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Lead-in to the War The origins of the
Civil War are often viewed as present at the founding of the nation.
The American Constitution did not mention slavery specifically,
except to protect the slave trade for 20 years (1808). It counted
slaves ("all other persons") as "three-fifths" of a person for purposes
of Congressional representation. The institution of slavery itself
was left to the discretion of the states. As slavery disappeared
from Northern states, but remained viable in the South, two very
different ways of life arose in these sections. Compromises regarding
slavery, especially its extension to the new Western territories,
became more difficult to achieve. Social, political and economic
power was at stake for both the North and the South.
Several historical events can be seen as efforts to resolve an issue which was ultimately resolved only
by secession and war. These include the
Missouri Compromise (1820), the Compromise of 1850, including the
Fugitive Slave Act, and finally, the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. This last piece of legislation allowed for
"popular sovereignty," that is, a decision by settlers in Kansas and Nebraska whether their new states would
be slave or free. The struggle to determine the future of Kansas (known as "the Border Wars") precipitated a
level of violence that would not abate. This web page (appearing in 2005) begins with commemorative activities
in the midst of that crisis.
Events by Year: 1854
May 30, 1854
Kansas-Nebraska Act becomes law, Washington, D.C. This law gives
the people of the two territories the authority to decide on the
legal status of slavery. This effectively repeals the Missouri Compromise
line of demarcation, which prohibited slavery in the states of the
Louisiana Purchase above the southern boundary of Missouri 1.
August 1, 1854
The first settlers from the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company, supporting a Free State,
arrive in Lawrence, Kansas.
November 28, 1854
Thousands of armed Southerners, mostly from Missouri, come into Kansas to vote for a
Proslavery Congressional delegate. Proslavery forces win the election of 1854.
Events by Year: 1855
March 13, 1855
More New Englanders (New England Emigrant Aid Company), favoring a Free State, journey
to Kansas to participate in the election of the territorial legislature.
March 30, 1855
Voters elect members of the territorial legislature. Proslavery forces win the election.
President Franklin Pierce recognizes this legislature, which incorporates the Missouri slave code.
Summer 1855
1200 New Englanders (New England Emigrant Aid Company) journey to Kansas. Henry Ward Beecher
furnishes them with Sharp's rifles, which come to be known as "Beecher's Bibles."
October 23 - November 11, 1855
Free State advocates meet in Topeka, Kansas and adopt a state Constitution, which outlaws slavery,
but also prohibits all free African-Americans from entering the state.
November 21, 1855
Wakarusa War. Charles W. Dow, a Free State advocate, is murdered by F.M. Coleman, a Proslavery
advocate, over a land dispute. After Sheriff Samuel J. Jones of Douglas County arrests not only Coleman,
but a Free State witness, Jacob Branson, political tensions mount on both sides. When armed Free State
men rescue Branson, each side begins to increase its forces. Proslavery reinforcements come from Missouri
and Free State advocates from around Kansas. They converge on Lawrence, Kansas.
December 6, 1855
Governor Wilson Shannon negotiates a settlement of the Wakarusa dispute and the combatants disperse.
However, Thomas W. Barber, a Free State advocate, is killed by George W. Clarke, a Proslavery advocate,
as he leaves Lawrence to return home.
December 7, 1855
John Brown and his sons arrive in Lawrence to join the Free State
effort as it concludes . He is made a captain of a company in the
Kansas Volunteers. He and his family stay at the Free State Hotel.
Brown joined his sons at their settlement near Osawatomie, Kansas
in October.
1 The major sources for this material on territorial Kansas
are Connelley , William E., A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans,
1918, transcribed by Carolyn Ward, 1998, Cutler, William G., History
of the State of Kansas, Chicago, IL: A.T. Andreas, 1883, electronic
version on the web by the Kansas Collection, and Territorial Kansas
Online by the Kansas State Historical Society and the University
of Kansas.
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