Bleeding Kansas Timeline by Brianna Meneve

Pottawatomie Massacre

b_meneve21 — 2019-03-07 18:24:57 UTC

John Brown, an abolitionist who opposed of pro-slave states, had settled in Kansas in 1856 to fight a war against slave owners and those who stood for slavery. After there were almost no casualties at the Sack of Lawrence, Brown wanted to seek revenge and "strike terror in the hearts of the pro-slavery people". John Brown believed that pro-slavery people deserved more than just one accidental death after the Sack of Lawrence, and believed that their only fate would be death.
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The Border Ruffians

a_mazzilli21 — 2019-03-07 18:25:58 UTC

The violence at Fort Scott, Kansas, led the governor to call for a peace convention on June 15, 1858. For one of their first acts they passed a slave code that provided fines and imprisonment for expressing opinions against slavery, and for assisting slaves to escape people would be sentence to the death penalty. They also legalized the "border ruffian" vote by not requiring voters to be residents in Kansas prior to voting.
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The Sack of Lawrence

k_kjetsaa21 — 2019-03-07 18:26:03 UTC

Pro-slavery activists, led by Douglas County Sheriff Jones, attacked and ransacked Lawrence, Kansas. This town was founded by anti-slavery settlers from Massachusetts who were hoping to make Kansas a free state.
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The Border Ruffians

a_mazzilli21 — 2019-03-07 18:26:41 UTC

The Border Ruffians were a group of 1,700 men who were pro slavery went from Missouri to Kansas to vote for the pro slavery representative. They harassed and threatened to shoot anybody who opposed slavery.
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Canefight

a_cousoulas21 — 2019-03-07 18:26:44 UTC

After the Sack of Lawrence on May 21st, 1856, Charles Sumner, the senator of Massachusetts made a speech that was very controversial to the public. Sumner was an abolitionist who led the Republican Party. His speech was also known as “The crime against Kansas” in which he argued whether Kansas should be incorporated into the Union as a slave state or a free state. Part of his speech was acrimonious and was directed towards Senator Andrew Butler of South Carolina. Both senators disagreed on what was the most beneficial for the Union.
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Henry Ward Beecher

k_kjetsaa21 — 2019-03-07 18:26:45 UTC

Anti-slavery preacher who remarked that a rifle might be a more powerful moral agent on the Kansas plains than a bible. Inspired the name for the rifles used called "Beecher Bibles"
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President Franklin Pierce

k_kjetsaa21 — 2019-03-07 18:27:47 UTC

Refused to step in to resolve the election dispute resulting from the "border ruffians"
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The Border Ruffians

a_mazzilli21 — 2019-03-07 18:28:01 UTC

The votes of the Border Ruffians were later ruled as fraudulent, the following March, it was time to elect a territorial legislature. Around 5,000 men came into the state from Missouri to cast illegal ballots. Anti-slavery settlers, though the majority in Kansas, were outvoted. The result of the election through fraud was a legislature with 36 pro-slavery delegates and 3 anti-slavery delegates.
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Pottawatomie Massacre

b_meneve21 — 2019-03-07 18:31:48 UTC

On May 24, three days after the Sack of Lawrence, Brown and 7 others, calling themselves the Army of the North, finally sought revenge. On that night, the Army of the North entered a pro-slavery area known as Pottawatomie Creek. Brown and his men came armed with many weapons including rifles, knives, and swords. They broke into homes and decapitated the residents of Pottawatomie Creek. After this massacre was over, 5 people had been decapitated by John Brown.

Free Soilers

a_mazzilli21 — 2019-03-07 18:32:55 UTC

After the population of anti-slavery residents in Kansas outnumbered the people pro slavery, the people did not want to obey the laws of the "Bogus Legislature". They organized a group called the Free Soilers. They drew up a free state constitution and elected a separate governor and state legislature located in Topeka. The result was a state with two governments. Violence would soon follow.
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"Fire Eaters"

k_kjetsaa21 — 2019-03-07 18:33:07 UTC

The Sack of Lawrence was a direct act of violent aggression by slave-owning southern "fire eaters". "Fire eaters" refers to a group of pro-slavery extremists. They were often politicians, specifically from the south, and urged the separation of the southern states into a new nation.
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Canefight

a_cousoulas21 — 2019-03-07 18:35:19 UTC

American politician Preston Brooks of South Carolina thought that Sumner’s speech was too aggressive. Typically, southerners in the 19th century were brought up to follow an innate code of honor in which they defended their families. Because Brooks was a distant cousin of Butler, he decided to take action. One day, Brooks stormed into the Senate chamber and yelled at Sumner for his insensitive behavior. Brooks then started to hit Sumner over the head with his cane. Brooks could not be stopped because of his extreme anger.
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Senator David Atchison

a_mazzilli21 — 2019-03-07 18:37:18 UTC

In the fall of 1854, Senator David Atchison led a group of pro-slavery people to vote for pro-slavery representatives
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Canefight

a_cousoulas21 — 2019-03-07 18:37:24 UTC

Sumner spent a number of years physically recovering from the injuries to his head. The Northerners were filled with rage. The House of Representatives wanted to remove Brooks from office, but there were not enough votes in order to follow through with this plan. Brooks’ punishment was to pay 300 dollars for the assault and resigned and moved back to South Carolina. The result of this assault for Sumner was that he went through many physical and mental challenges and the injuries kept him away from the Senate for various years.
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Free State Hotel

k_kjetsaa21 — 2019-03-07 18:37:47 UTC

As a final message to abolitionists, the raiders smashed the Free State Hotel into oblivion. It was left in ruins.
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Pottawatomie Massacre

b_meneve21 — 2019-03-07 18:42:56 UTC

Although John Brown felt good about seeking revenge against the pro-slavery people, his followers had insisted that he did not kill anyone. This caused for the South to become enraged from his actions. Since Brown was now a national fugitive, he went back to the north, and there he was praised like a hero. The Pottawatomie Massacre was the beginning of a guerrilla war in Kansas, causing many people to be killed in cold blood, as well as millions of dollars worth of property damage.
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