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Bleeding
Kansas Border War
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Bleeding Kansas Border War History
The
Bleeding Kansas Border War erupted in 1854 following the
Kansas Nebraska Act
● The
Missouri
Compromise of 1820 admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a slave state
which maintained the balance between
'free soil' and 'slave soil'. It also prohibited the extension of
slavery north of the 36°30′ latitude, as indicated
on the map
● The
Compromise of 1850
contravened the
Missouri Compromise by allowing the
people of the new territories of New Mexico
and Utah to decide whether their states favored or opposed slavery
by virtue of Popular
Sovereignty (meaning rule by the people),
● The
1854
Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed white settlers to
decide (by popular sovereignty) whether or not to
have slavery
Bleeding Kansas Background History for kids
The
Kansas-Nebraska Act opened up a massive region to slavery
using the
precedent of
the
Popular Sovereignty
Doctrine. The anti-slavery leaders in the North were furious
and launched a ferocious attack against the bill.
It provided a focal point for the
Abolitionist Movement who mounted a media
campaign against the law, applied political
pressure to abolish slavery and established a
free-soil campaign. Settlers from the south flooded Kansas to acquire
lands and vote for the expansion of slavery.
Settlers from the North and the East also headed for Kansas intent
on preventing the expansion of slavery. Inevitable the two sides
became involved in violent confrontations - Bleeding Kansas was a
proxy war (the government did participate but various politicians
"fuelled the flames".
Bleeding Kansas for kids
President Franklin Pierce had approved of the
Kansas-Nebraska Act and had commented on slavery
during his Inaugural Address on March 4, 1853 stating:
"I
believe that involuntary servitude, as it exists in different States of this
Confederacy, is recognized by the Constitution."
Senator William H. Seward was a determined
opponent of the spread of slavery and said to the Southerners in Congress:
"Come on, then...We will engage in competition
for the soil of Kansas,
and God give the victory to the side that is strong in numbers as it is in
right."
Origin of the term 'Bleeding Kansas'
The origin of the term 'Bleeding Kansas' is generally credited to
Horace Greeley, the editor of the New York Tribune. It is possible
that the name was inspired by an Abolitionist poem called
'Our Country's Call' published on July 17, 1856 in
the Davenport (Iowa) Gazette. The first verse of the poem reads as
follows:
"Hear
the Nation's call, freemen, one and all,
Hear Poor Kansas' earnest cry:
See her bleeding land lift its beckoning hand;
Sons of freedom, come ye nigh."
Bleeding Kansas Events for kids
As soon as the
Kansas-Nebraska Act
was passed, armed "Sons of the South" crossed the border of Missouri
and founded the towns of Leavenworth and Atchison. Armed settlers
from the North and the East founded the towns of Lawrence, Lecompton
and Topeka. The an election was held. Hundreds of men flooded over
the boundary of Missouri and out-voted the free-soil (anti-slavery)
settlers in Kansas, and then went home. The territorial legislature,
chosen in this way, adopted the same laws of Missouri, including the
slave code, as the laws of Kansas. This action brought vicious
retaliation from the anti-slavery forces that erupted into the Civil
war in Kansas (Bleeding Kansas), which continued intermittently
until it merged with the large-scale Civil War of 1861-1865.
This event was one of the
Causes of the Civil War.
Bleeding Kansas
Battles for kids
The skirmishes and
battles fought during the Bleeding Kansas era are the Wakarusa War,
the Sack of Lawrence, the Pottawatomie Massacre, the Battle of Black
Jack, the Battle of Fort Titus, the Battle of Osawatomie, the Battle
of Hickory Point, the Marais Des Cygnes Massacre and the Battle of
the Spurs.
Bleeding Kansas Timeline, History and Facts for kids
Interesting Bleeding Kansas Timeline, History and facts for kids are detailed below. The history of Bleeding Kansas is told in a
factual sequence consisting of a series of short facts providing a
simple method of relating the events in Bleeding Kansas. Notable
incidents in the Bleeding Kansas era were the emergence of
John
Brown as
militant activist, the Wakarusa War, the Sack of Lawrence, the
Pottawatomie Massacre, the Battle of Black Jack, the Battle of Fort
Titus, the Battle of Osawatomie, the Battle of Hickory Point, the
Marais Des Cygnes Massacre and the Battle of the Spurs.
