Both the leading political parties were, in the campaign of 1852, fully
committed to the acceptance of the so-called Compromise of 1850 as a
final settlement of the slavery question; both were committed to the
support of the Fugitive Slave Act. The Free-soil party, with John P.
Hale as its candidate, did make a vigorous attack upon the Fugitive
Slave Act, and opposed all compromises respecting slavery, but
Free-soilers had been to a large extent reabsorbed into the Democratic
party, their vote of 1852 being only about half that of 1848. Though the
Whig vote was large and only about two hundred thousand less than that
of the Democrats, yet it was so distributed that the Whigs carried only
four States, Massachusetts, Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The other
States gave a Democratic plurality.
Had there been time for readjustment, the Whig party might have
recovered lost ground, but no time was permitted. There was in progress
in Missouri a political conflict which was already commanding national
attention. Thomas H. Benton, for thirty years a Senator from Missouri,
and a national figure, was the storm-center. His enemies accused him of
being a Free-soiler, an abolitionist in disguise. He was professedly a
stanch and uncompromising unionist, a personal and political opponent of
John C. Calhoun. According to his own statement he had been opposed
to the extension of slavery since 1804, although he had advocated the
admission of Missouri with a pro-slavery constitution in 180. He
was, from the first, senior Senator from the State, and by a peculiar
combination of influences incurred his first defeat for reelection in
1851.
Benton's defeat in the Missouri Legislature was largely the result of
national pro-slavery influences. In a former chapter, reference was
made to the Ohio River as furnishing a "providential argument against
slavery." The Mississippi River as the eastern boundary of Missouri
furnished a like argument, but on the north not even a prairie
brook separated free labor in Iowa from slave labor in Missouri. The
inhabitants of western Missouri, realizing that the tenure of their
peculiar institution was becoming weaker in the east and north, early
became convinced that the organization of a free State along their
western boundary would be followed by the abolition of slavery in
their own State. This condition attracted the attention of the national
guardians of pro-slavery interests. Calhoun, Davis, Breckinridge,
Toombs, and others were in constant communication with local leaders.
A certain Judge W. C. Price, a religious fanatic, and a pro-slavery
devotee, was induced to visit every part of the State in 1844, calling
the attention of all slaveholders to the perils of the situation and
preparing the way for the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. Senator
Benton, who was approached on the subject, replied in such a way that
all radical defenders of slavery, both national leaders and local
politicians, were moved to unite for his political defeat.
David R. Atchison, junior Senator from Missouri, had been made the
leader of the pro-slavery forces. The defeat of Benton in the Missouri
Legislature did not end the strife. He at once became a candidate for
Atchison's place in the election which was to occur in 1855, and he was
in the meantime elected to the House of Representatives in 1852. The
most telling consideration in Benton's favor was the general demand, in
which he himself joined, for the immediate organization of the western
territory in order to facilitate the building of a system of railways
reaching the Pacific, with St. Louis as the point of departure. For a
time, in 1859, and 1853, Benton was apparently triumphant, and Atchison
was himself willing to consent to the organization of the new territory
with slavery excluded. The national leaders, however, were not of the
same mind. The real issue was the continuance of slavery in the
State; the one thing which must not be permitted was the transfer of
anti-slavery agitation to the separate States. Henry Clay's proposal
of 1849 to provide for gradual emancipation in Kentucky was bitterly
resented. It had long been an axiom with the slavocracy that the
institution would perish unless it had the opportunity to expand. Out of
this conviction arose Calhoun's famous theory that slaveowners had under
the Constitution an equal right with the owners of all other forms of
property in all the Territories. The theory itself assumed that the act
prohibiting slavery in the territory north of the southern boundary
of Missouri was unconstitutional and void. But this theory had not yet
received judicial sanction, and the time was at hand when the question
of freedom or slavery in the western territory was to be determined.
