Civil War broke out on the Missouri—Kansas border a good seven years before it engulfed the rest of the nation. Following the passage of the Kansas—Nebraska Act in 1854, settlers moved in representing conflicting interests. Whether Kansas Territory would enter the Union as a slave or free state would be determined by a vote of the people under popular sovereignty. Slave holding settlers, mostly from western Missouri, moved across the border to vote for slavery. An unforeseen development was the influx of New England and Yankee traders and settlers representing the growing abolitionist movement, often financed and armed by the New England Emigrant Aid Society and its allies. Settlers from the pro-slavery strongholds of Atchison and Lecompton clashed with the abolitionists from their strongholds in Lawrence and Topeka.
The first vote of the territorial legislature saw many more votes cast than residents and favored slavery. However, fiery politicians arose to inflame the issues to the point of killing and looting. Jim Lane, James Montgomery Charles “Doc” Jennison, and John Brown led expeditions across the Missouri border to “liberate” slaves. Brown and his sons murdered and mutilated the Doyle family near Pottawatomie Creek in 1856. Missourians retaliated with raids into Kansas which resulted in killings such as the Marais des Cygnes Massacre in 1858. The border area became known as “Bleeding Kansas” although there was blood on both sides of the border.
In this section, you will find news reports from various newspapers regarding happenings across the Missouri/Kansas border.
- 08-21-1855 New York Times, New York City, New York
- 2-18-1856 New York Times, New York City, New York
- 8-23-1856 New York Times, New York City, New York
- 9-02-1856 New York Times, New York City, New York