Bleeding
Kansas History Timeline Facts for kids
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 1:
March 6, 1820:
Missouri Compromise
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 2:
1850: The Compromise
of 1850, was drafted by Henry Clay, based on the ideas
of Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois.
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 3:
1854: Stephen A.
Douglas writes the Kansas-Nebraska Act implementing the
concept of popular sovereignty
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 4:
May 30 1854:
President Franklin Pierce signs the Kansas-Nebraska Act
leaving the legality of slavery to the will of the
people in Kansas Territory
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 5:
June 1854:
Pro-slavery supporters crossed the border of Missouri
and founded the towns of Leavenworth and Atchison.
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 6:
June 1854: Eli Thayer
of Worcester, Massachusetts founded the Emigrant Aid
Society to promote the settlement of anti-slavery groups
in Kansas in Lawrence,
Lecompton and Topeka.
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 7:
June 1854:
Abolitionist preacher Henry Ward Beecher collected money
to arm anti-slavery settlers with Sharps rifles, that
became known as "Beecher's Bibles".
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 8:
August 1854: 29
northern emigrants (primarily from Massachusetts and
Vermont) arrived in the newly established town of
Lawrence, Kansas. 200 more arrived in September 1854.
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 9:
November 1854:
Thousands of armed pro-slavery men known as "Border
Ruffians" pour over the border to sway the forth-coming
election
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 10:
November 29, 1854:
The first election in Kansas and the pro-slavery forces
win the election. Andrew H. Reeder was made governor but
the election had been compromised by pro-slavery
Missourians who had flooded the state
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 11:
March 30, 1855: The
Pro-slavery Border Ruffians sway the vote in the
territorial legislature, oust all free-state members and
remove Governor Reeder from office.
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 12:
July 2, 1855: The
pro-slavery legislature convene in the Shawnee Mission
in Fairway, on the Missouri border, and began to pass
laws to institutionalize slavery in Kansas
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact
13: August 1855: A group
of Abolitionist Free-Soilers met at Topeka and resolve
to reject the pro-slavery laws passed by the territorial
legislature and draft the Topeka Constitution.
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 14:
August 1855: The
anti-slavery group form of a rival government called the
Free-State Party. They adopt the Topeka Constitution and
elect Charles Robinson as Governor
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 15:
Violence escalates
between the Border Ruffians and the Free-Staters
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 16:
October 1855: John
Brown arrives in Kansas determined to join the fight
against slavery
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 17:
November 21, 1855:
The minor skirmish called the "Wakarusa War" begins
around Lawrence, Kansas, and the Wakarusa River Valley,
when a Free-Stater named Charles Dow is shot by a
pro-slavery settler.
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 18:
December 1, 1855: An
anti-slavery army of 1,500 lays siege to Lawrence. John
Brown musters Free-State settlers into a defending army
and erects barricades to defend Lawrence
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 19:
December 1, 1855: No
attack on Lawrence was made as a peace treaty is agreed
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 20:
January 24, 1856:
President Franklin Pierce declares the Free-State Topeka
government to be a "revolution" against the rightful
leaders
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 21:
March 1856: The
official territorial capital was moved to Lecompton, 12
miles from Lawrence
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 22:
April, 1856: A
congressional committee finds the previous Kansas
elections to be fraudulent, pronouncing that the
Free-State government represents the will of the
majority.
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 23:
April, 1856: The
pronouncement is ignored by President and the
pro-slavery legislature remains in power
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 24:
May 21, 1856: A group
of Border Ruffians entered the Free-State stronghold of
Lawrence and burn the Free State Hotel, two newspaper
offices and ransack homes and stores
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 25:
May 22, 1856:
Violence erupts in the Senate chambers. South Carolina
Democrat Preston Brooks is seriously injured in an
attack by Massachusetts Free Soil Senator Charles Sumner
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 26:
May 24, 1856: The
"Pottawatomie Massacre." A group led by John Brown kill
5 pro-slavery settlers along Pottawatomie Creek near
Osawatomie, the incident becomes known as the
"Pottawatomie Massacre."