Between March and December, 1853, the discovery was made that the Act
of 1850 organizing the Territories of New Mexico and Utah had superseded
the Compromise of 1820; that a principle had been recognized applicable
to all the Territories; that all were open to settlement on equal terms
to slaveholders and non-slaveholders; that the subject of slavery should
be removed from Congress to the people of the Territories; and that they
should decide, either when a territorial legislature was organized or
at the time of the adoption of a constitution preparatory to statehood,
whether or not slavery should be authorized. These ideas found
expression in various newspapers during the month of December, 1853.
Though the authorship of the new theory is still a matter of dispute,
it is well known that Stephen A. Douglas became its chief sponsor and
champion. The real motives and intentions of Douglas himself and of
many of his supporters will always remain obscure and uncertain. But no
uncertainty attaches to the motives of Senator Atchison and the leaders
of the Calhoun section of the Democratic party. For ten years at least
they had been laboring to get rid of the Missouri Compromise. Their
motive was to defend slavery and especially to forestall a successful
movement for emancipation in the State of Missouri.
From early in January, 1854, until late in May, Douglas's Nebraska bill
held the attention of Congress and of the entire country. At first the
measure simply assumed that the Missouri Compromise had been superseded
by the Act of 1850. Later the bill was amended in such a way as to
repeal distinctly that time-honored act. At first the plan was to
organize Nebraska as a single Territory extending from Texas to Canada.
Later it was proposed to organize separate Territories, one west of
Missouri under the name of Kansas, the other west of Iowa under the name
of Nebraska. Opposition came from Free-soilers, from Northern Whigs
and a few Whigs from the South, and from a large proportion of Northern
Democrats. The repeal of the Missouri Compromise came like a thunderbolt
out of a clear sky to the people of the North. For a time Douglas was
the most unpopular of political leaders and was apparently repudiated by
his party. The first name designating the opponents of the Douglas bill
was "Anti-Nebraska men," for which the name Republican was gradually
substituted and in 1856 became the accepted title of the party.
The provision for two territorial governments instead of one carried
with it the idea of a continued balance between slave and free States;
Kansas, being on a geographical parallel with the slave States, would
probably permit slavery, while Nebraska would be occupied by free-state
immigrants. Though this was a commonly accepted view, Eli Thayer of
Worcester, Massachusetts, and a few others took a different view. They
proposed to make an end of the discussion of the extension of slavery
by sending free men who were opposed to slavery to occupy the territory
open for settlement. To attain this object they organized an Emigrant
Aid Company incorporated under the laws of the State. Even before the
bill was passed, the corporation was in full working order. Thayer
himself traveled extensively throughout the Northern States stimulating
interest in western emigration, with the conviction that the disturbing
question could be peacefully settled in this way. California had thus
been saved to freedom; why not all other Territories? The new company
had as adviser and co-laborer Dr. Charles Robinson, who had crossed
the Kansas Territory on his way to California and had acquired valuable
experience in the art of state-building under peculiar conditions.
The first party sent out by the Emigrant Aid Company arrived in Kansas
early in August, 1854, and selected the site for the town of Lawrence.
During the later months of the year, four other parties were sent out,
in all numbering nearly seven hundred. Through extensive advertisement
by the company, through the general interest in the subject and the
natural flow of emigration to the West, Kansas was receiving large
accessions of free-state settlers.
Meanwhile the men of Missouri, some of whom had striven for a decade to
secure the privilege of extending slavery into the new Territory, were
not idle. Instantly upon the removal of legal barriers, they occupied
adjacent lands, founded towns, staked out claims, formed plans for
preempting the entire region and for forestalling or driving out all
intruders. They had at first the advantage of position, for they did not
find it difficult to maintain two homes, one in Kansas for purposes of
voting and fighting and another in Missouri for actual residence. Andrew
H. Reeder, a Pennsylvania Democrat of strong pro-slavery prejudices, was
appointed first Governor of the Territory. When he arrived in Kansas
in October, 1854, there were already several thousand settlers on the
ground and others were continually arriving. He appointed the 29th of
November for the election of a delegate to Congress. On that day several
hundred Missourians came into the Territory and voted. There was no
violence and no contest; the free-state men had no separate candidate.
