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Transcript

1854-1860

How it all started:

Stephen Douglas and his Kansas-Nebraska Act

The KS-NE Act was signed in 1854

Senator Stephen Douglas forced it through

Congress in order to make money by building

a railroad to California.

It created two new territories, Kansas

and Nebraska. It gave the right of popular

sovereighty to the two territories.

Because of this new act, both proslavery

and antislavery settlers rushed in to vote,

illegally. MIssouri was a slave state, which

was right next door to Kansas. The free states

felt that this was unfair, because the pro people

had the upper hand.

There were two types of people that were against slavery. There were the abolitionists, who thought that slavery was immoral and not Christians. Then there was the other type, called the free-staters. They simply didn't want for slavery to spread in to KS because the the slave owners would take up all the land.

The Emigrant Aid Society was established

for moving Northerners to Kansas to

vote for a free ballot.

Northerners and Southerners fought each

other on the borders. People were killed and

slaughtered; "The end justifies the means"*

* The end justifies the means is a saying/

excuse that some people, both pro and anti

slavery used to defend their violent actions.

Bushwackers: Proslavery people who

made raids on antislavery settlements

during the Civil War.

Jayhawkers: Antislavery people

who made raids on proslavery settlements

Border ruffians: Proslavery people

who made raids and destroyed voting

during the Bleeding Kansas period.

The "Wakarusa War" was one major event during the territorial period in which one person was killed. Samuel Jones, sheriff of Douglas County, arrested a man attending an antislavery meeting. Fellow antis went and rescued him.

Border ruffians laid seige on Lawrence, a free-state settlement, for a week. This was called the Sacking of Lawrence. They let no supplies pass through the barricades. The residents of the town were very outspoken about the issue of slavery. The newspapers wrote very critical things about the proslavery leaders. As a result, an armed group of pros, led by Sheriff Jones, attacked the town. They burned down the two newspaper offices.

During this period, slaves were escaping left and

right. The Underground Railroad was a major means

of escape. The Railroad wasn't underground, nor was

it a railroad. It was simply a series of safe houses leading

the way to the north and Canada. No one knows how

many slaves were helped along to freedom on the

railroad. The great thing about this was the secrecy.

3 days after the Sacking, an abolitionist called

John Brown came to Kansas. He had meant to take

part in the Sacking by defending Lawrence, but he came back a little late. So, to avenge the antis, he went to a proslavery settlement with some of his sons in the middle

of the night and brutally attacked the pros. Five pros were killed in the attacked. They were hacked apart with broadswords. This massacre was called the Pottawatomie Massacre because it took place next to Pottawatomie Creek.

John Brown

1800-1859

John Brown was a famous abolitionist. He was really

religious and was kind of an antislavery zealot. He was really passionate about abolition. Brown followed some of his sons to Kansas territory. It was there that he acheived his spectacular fame by killing five people at the Pottawatomie Massacre. He continued work for slaves. He traveled for 82 days just to transport 11 slaves to Canada. He also raised money and arms for his cause. John Brown was caught on a raid of a federal arsenal and tried and convicted of treason. He was hanged and became a martyr for his cause.

The Bogus Legislature was the first goverment of

Kansas Territory. The name was so because border ruffians came over the KS MO border and voted illegally in the elections. It ended up being composed of all pros. They passed a bunch of laws that made the antis mad.

The antis decided to form their own government

because they did not really want to live under a pro

government. They decided to write a constitution of

their own. This was called the Topeka Constitution. It allowed only white men and Indians that were "civillized".

It was approved by KS, but Congress questioned its validity.

The Lecompton Constitution was next. It was drafted by

a pro legislature. It allowed slavery and voting rights to no one

except white men.

The 3rd constitution was the Leavenworth Constitution. It was a free-state

constution. It wasn't accepted by Congress either. This one allowed black men

to vote.

The 4th and final constitution, the one that was finally accepted

by Congress, was the Wynadotte Constitution. It allowed white

men to vote and women to vote on school boards. It was drafted in 1857, and Kansas finally became a state on January 29, 1861.

Bleeding Kansas

Popular sovereignty:

The people living in the

territories got to decide

on the issue of slavery

in that territory.

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