Kansas Chapter 4

1. Kansas Chapter 4 The Saga of Bleeding Kansas p. 66-95

2. Kansas Territory Vocabulary • Abolitionist – pg 74 & pg 290 • Antislavery – pg 74 & pg 290 • Border Ruffian – pg 84 & pg 290 • Bushwhacker – pg 84 & pg 290 • Demographic – pg 75 & pg 290 • Expansionist – pg70 & pg 291 • Free-Stater – pg 74 & pg 291 • Indentured Servant – pg 69 & pg 291

3. Kansas Territory Vocabulary (continued) • Jayhawker – pg 84 & pg 291 • Martyr – pg 85 & pg 291 • Popular sovereignty – pg 70 & pg 292 • Proslavery – pg 74 & pg 292 • Repeal – pg 70 & pg 292 • Siege – pg 82 & pg 292 • Servitude – pg 69 & pg 292 • Speculator – pg 76 & pg 292

4. Kansas Territory Vocabulary (continued) • Transcontinental – pg 94 & pg 292 • Treason – pg 85 & pg 292 • Unconstitutional – pg 77 & pg 292

5. Timeline – Kansas Territory • 1820 – Missouri Compromise prohibits slavery in what becomes KS Territory. • 1850 – Compromise of 1850: CA enters as Free State. Fugitive Slave Act passed. • 1854 – KS – NE Act creates 2 new US territories & allows settlers to choose if free or slave territory. • 1855 – Bogus Legislature/Wakarusa War/Topeka Constitutional Convention

6. Timeline – Kansas Territory • 1856 – Attack on Lawrence & Pottawatomie Massacre • 1857 – Dred Scott Opinion – slaves not citizens;property. Lecompton Constitutional Convention held. • 1858 – Marais des Cygnes Massacre. Gold discovered in western KS territory. Leavenworth Constitutional Convention held.

7. Timeline – Kansas Territory • 1859 – Wyandotte Constitutional Convention held. Free state constitution. John Brown hanged for treason. • 1860 – Pony Express begins short – lived mail service. • January 29, 1861 – Kansas becomes 34th state.

8. Missouri Compromise 22 states in 1820 – 11 slave & 11 free Missouri Compromise – 2 new states. MO – Slave State. ME – Free State. Maintains balance of power between slave and free states. BANS slavery in lands in the Louisiana Purchase north of 36, 30 north Latitude. Includes the Kansas Territory.

9. Compromise of 1850 Slave states not happy that large area couldn’t have slavery. 4 attempts to allow people to settle (legally) in area failed because southern states opposed Compromise of 1820. Felt it would change balance of political power. New compromise by Congress allows KS territory to be settled. CA enters US as a free state but Fugitive Slave Act is federal law. All states & territories, regardless of free or slave required to assist in capture of runaway slaves.

10. The Kansas – Nebraska Act Senator Douglas had a major part in establishing the KS – NE Act. Douglas was Chairman of the Committee on Territories. He was an expansionist and wanted the lands west of Missouri to be settled AND become states. To gain help from the South he came up with popular sovereignty which made the Missouri Compromise obsolete. The Kansas – Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise and opened two new territories. This Act is considered by many to be what set the U.S. Civil War in motion.

11. Indian Territory Prior to the Kansas – Nebraska Act the area was a “permanent Indian Frontier.” President Jackson had removed east coast Indians to the Kansas Territory and told them they would be able to stay there “as long as the grass grows, or the water runs.” A coast-to-coast railroad was being planned. The middle of the territory was an ideal place for the shortest route – short = most inexpensive. All Indians were moved to what is now Oklahoma.

12. KANSAS TERRITORY Settlers came for cheap land and economic opportunities. Preemption Act – 160 acres of land at $1.25 an acre. Speculators bought up land in hopes of making money selling it to others or being bought out by the railroad. People came from nearby states, for the most part, but some came from the east coast. Some people came to make Kansas a slave state – many from neighboring Missouri. Some people – like the Goodnows (pg 76) came to make it free state. Kansas was a territory from 1854 until 1861. Controlling Kansas determined who would be in charge in Washington, D.C. – either the slave states or the free states.

13. Questions • Why did the Kansas – Nebraska Act repeal the Missouri Compromise? It allowed the people to decide if they wanted to be a free state or slave state so the compromise line was no longer needed.

14. Questions 2. What did popular sovereignty mean under the Kansas – Nebraska Act? The people got to decide if they wanted to allow slavery or not.

15. Questions 3. Why did the permanent Indian frontier fail? The Kansas-Nebraska Act opened up what had been the Indian frontier for settlement and the Indians were moved to what is now Oklahoma. There was also talk of a transcontinental railroad being built.

16. Questions 4. Explain why attempts to organize the Kansas Territory were politically difficult? Both the proslavery supporters and the free state supporters wanted to control the government of Kansas so they could control if the state would be free or slave as well as change the balance of power in Washington, D.C.

17. Questions (continued) • Where did most of the settlers in Kansas Territory come from? Most settlers came from nearby states, such as Missouri but other came from New England states thanks to Emigrant Aid Societies.

18. Questions (continued) 6. How did residents in Kansas Territory obtain cheap land? The Preemption Act allowed a person to claim 160 acres of land and pay $1.25 an acre after it was surveyed. Today an acre of farmland in Kansas costs between $2000 to $4000.

