Bleeding Kansas and Bleeding Sumner Lecture Notes

Overview

Focus: Events and cultural institutions showing the U.S. division in the 1850s
Also covered: Political party platforms in 1856, 1860 election parties/candidates and their platforms

Context: Kansas territory conflict between Free Soilers (anti-slavery) and pro-slavery settlers
- Kansas and Nebraska were under popular sovereignty (vote to decide slave/free status)
**Key Events: **
- First Territorial Election:
  - Border ruffians (Missouri residents) crossed into Kansas to vote illegally
  - Resulted in pro-slavery legislature legalizing slavery and criminalizing anti-slavery actions
- Federal Response:
  - U.S. under Buchanan recognized the pro-slavery government despite knowing about voter fraud
- Free Soilers' Response:
  - Established a rival government and anti-slavery constitution
  - Small-scale civil war erupted, named 'Bleeding Kansas' by the national press
- The Sack of Lawrence (May 1856):
  - Pro-slavery forces attacked, causing property damage
- John Brown & Pottawatomie Massacre (1856):
  - John Brown (abolitionist leader) attacked and killed 5 pro-slavery men
  - Led to further outrage and violence, reinforcing the notion of a pre-Civil War civil war

Event: - Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner gave an anti-slavery speech in Senate
- Criticized Senator Andrew Butler and advocated recognizing the free government in Kansas
Retaliation:
- Preston Brooks, Butler's nephew, attacked Sumner with a cane
- Sumner nearly beaten to death, suffered permanent brain damage
- Brooks received support from the South, including replacement canes
- Sumner reelected by Massachusetts as a symbol of defiance

The events of Bleeding Kansas and Bleeding Sumner illustrate the intense sectional conflict leading up to the Civil War.
Both instances showed the lengths to which pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces would go, including violence and political manipulation.