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 27:
June 2, 1856: The
Battle of Black Jack. John Brown leads a Free-State
militia attack on a pro-slavery militia led by Henry
Clay Pate near Baldwin City. The Battle of Black
Jack becomes the first proper battle of the Bleeding
Kansas Border War
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 28:
July 4, 1856:
President Franklin Pierce sends federal troops to break
up an attempted meeting of the Free-State government in
Topeka
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 29:
August 16, 1856: The
Battle of Fort Titus, near Lecompton. Free-Staters led
by Captain Samuel Walker win the Battle of Fort Titus
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 30:
August 1856: Battle
of Osawatomie. John Brown leads a force against 400
proslavery soldiers in the "Battle of Osawatomie".
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 31:
August 1856:
Thousands of pro-slavery men form into armies and march
into Kansas
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 32:
September 13, 1856:
The Battle of Hickory Point in which pro-slavery
defenders surrendered to the free-state militia
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 33:
October 1856: A new
territorial governor, John W. Geary, takes office and
manages to persuade both sides to keep the peace.
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 34:
October 1856: John
Brown leaves the state, as hostilities decrease
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 35:
1857-1858: The peace
agreement is broken broken by intermittent skirmishes
and violent outbreaks
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 36:
1857: The Lecompton
Constitution, a pro-slavery document, is written in
response to the anti-slavery position of the 1855 Topeka
Constitution
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 37:
March 4, 1857: James
Buchanan is inaugurated as president
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 38:
March 1857: James
Buchanan approves the Lecompton Constitution
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 39:
April 3, 1858: The
Leavenworth Constitution, drafted by a convention of
Free-Staters, was adopted by the convention at
Leavenworth April 3, 1858, and by the people at an
election held May 18, 1858.
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 40:
May 19, 1858: The
Marais des Cygnes Massacre. A Pro-slavery militia from
Bates County, Missouri round up and kill 5 citizens
during the Marais des Cygnes Massacre in Linn County
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 41:
January 31, 1859: The
"Battle of the Spurs". A Federal posse reach John Brown
and slaves he is leading to freedom near Holton, Kansas,
but flee when confronted
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 42:
July 1859: The
Wyandotte Constitution was the fourth, and last,
constitution voted on by the people of Kansas Territory.
The Wyandotte Constitution was drawn up at Wyandotte
(now part of Kansas City) and rejected slavery.
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 43:
October 4, 1859: The
Wyandotte Constitution was approved by a vote of 10,421
to 5,530
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 44:
April, 1860: The
United States House of Representatives voted to admit
Kansas under the Wyandotte Constitution. Senators from
the south left their seats as southern slave
states seceded from the Union and the Senate passed the
Kansas bill.
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 45:
January 29, 1861,
Kansas was admitted to the Union as a free state
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 46:
March 4, 1861:
Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as President of the
United States
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 47:
March 4, 1861: Seven
slave states formed the
Confederacy (South Carolina,
Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and
Texas)
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 48:
March 16, 1861: Four
more states join the Confederacy (Virginia, North
Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas)
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 49:
April 12, 1861: The
Civil War begins when Confederate forces fired upon
Fort Sumter.
Bleeding Kansas
Timeline Fact 50:
May 10, 1865: The
Civil War is fought for 4 years, 3 weeks and 6 days
before it finally ends in 1865
Bleeding
Kansas History Timeline Facts for kids
Black
History for kids: Important People and Events
For visitors interested in African American History
refer to
Black History - People and Events.
A useful resource for
teachers, kids, schools and colleges undertaking
projects for the Black History Month.
Bleeding Kansas - President Franklin Pierce Video
The article on the Bleeding Kansas provides an overview of one of the Important issues of his presidential term in office. The following
Franklin Pierce video will
give you additional important facts and dates about the political events experienced by the 14th American President whose presidency spanned from March 4, 1853 to March 4, 1857.
Bleeding Kansas
● Interesting Facts about Bleeding Kansas for kids and schools
● Definition of the Bleeding Kansas in US history
● The Bleeding Kansas, a Important
event in US history
● Map, Summary, Effects, Significance of Bleeding Kansas
● Fast, fun, interesting
facts
about Bleeding Kansas
● Bleeding Kansas Provisions
● Facts and Timeline of Bleeding Kansas for schools,
homework, kids and children
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