19. Questions (continued) 7. Why did both the proslavery & antislavery advocates want control of the Kansas Territory? Proslavery – They were afraid that if Kansas was a free state it would threaten slavery & the Southern way of life everywhere. They were also afraid that slaves in Missouri would escape into Kansas. 20% of MO slaves lived along the KS-MO Border. (See next slide for antislavery)

20. Questions (continued) 7. Why did both the proslavery & antislavery advocates want control of the Kansas Territory? Antislavery – Some thought slavery was morally wrong and came to stop it. Other people thought slavery gave the South an economic advantage (free labor). Still others felt the U.S. government was moving to make slavery legal everywhere and wanted to stop it.

21. Questions (continued) 8.What was the role of the New England Emigrant Aid Company? They advertised in newspapers outside of the Kansas Territory to attract antislavery settlers. The also provided financial assistance to settlers and raised money to help build hotels and businesses. They also invested in newspapers to spread the word about the free-state cause.

22. Questions (continued) 9. How did the Underground Railroad work in the Kansas Territory? Antislavery people would hide escaped slaves in their homes. They moved them from home to home, hiding them from view by placing them in barrels like Ann Clark was. There was a network of houses all the way to Canada that would hide out the runaway slaves.

23. Questions (continued) 10. How did Kansas Territory get the name “Bleeding Kansas?” The violent fighting and people being killed over the slavery issue was why it was called “Bleeding Kansas.”

24. Questions (continued) 11. Who were bushwhackers and jayhawkers? Bushwhackers were people from Missouri who crossed the border to raid antislavery settlements. Jayhawkers were Kansans who crossed the border to and raided farms and settlements in Missouri.

25. Questions (continued) 12. How did John Brown make a name for himself in Kansas Territory? John Brown was a violent abolitionist who murdered five proslavery men during the Pottawatomie Massacre in Kansas. He also led an armed force of abolitionist that fought against proslavery forces during the Bleeding Kansas time. He was later hung for his raid on Harper’s Ferry in Virginia.

26. Questions (continued) 13. Why did Missourians cross over the border to vote in territorial elections? It allowed them to participate in the elections (illegally) and get proslavery people elected in federal and territorial government. This way they could make Kansas a slave state.

27. Questions (continued) 14. What was the Bogus Legislature? The first territorial government of Kansas Territory had been elected by border ruffians. Kansas Territory residents felt the government had been fraudulently elected so they called the new Legislature bogus – or fake.

28. Questions (continued) 14. What was the Bogus Legislature? The first territorial government of Kansas Territory had been elected by border ruffians. Kansas Territory residents felt the government had been fraudulently elected so they called the new Legislature bogus – or fake.

29. Questions (continued) 15. Explain ways in which proslavery and antislavery forces refused to cooperate with each other in writing a state constitution. Antislavery – They didn’t believe the Territory government was valid so they started their own and wrote their own constitutions. They didn’t vote when the proslavery legislature wrote a constitution. They did get antislavery people to vote against the Lecompton Constitution and defeat it (3rd time). They wouldn’t work with proslavery people to write a constitution. (See next slide for proslavery)

30. Questions (continued) 15. Explain ways in which proslavery and antislavery forces refused to cooperate with each other in writing a state constitution. Proslavery – Although the Legislature had been elected it was done illegally. Congress upheld the Legislature as legal though. The Bogus Legislature wrote the Lecompton Constitution which no antislavery person voted for. They never worked with antislavery people to write a new constitution.

31. Questions (continued) 16. Under what circumstances was Charles Robinson arrested for treason? He was elected territorial governor under the Topeka Constitution which was written & passed by free-staters. The proslavery government of the territory didn’t recognize the Topeka Constitution so they arrested Robinson for treason & conspiracy. He was held in jail in Lecompton for months but was found not guilty. He later became the 1st governor of Kansas.

32. Questions (continued) 17. What was the conflict between Sen. Charles Sumner and Rep. Preston Brooks that led to violence? Sumner made a speech called the “Crimes Against Kansas,” and named two Democratic senators he felt were responsible for the crimes. Sen. Andrew Butler from SC was one of the people he named for supporting slavery. Rep. Brooks was so upset about the comments he beat Sumner severely and Sumner couldn’t work for three years.

33. Questions (continued) 18. Explain at least one right women were given under the Wyandotte Constitution. Women were allowed to buy & own property on their own as well as jointly with their husband or another person. They could keep property they had before being married instead of it becoming the husband’s property. They also were given equal rights in the possession of children -the husband couldn’t take the children away from her.

34. Questions (continued) 19. What factors put an end to the Pony Express? It was expensive. It cost a week’s pay to send a letter by Pony Express. The completion of the transcontinental telegraph allowed message to be sent much faster than the 10 days it took for the Pony Express to deliver a message.

35. Kansas Constitutions • Lecompton – Slave state/Passed 1st time by only proslavery voters. • Confusing ballot – could only vote for slavery or no slavery not the whole constitution. • Topeka (Free-State) Legislature called for another vote and Lecompton Constitution was defeated. • President Buchanan submitted it to Congress for vote anyway.

36. Kansas Constitutions • Topeka – Free state/Passed by only antislavery voters. • Constitution allowed White males and “civilized Indian males” the vote. • Had provision that African Americans could not live in Kansas. • Congress didn’t know if Free-State Legislature had legal authority to write constitution so it got little support.

37. Kansas Constitutions • Leavenworth – Free state/Passed by small number of people • Constitution allowed males the vote. • Very few people came out to vote in the election. • Offered as alternative to Lecompton Constitution but got little support in Congress.

38. Kansas Constitutions • Wyandotte – Free state/Passed by large margin. • Constitution allowed white males the vote and to serve in the militia. • Congress did not approve Wyandotte Constitution until after Southern states began seceding from the Union. Since balance of power shifted to the free states it was approved.

39. Bleeding Kansas Worksheet