Notwithstanding the violence of language used by opposing factions,
notwithstanding the organization of secret societies pledged to drive
out all Northern intruders, there was no serious disturbance until
March 30, 1855, the day appointed for the election of members of the
territorial Legislature. On that day the Missourians came full five
thousand strong, armed with guns, bowie-knives, and revolvers. They
met with no resistance from the residents, who were unarmed. They
took charge of the precincts and chose pro-slavery delegates with one
exception. Governor Reeder protested and recommended to the precincts
the filing of protests. Only seven responded, however, and in these
cases new elections were held and contesting delegates elected.
The Governor issued certificates to these and to all those who in
other precincts had been chosen by the horde from Missouri. When the
Legislature met in July, the seven contests were decided in favor of
the pro-slavery party, the single freestate member resigned, and the
assembly was unanimous.
Governor Reeder fully expected that President Pierce would nullify the
election, and to this end he made a journey to Washington in April.
On the way he delivered a public address at Easton, Pennsylvania,
describing in lurid colors the outrage which had been perpetrated
upon the people of Kansas by the "border ruffians" from Missouri,
and asserting that the accounts in the Northern press had not been
exaggerated.
While Governor Reeder in contact with the actual events in Kansas was
becoming an active Free-soiler, President Pierce in association with
Jefferson Davis and others of his party was developing active sympathies
with the people of western Missouri. To the President this invasion
of territory west of the slave State by Northern men aided by Northern
corporations seemed a violation of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and
he sought to induce Reeder to resign. This, however, the Governor
positively refused to do unless the President would formally approve
his conduct in Kansas--an endorsement which required more fortitude than
President Pierce possessed. On his return to Kansas, determined to do
what he could to protect the Kansas people from injustice, he called
the Legislature to meet at Pawnee, a point far removed from the Missouri
border. Immediately upon their organization at that place the members
of the Legislature adjourned to meet at Shawnee, near the border of
Missouri. The Governor, who decided that this action was illegal, then
refused to recognize the Assembly at the new place. A deadlock thus
ensued which was broken on the 15th of August by the removal of Governor
Reeder and the appointment of Wilson Shannon of Ohio in his place. In
the meantime the territorial Legislature had adjourned, having "enacted"
an elaborate proslavery code made up from the slave code of Missouri
with a number of special adaptations. For example, it was made a
penitentiary offense to deny by speaking or writing, or by printing, or
by introducing any printed matter, the right of persons to hold
slaves in the Territory; no man was eligible to jury service who was
conscientiously opposed to holding slaves; and lawyers were bound by
oath to support the territorial statutes.
The free-state men, with the approval of Reeder, refused to recognize
the Legislature and inaugurated a movement in the fall of 1855 to adopt
a constitution and to organize a provisional territorial Government
preparatory to admission as a State, following in this respect the
procedure in California and Michigan. A convention met in Topeka in
October, 1855, and completed on the 11th of November the draft of a
constitution which prohibited slavery. On the 15th of December the
constitution was approved by a practically unanimous vote, only
free-state men taking part in the election. A month later a Legislature
was elected and at the same time Charles Robinson was elected Governor
of the new commonwealth. In the previous October, Reeder had been chosen
Free-soil delegate to Congress. The Topeka freestate Legislature met on
the 4th of March, 1856, and after petitioning Congress to admit Kansas
under the Topeka constitution, adjourned until the 4th of July pending
the action of Congress. Thus at the end of two years two distinct
Governments had come into existence within the Territory of Kansas. It
speaks volumes for the self-control and moderation of the two parties
that no hostile encounter had occurred between the contestants. When the
armed Missourians came in March, 1855, the unarmed settlers offered no
resistance. Afterward, however, they supplied themselves with Sharp's
rifles and organized a militia. With the advent of Governor Shannon
in September, 1855, the proslavery position was much strengthened. In
November, in a quarrel over a land claim, a free-state settler by the
name of Dow was killed. The murderer escaped, but a friend of the victim
was accused of uttering threats against a friend of the murderer. For
this offense a posse led by Sheriff Jones, a Missourian, seized him,
and would have carried him away if fourteen freestate men had not
"persuaded" the Sheriff to surrender his prisoner. This interference was
accepted by the Missourians as a signal for battle. The rescuers must
be arrested and punished. A large force of infuriated Missourians and
pro-slavery settlers assembled for a raid upon the town of Lawrence.
