What was Bleeding Kansas?

Many Americans are familiar with the history of the Civil War, but less attention is paid to the period of growing domestic conflict and partisan division that preceded it.

The battle over slavery — and for the soul of America — began long before the start of the war in 1861.

That conflict was initially waged as a war of ideas, with a growing number of abolitionist Americans choosing to speak out against the institution of slavery.

It was in Kansas that this war of ideas spilled into the real world, with the countless atrocities that occurred in Kansas in the 1850s hardening both sides against each other and precipitating the start of the Civil War.

Kansas & the Long Civil War

In 1854, Congress passed a law that would establish Kansas and Nebraska as U.S. territories with formal government structures.

Thanks to an amendment added to gain the support of Southern pro-slavery Congressmen, the Kansas-Nebraska Act decreed that the residents of the two new territories would be able to vote on whether slavery ought to be allowed in the state.

Kansas, which bordered the slave state of Missouri, would soon become a battleground between those Northerners who sought to establish Kansas as a “free state” without slavery. and the Southerners who sought to protect the white supremacist slavery system that defined the South.

Northern abolitionists and Southern slavery supporters streamed into the state. It was clear to those on both sides that the future of slavery in America would be decided in Kansas, and the territory’s early elections were marred by violence and voter fraud.

Historian Albert Castel described the bloody conflict:

The term ‘Bleeding Kansas’ was popularized by the New York Tribune in the 1850s in its reporting on the violence occurring in Kansas. It was first coined in a poem published in the newspaper:

At one point, abolitionists — known as “free staters” — and pro-slavery forces had set up their own legislatures and governments, with each accusing the other of being illegitimate.

In 1856, a Congressional delegation found that pro-slavery faction had won elections thanks to thousands of Missourians (known as “Border Ruffians”) who crossed into Kansas to vote in favor of slavery.

Violence between settlers from different factions escalated, with a pro-slavery force raiding the city of Lawrence, which had been founded by anti-slavery settlers and was a hub of abolitionist culture.

The Sacking of Lawrence was a key event, despite the fact that only one person died during the raid, due to the fact that pro-slavery forces destroyed the offices and printing presses of two abolitionist newspapers, the Kansas Free State and the Herald of Freedom.

The Caning of Charles Sumner

In May 1856, Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner gave what would become one of the best-known speeches in Senate history.

In the now-famous “Crime Against Kansas” speech, Sumner condemned slavery and the use of violence by pro-slavery forces in Kansas. He called for Kansas to be added to the Union as a free state and attacked those who sought to expand the power of slavery into new U.S. territories.

Two weeks later, a Southern Congressman named Preston Brooks attacked Sumner on the Senate floor with a cane. He admitted to striking him thirty times until the cane shattered, leaving Sumner unconscious with a fractured skull.

After the attack, Southerners praised Brooks for his defense of slavery and the South.

Some Southern members of Congress even wore pieces of the shattered cane on their necks to celebrate Brooks, while Northerners condemned the brutal attack by one member of Congress against another on the Senate floor.

Quantrill’s Raiders

The violence continued in Kansas throughout the 1850s and after the war started in 1861.

Kansas was admitted into the Union as a free state in that same year, and Confederate forces from Missouri frequently crossed into Kansas for raids on Union settlements and troops.

The most famous Confederate guerilla group was Quantrill’s Raiders, who were known for their brutality toward the Union troops they encountered.

In 1856, Quantrill organized a major Confederate incursion into Kansas. In a pre-dawn raid on the abolitionist stronghold of Lawrence, his Confederate partisans killed over 150 men and boys and burned much of the town.

The Lawrence Massacre was one of the most brutal events of the war, shocking even the Confederate leadership. Quantrill and his raiders went to Texas, where they continued to attack Union troops as essentially independent outlaws.

One of the most famous members of the Raiders was Jesse James, who would later become the most well-known criminal in American history.

Learn More:

For historical topics like this, the History Channel is one of the best resources out there. Their write-up of Bleeding Kansas is a quick and informative read, and I also enjoyed this old-school History Channel documentary on Quantrill’s Raiders. I grew up watching the History Channel, so I am a bit biased. ;)

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Thank you for reading. Please reply to this email if you have any thoughts or feedback.

Yours,
Dan