[Homer_J_Simpson]

New month, new thread. I have a few excerpts from Bleeding Kanas beginning April 7. In the meantime post newspaper articles or other items of interest here. Here is a link to last month’s thread.

March 1856

[rustbucket]

Some excerpts from "Civil War on the Western Frontier, 1854-1865" by Jay Monaghan, copyright 1955:

On March 4, 1856, the Topeka legislature met and approved a memorial, addressed to Congress, seeking admission of Kansas as a state under the new [Topeka] constitution. ...

The memorial was taken to Congress by James Henry Lane and Charles Robinson.

... Republican William H. Seward, the challenger of the South, spoke on April 8, 1856, for immediate acceptance.

Senator Douglas objected. ... Many objections to an enabling act at this time could be made. Kansas had insufficient population for statehood. ... [Douglas] questioned the Memorial's genuineness. ... he accused Lane of bringing a partially forged document.

A vote then denied Kansas admission as a state.

... Lane immediately challenged Douglas to a duel, which Douglas declined as coming from one of inferior station.

[fso301]

I sense that all of this is leading up to something big.

[rustbucket]

I have been entertaining the thought of posting newspaper articles from both sides of the Kansas struggle to illustrate how the two sides were reporting the news and events of the time. I still plan to do that. I started with an April 1, 1856 article from the "Squatter sovereign," a proslavery paper, in post number 9 of this thread. I thought I would follow up with an article from an anti-slavery paper. The first one I looked was the April 5, 1856 "Kansas Herald of Freedom" of Wakarusa, Kansas Territory on a Library of Congress web site.

What I found floored me. I had been expecting something about the evils of slavery, but what I found read like a white supremist rant. I hesitate to post such stuff here, but I provide a link to the article in case anyone is interested about one train of thought from the anti-slavery side in Kansas (see the long article that starts in the leftmost column of the linked paper).

Link to the Kansas Herald of Freedom article

While not stated n such racist tones as the linked article, Lincoln had said the following in an October 16, 1854 speech (Source: The Papers and Writings of Abraham Lincoln, Volume 2):

Whether slavery shall go into Nebraska, or other new Territories, is not a matter of exclusive concern to the people who may go there. The whole nation is interested that the best use shall be made of these Territories. We want them for homes of free white people. This they cannot be, to any considerable extent, if slavery shall be planted within them.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Ongoing story from Kansas.

Continued from March 17 (reply #90)

Nicole Etcheson, "Bleeding Kansas: Contested Liberty in the Civil War Era"