In the meantime the Lawrence militia planned and executed a systematic
defense of the town. When the two armies came within speaking distance,
a parley ensued in which the Governor took a leading part in settling
the affair without a hostile shot. This is known in Kansas history as
the "Wakarusa War."
The progress of affairs in Kansas was followed with intense interest in
all parts of the country. North and South vied with each other in the
encouragement of emigration to Kansas. Colonel Buford of Alabama sold a
large number of slaves and devoted the proceeds to meeting the expense
of conducting a troop of three hundred men to Kansas in the winter of
1856. They went armed with "the sword of the spirit," and all provided
with Bibles supplied by the leading churches. Arrived in the territory,
they were duly furnished with more worldly weapons and were drilled for
action. About the same time a parallel incident is said to have occurred
in New Haven, Connecticut. A deacon in one of the churches had enlisted
a company of seventy bound for Kansas. A meeting was held in the church
to raise money to defray expenses. The leader of the company declared
that they also needed rifles for self-defense. Forthwith Professor
Silliman, of the University, subscribed one Sharp's rifle, and others
followed with like pledges. Finally Henry Ward Beecher, who was the
speaker of the occasion, rose and promised that, if twenty-five
rifles were pledged on the spot, Plymouth Church in Brooklyn would
be responsible for the remaining twenty-five that were needed. He had
already said in a previous address that for the slaveholders of Kansas,
Sharp's rifles were a greater moral agency than the Bible. This led
to the designation of the weapons as "Beecher's Bibles." Such was the
spirit which prevailed in the two sections of the country.
President Pierce had now become intensely hostile towards the free-state
inhabitants of Kansas. Having recognized the Legislature elected on
March 30, 1855, as the legitimate Government, he sent a special
message to Congress on January 24, 1856, in which he characterized as
revolutionary the movement of the free-state men to organize a separate
Government in Kansas. From the President's point of view, the emissaries
of the New England Emigrant Aid Association were unlawful invaders.
In this position he not only had the support of the South, but was
powerfully seconded by Stephen A. Douglas and other Northern Democrats.
The attitude of the Administration at Washington was a source of great
encouragement to Sheriff Jones and his associates, who were anxious to
wreak their vengeance on the city of Lawrence for the outcome of the
Wakarusa War. Jones came to Lawrence apparently for the express purpose
of picking a quarrel, for he revived the old dispute about the rescuing
party of the previous fall. As a consequence one enraged opponent
slapped him in the face, and at last an unknown assassin entered the
sheriff's tent by night and inflicted a revolver wound in his back.
Though the citizens of Lawrence were greatly chagrined at this event and
offered a reward for the discovery of the assailant, the attack upon the
sheriff was made the signal for drastic procedure against the town of
Lawrence. A grand jury found indictments for treason against Reeder,
Robinson, and other leading citizens of the town. The United States
marshal gave notice that he expected resistance in making arrests
and called upon all law-abiding citizens of the Territory to aid in
executing the law. It was a welcome summons to the pro-slavery forces.
Not only local militia companies responded but also Buford's company
and various companies from Missouri, in all more than seven hundred men,
with two cannon. It had always been the set purpose of the free-state
men not to resist federal authority by force, unless as a last resort,
and they had no intention of opposing the marshal in making arrests. He
performed his duty without hindrance and then placed the armed troops
under the command of Sheriff Jones, who proceeded first to destroy the
printing-press of the town of Lawrence. Then, against the protest of the
marshal and Colonel Buford, the vindictive sheriff trained his guns upon
the new hotel which was the pride of the city; the ruin of the building
was made complete by fire, while a drunken mob pillaged the town.
