Bleeding Kansas

John Brown

(1854-1858)

Bleeding Kansas was the name given to the territory of Kansas in 1854 just prior to the start of the Civil War. Kansas was rife with murderous mobs, public hangings, beatings and general terror. The conflict was between Northern abolitionists and pro-slavery Southerners. The chance for a bloodless compromise, as was the case earlier with Missouri, was gone. The main issue was whether or not Kansas would become a free or a slave state.

Kansas was a powder keg that was ready to go off and kill many people on both sides of the fence. It was the right time for a bloodbath and the men who were going to ignite this keg were at the ready. Federal authorities tried to intervene but to no avail. Lawrence Kansas was the main location where most of the trouble was. Lawrence was a central hub for the anti-slavery forces, which made a big target for pro slavery fighters. The once peaceful farming town was now the front line in a fight that seemed to have no end in sight. The blood was flowing in Kansas and few if any could or would stop it.

Lawrence was such a hotbed for many reasons; one of those was that the residents that founded the town were anti-slavery. They settled Lawrence and they felt that all of Kansas should be a free state. This did not sit well with the pro-slavery fighters. They wanted blood from the Free-soilers, for what they saw as treasonous acts as the Lawrence residents often harbored slaves, abolitionist, and anyone who was sympathetic to the abolitionist cause.

In May 1856 armed with long-rifles and machetes, a band of men from Missouri attacked Lawrence. They wrecked newspapers, robbed banks, and burned the hotel and the home of the Free-Soil Governor. Four days later, abolitionist John Brown and his four sons grabbed five pro-slavery settlers in the middle of the night from their homes in Pottawatomie Creek and brutality murdered them in front of their families.

The struggle for Kansas would continue up until 1859 when both sides agreed to stop the violence. Around 56 people died in this struggle.

Violence again erupted during the Civil War in Kansas. The most notable example was the Lawrence massacre in 1863 by William Quantrill and his raiders.

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