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