On May 22, 1856, the day following the attack upon Lawrence, Charles
Sumner was struck down in the United States Senate on account of a
speech made in defense of the rights of Kansas settlers. The two events,
which were reported at the same time in the daily press, furnished
the key-note to the presidential campaign of that year, for nominating
conventions followed in a few days and "bleeding Kansas" was the
all-absorbing issue. In spite of the destruction of property in Lawrence
and the arrest of the leaders of the free-state party, Kansas had not
been plunged into a state of civil war. The free-state party had fired
no hostile shot. Governor Robinson and his associates still relied upon
public opinion and they accepted the wanton attack upon Lawrence as the
best assurance that they would yet win their cause by legal means.
A change, however, soon took place which is associated with the entrance
of John Brown into the history of Kansas. Brown and his sons were living
at Osawatomie, some thirty miles south of Lawrence. They were present at
the Wakarusa War in December, 1855, and were on their way to the defense
of Lawrence on May 21, 1856, when they were informed that the town had
been destroyed. Three days after this event Brown and his sons with two
or three others made a midnight raid upon their pro-slavery neighbors
living in the Pottawatomie valley and slew five men. The authors of this
deed were not certainly known until the publication of a confession of
one of the party in 1879, twenty years after the chief actor had won
the reputation of a martyr to the cause of liberty. The Browns, however,
were suspected at the time; warrants were out for their arrest; and
their homes were destroyed.
For more than three months after this incident, Kansas was in a state
of war; in fact, two distinct varieties of warfare were carried on.
Publicly organized companies on both sides engaged in acts of attack and
defense, while at the same time irresponsible secret bands were busy in
violent reprisals, in plunder and assassination. In both of these forms
of warfare, the free-state men proved themselves fully equal to their
opponents, and Governor Shannon was entirely unable to cope with the
situation. It is estimated that two hundred men were slain and two
million dollars' worth of property was destroyed.
The state of affairs in Kansas served to win many Northern Democrats
to the support of the Republicans. The Administration at Washington was
held responsible for the violence and bloodshed. The Democratic leaders
in the political campaign, determined now upon a complete change in
the Government of the Territory, appointed J. W. Geary as Governor and
placed General Smith in charge of the troops. The new incumbents, both
from Pennsylvania, entered upon their labors early in September, and
before the October state elections Geary was able to report that peace
reigned throughout the Territory. A prompt reaction in favor of the
Democrats followed. Buchanan, their presidential candidate, rejoiced in
the fact that order had been restored by two citizens of his own State.
It was now very generally conceded that Kansas would become a free
State, and intimate associates of Buchanan assured the public that he
was himself of that opinion and that if elected he would insure to the
free-state party evenhanded justice. Thousands of voters were thus won
to Buchanan's support. There was a general distrust of the Republican
candidate as a man lacking political experience, and a strong
conservative reaction against the idea of electing a President by the
votes of only one section of the country. At the election in November,
Buchanan received a majority of sixty of the electoral votes over
Fremont, but in the popular vote he fell short of a majority by nearly
400,000. Fillmore, candidate of the Whig and the American parties,
received 874,000 votes.
There was still profound distrust of the administration of the Territory
of Kansas, and the free-state settlers refused to vote at the election
set for the choosing of a new territorial Legislature in October.
The result was another pro-slavery assembly. Governor Geary, however,
determined to secure and enforce just treatment of both parties. He
was at once brought into violent conflict with the Legislature in an
experience which was almost an exact counterpart of that of Governor
Reeder; and Washington did not support his efforts to secure fair
dealings. A pro-slavery deputation visited President Pierce in February,
1857, and returned with the assurance that Governor Geary would be
removed. Without waiting for the President to act, Geary resigned in
disgust on the 4th of March. Of the three Governors whom President
Pierce appointed, two became active supporters of the free-state party
and a third, Governor Shannon, fled from the territory in mortal terror
lest he should be slain by members of the party which he had tried to
serve.