Bleeding Kansas

1
Bleeding Kansas

• 1853-1861

2
The Compromise of 1850

• The Compromise of 1850 brought relative calm to
  the nation.
• Though most abolitionists strongly opposed the
  Compromise, the majority of Americans embraced
  it. Many believed it offered a final, workable
  solution to the slavery issue.
• Brought about a solution for regulating slavery
  in the western territories.
• The Missouri Compromise prohibited slavery in any
  new states to be created north of latitude
  3630.
• Kansas and Nebraska would be north of that line.
• Most importantly, it saved the Union from the
  terrible split many had feared.

3
Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854

• The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 created the
  territories of Kansas and Nebraska and opened new
  lands for settlement.
• The act was designed by Democratic Senator
  Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois it repealed the
  Missouri Compromise.
• The act established that settlers could decide
  for themselves whether to allow slavery.
• Popular sovereignty would decide whether there
  would be slavery or not.
• Opponents said it was a concession to Slave Power
  of the South and formed the new Republican Party.
• The act was a major step on the way to the
  American Civil War.

4
Meeting of North and South

• Pro-slavery settlers migrated to Kansas mainly
  from Missouri.
• In November of 1854, thousands of armed
  Southerners known as Border Ruffians, mostly
  from Missouri, poured over the line to vote for a
  proslavery congressional delegate.
• The proslavery forces won the election
• More significantly, the Border Ruffians repeated
  their actions on March 30, 1855, when the first
  territorial legislature was elected, swaying the
  vote again in favor of slavery.
• The proslavery territorial legislature convened
  in Pawnee, but after one week it adjourned to the
  Shawnee Mission on the Missouri border, where it
  began passing laws to institutionalize slavery in
  Kansas Territory.
• This would serve as the catalyst for the
  commencement of open violence.

5
Hostilities

• In August of 1855, a group of Free-Staters met
  and resolved to reject the proslavery laws passed
  by the territorial legislature.
• This meeting led to the drafting of the Topeka
  Constitution and the formation of a shadow
  government.
• In October of 1855, John Brown and his army of
  men came to the Kansas Territory to fight
  slavery.
• Violence erupted between John Brown and the
  pro-slavery advocates.
• The hostilities raged for two months until John
  Brown departed Kansas Territory.
• Approximately 55 people died in Bleeding Kansas.
  These actions are often regarded as the first
  shots of the Civil War.

6
Constitution

• In 1857, a Kansas constitutional convention was
  convened, which drafted what has become known as
  the Lecompton Constitution, a pro-slavery
  document.
• The abolitionist forces boycotted the
  ratification vote because it failed to offer them
  a means to vote against slavery.
• The Lecompton Constitution was accepted by
  President James Buchanan, who urged acceptance
  and statehood.
• Congress disagreed and ordered another election.
• In the second election the pro-slavery forces
  boycotted the process, allowing the anti-slavery
  forces to claim victory by defeating the
  document.
• Kansas entered the Union as a free state pursuant
  to its terms on January 29, 1861.

7
(No Transcript)