Events Leading Up to the Civil War

 There were many events which brought about the Civil War; among them were state’s rights, economics, social influence, and of course slavery. However, slavery was not the most important issue; the biggest issue was the state’s rights to make their own decisions, something we still see today. With the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, states became afraid that the balance of power would shift in one direction or another. Secession was talked about from 1803 on.

With the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was repealed. The Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed settlers in the region to decide whether to allow slavery to expand to the new states. What this did to Kansas is now known as the days of “Bloody Kansas,” a term coined by writer, Horace Greely.

In July of 1854, the town of Lawrence was settled. Soon after, the border wars began over the issue of allowing slavery in the Kansas Territory. At one time, Kansas had two constitutions, with two separate governments, at two different locations; only one was federally recognized. Claim for the first territorial capital of Kansas lies south of Ogden at Fort Riley.

Border ruffians from Missouri came to Kansas to stir up trouble for the abolitionist. In turn, the Jayhawkers raided into Missouri. Radical abolitionists, associated with John Brown added more fuel to the fire, and contributed to the Wakarusa “War” in November and December of 1855.

Trouble in Kansas continued even after the state was admitted into the Union on January 29, 1861, as a free state. Then, on April 12, 1861, secessionists fired shots at Fort Sumter beginning the War Between the States. 

Bleeding Kansas

"I am willing to die for the cause of freedom in Kansas."

--David Buffum, Lawrence, 1856

    Kansas Territory was established on May 30, 1854, and the settlers of the area were allowed to determine whether Kansas would be a free or slave state. Many Americans thought that decisions based in Kansas would determine the way our nation would face the issue of slavery. The result put Kansas Territory in a state of turmoil. Free-Staters committed many atrocities on pro-slavery advocates, who in turn retaliated against the free-stater. Numbers vary as to the number of deaths associated with the era of Bleeding Kansas; historians estimated any where between 50 to 200. Douglas County, including the town of Lawrence, suffered the most. Fifteen political deaths were reported in the county during the time of Kansas' territorial period.

     Kansas was a land of opportunity;land speculators,farmers,and the railroad promoters bought up land for investment or farming. Many of the first farmers that came were from Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, and nearby Missouri; emigrants from Germany also were among the first to seek out a new way of life in the territory. Southerners coming to Kansas via Missouri also contributed to the wave of settlers coming in to the region.

Great websites to visit: 

http://www.kshs.org/exhibits/territorial/territorial1.htm Bleeding Kansas
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/index.html Judgment Day
http://www.kshs.org/portraits/brown_john.htm John Brown
http://www.pbs.org/civilwar/images/ Images of the Civil War

January - Fort Sumter: The Battle That Started the War

Many believe that the first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. However, the events that led up to the Civil War really occurred when the Federal government tackled the issue of slavery in the new western territories. With the Missouri Compromise in 1820, slavery was to be excluded for land in the Missouri Territory, north of the 36/30 parallel, or the southern boundary of Missouri. Slavery was to be allowed in the proposed state of Missouri.  

By 1850, as the United States began to move further west in our nation’s quest for Manifest Destiny, the issue of slavery became even more critical. The new territories of California and Texas had been acquired, and as a result of the war with Mexico, another vast area of land was now under U.S. control. The real question became “should the territories allow slavery, or should it be declared free?” The issue became one of state’s rights to choose their destiny.

The Compromise of 1850 settled this dispute and kept our country united. However, this solution was only a temporary fix. Then, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, passed on May 30, 1854, allowing settlers in the Kansas and Nebraska Territories to decide if slavery would be allowed inside their borders. This set off a wave of pro-slavery, and anti-slavery, or abolitionists to the Kansas Territory to claim the area as their own. This set off a wave of violence, and truly the first shots fired before the Civil War, as the territory became known as “Bleeding Kansas.”