierce as president, on March 4, 1857. Soon after, in the autumn of 1857, the governor of Kansas ordered large swathes of the state's population to move to other regions of the country. With this, the number of radical abolitionists and deranged slaveholders living in Kansas decreased, dramatically reducing the violence. However, Bleeding Kansas was not yet complete. To fully eliminate the anarchy, an election was held in Kansas on October 4, 1859, where it was decided which constitution the new state would follow. The proposed state constitutions were:

• Lecompton Constitution - this constitution allowed slavery, excluded black people from its bill of rights, and prohibited free blacks from moving to Kansas if they didn't already live there (Buchanan supported this proposal)
• Leavenworth Constitution - this constitution banned slavery and allowed all men, regardless of race, to vote
• Topeka Constitution - this constitution banned slavery and allowed white men, as well as Native American men who assimilated into the culture of European settlers, to vote
• Wyandotte Constitution - this constitution banned slavery and allowed women to own property, but barred women and black people from voting

Ultimately, the Wyandotte Constitution won out. Its ban on slavery satisfied the abolitionists, while the exclusion of black people and women from the franchise appeased Border Ruffians. With this, Bleeding Kansas drew to a close. However, tensions over slavery did not draw to a close. Just 2 weeks after the 1859 election, John Brown was arrested in Harpers Ferry, a town in modern-day West Virginia, for trying to steal weapons with which he would help slaves escape their plantations. Brown was tried for murder and treason, found guilty, and subsequently executed on December 2, 1859. In his final moments, Brown slipped his executioner a note reading, "I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood." How right he was! 4,000,000 American men, women, and children wouldn't enjoy the liberties promised to them back in July of 1776 until 620,000 of their siblings were murdered by Confederate slaveowners in the civil war. And the country witnessed a gruesome, sobering snapshot of that war in the form of Bleeding Kansas.