Andrew Mansfield and Jon MacNally week 3 AS1

1. Growing Unrest in the 1850s
By Andrew Mansfield & Jon McNally

2. Bleeding Kansas

3. Bleeding Kansas was a border war at the Kansas territory
between free-state forces, who were anti slavery, and
Border Ruffians, who were proslavery. The skirmishes
were fought over the issue of whether Kansas would be
admitted to the Union as a free or slave state.
The admittance of a new free state would mean that the
north would gain even more power, and vice versa for the
south if Kansas was admitted as a slave state. Neither side
wanted the other to succeed, and both went to extreme
measures to ensure this.

4. New England Emigrant Aid Company- formed in the summer of 1854
to promote free-soil settlement of Kansas (McPherson 145).
Missourians crossed the border into Kansas with numbers greater than
the free soilers. They cast illegal ballots in an attempt to elect a
proslavery candidate for congress. They were successful in their first
attempt when they cast over 1,700 ballots.
On the next attempt, 4,908 proslavery men crossed the border from
Missouri to Kansas and elected 36 proslavery men for Kansas’
territorial legislature. Free soilers, on the other hand, only managed to
elect 3 free soilers.

5. Senator David Atchison of Missouri was the leader of multiple Border Ruffian Raids on abolitionists in
Kansas. He was a proslavery Fire-Eater, and delivered many speeches in which he encouraged
Missourians to use violence against abolitionists in Kansas. He was quoted saying “There are eleven
hundred men coming over from Platte County to vote, and if that ain’t enough we can send five
thousand - enough to kill every God-damned abolitionist in the Territory” (McPherson 147).
Atchison convinced President Pierce to replace Andrew Reeder, the Pennsylvanian democrat who held
the title of territorial governor of Kansas, with a more pliable candidate in Wilson Shannon.
Wilson Shannon was responsible for enforcing a slave code that called for harsh punishments for
expressing opinions against slavery. Free soilers did not obey the new “bogus” laws, and wrote their
own free-state constitution. They created a new territorial government in Topeka to oppose the
proslavery one in Lecompton. They also armed themselves with rifles sent from New England to support
their anti slavery cause. There was now a clear division within Kansas.

6. Proslavery Judge Samuel Lecompte wanted free soilers
who had created a new government to be charged with
treason. He deputized 800 Border Ruffians to combat the
abolitionists at Lawrence. There was no fight, but the
Border Ruffians destroyed the town, creating further
tension between people who were pro and anti slavery.

7. The unrest between factions in Kansas was also prominent on
a much larger scale. Both Republicans and Democrats
introduced bills to Congress to admit Kansas as a slave state or
a free state. Both sides hoped to use the issue to help their
cause in the upcoming presidential election. Each side tried to
pass their bill, but it was in deadlock because the House was
controlled by the Republicans and the Democrats controlled
the Senate.
Debates turned to physical altercation when Preston Brooks
assaulted Charles Sumner with his gold-headed cane after
Sumner made a speech criticising Brooks’ cousin.

8. Tension was felt all over the Union because of Bleeding Kansas
and the ensuing events. Northerners looked at Southerners as
barbarians. They compared Preston Brooks’ assault on Charles
Sumner to slavery. The Cincinnati Gazette wrote “Has it come
to this, that we must speak with bated breath in the presence
of our Southern masters?... Are we to be chastised as they
chastise their slaves? Are we too, slaves, slaves for life, a
target for their brutal blows, when we do not comport
ourselves to please them?” (McPherson 150).
The South on the other hand, rallied in defense of Brooks.
They thought he was a hero for standing up for the South.

9. Following the events of Bleeding Kansas, the Republican party
established itself on an anti slavery platform. They did not focus on the
issues of nativism or temperance like the Whigs did. The Democrats on
the other hand, focused on all issues except slavery. As a result, Kansas
became one of the most republican states in the Union, and the
democrats had a falling out.

10. The Dred Scott Decision

11. Dred Scott was a slave to army surgeon John
Emerson. Scott accompanied Emerson wherever
he had to go for army duty. They spent several
years in free territory, and when Emerson died,
Scott sued for freedom. The case would last for
eleven years. He lost his first case, won his
second, and lost his third.

12. The final ruling made by the Supreme Court was
that blacks, regardless of whether they were
slaves or free men, were not citizens and
therefore could not sue in federal court. The
ruling also meant that Congress had no power
to exclude slavery from territories, and slaves
who were brought to free states were still
slaves.

13. The decision caused a lot of people to join the
republican party, and the democratic party took a
crushing blow.
Abolitionists quickly realized that Roger B. Taney,
the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and his
court stacked with proslavery justices had made an
unjust ruling.
Southerners celebrated the decision as a victory for
the South because they believed their opinion of
slavery was now adopted as law. They believed that
abolitionists were enemies of the South and
became more hostile toward the North.

14. Many people who were against slavery saw the ruling as a ploy by the
South to expand slavery across the whole Union. This popular belief
caused Northerners who previously did not feel strongly about the
issue of slavery to side against the South. The divide between North
and South, and proslavery and anti slavery was increasing.
In Battle Cry of Freedom, McPherson notes that Taney freed his slaves,
but he clung onto his Southern roots. In some of Taney’s private
letters, he expressed growing anger toward northern aggression. He
also noted that the southern way of life was in danger. The rest of his
court also shared the same worries as Taney (McPherson 174).

15. The issue of slavery continued to become a
sectional issue as well as a political one.
Northerners and Southerners as well as
Republicans and Democrats were at each others
throats. These polarizing issues which were
brought to light with the Dred Scott decision
were a major driving factor for the outbreak of
the Civil War.

16. Work Cited
McPherson, James M. Battle Cry of Freedom:
The Civil War Era. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1988. Print.
Professor Haas’ lectures were consulted as well.

17. The Missouri Compromise

18. “The Missouri Compromise was an effort by
Congress to defuse the sectional and political
rivalries triggered by the request of Missouri late
in 1819 for admission as a state in which slavery
would be permitted.” (History.com)

20. Southerners were afraid Congress had the
power to prohibit slavery in a new state.

21. (1) Missouri was admitted as a slave state and
Maine (formerly part of Massachusetts) as free,
(2) except for Missouri, slavery was to be
excluded from the Louisiana Purchase lands
north of latitude 36°30′. (History.com)

22. Criticized by Southerners because they felt it
established the principle that Congress could
make laws regarding slavery
Criticized by Notherner’s because they felt it
expanded slavery below the Southern line.

23. Raid on Harpers Ferry

24. October 16, 1859 John Brown and a group of
abolitionists raided Harpers Ferry

25. Brown and the group captured prominent
citizens and seized the federal armory and
arsenal.

26. “Brown had hopes that the local slave
population would join the raid and through the
raid’s success weapons would be supplied to
slaves and freedom fighters throughout the
country; this was not to be.” (civilwar.org)

28. Brown and his men were captured
and put on trial for:
–Treason
–Murder
–Slave Insurrection

29. “His attempts to capture the federal arsenal and
free "all the slaves in the South" had failed, but
abolitionists quickly made him into a martyr for
freedom. It is often said he accomplished with
his death what he could not have accomplished
while living. (http://www.historynet.com)”

30. Work Cited
• http://www.history.com/topics/missouri-
compromise
• http://www.civilwar.org/150th-
anniversary/john-browns-harpers-ferry.html
• http://www.historynet.com/raid-on-harpers-
ferry