[BroJoeK]

Here is the voice of anti-slavery Kansas free staters -- The Kansas Herald of Freedom, published in Wakarusa, Kansas, December 1, 1855:

[colorado tanker]

Franklin Pierce was very much a Copperhead Democrat, very willing to preserve the institution of slavery if that's what it would take to keep the Union together. It's interesting that he wasn't pro-slavery enough for those New Yorkers.

Having grown up in Kansas it's amusing to see opinions expressed that the land is suitable for a slave economy. None of the principle plantation crops that were grown in Missouri have been produced in Kansas in any quantity. Forest cover was only native to uplands in far Eastern Kansas. Maybe those Missourians were smoking their own hemp.

I find it disquieting to see the cause of slavery championed in terms of freedom and liberty.