HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I have been hearing about the Kindle so I decided to check into them. I want one! Sure would be easier to carry around than some of my large books but it will never take the place of a good old fashion book with really pages that you turn! I just want both!

FROM A FELLOW CIVIL WAR BLOGGER: A REBEL WIFE IN TEXAS

I received a comment on one of my book reviews that I wanted to share. A gentleman named Douglas (click to see his civil war blogs) left this review of a book he had just finished reading and it sounds very interesting. I don't have the book yet but it is on my wish list for future purchases. Enjoy!

A Rebel Wife in Texas

"If you like Civil War Diaries, I just read 'A Rebel Wife in Texas" edited by Erika Murr.

Wow! This woman wrote extensive letters and kept diary. She owned about 8 slaves, had five children, and a husband in the CSA, which she wrote once a week, and he wrote her.

She talked at length about whipping slaves - its very clear slaves were whipped often, and were expected to submit to it without question or whimper.

She was furious -- to the point of wanting the slaves shot -- when they argued with her that she should not have them whipped because freedom was coming. She was an interesting sociopath.

She chronically complained how bad she had it -- her piano was scratched up -- she was often sick, as were her children and slaves-- but she seemed oblivious to the misery of her slaves.

But she also personally gave the slaves a lot of medical care -- including taking them into her house for weeks at a time when they had "flux" - horrible diarrhea I guess -- and wasn't bashful about tending to them. Odd.

She spoke of her sex life -- her own wish her children were never born (at least the females).

This would be fascinating just as a diary -- without slavery.

You just can't stop reading it. You find out about the taxes hey had to pay, how she was careful to cut the pigs heads off, so it would weigh less -- cause you had to pay 1/3 of the meat to the Confederate government by weight.

She was a mean heartless woman -- tuff as nails -- it was interesting to see her try to be feminine for her husband, and her hatred of other women who had an easier life than her."

Review: The Ghosts of Lone Jack

Before I get to the review of this YA book I would like to say, Sorry I haven't been around lately. You see we have been working for about three weeks on getting our house ready to put on the market. Every time we thought we were ready something else would come up that had to be done to it. I just hope now everything is done and ready for show!

On to the review:

Review: The Ghosts of Lone Jack
By Lance Lee Noel
YA

This wonderful book is about Jared Millhouse, a young boy that has lost his mother. Him and his father,Rob, are from Lee Summit, Kansas but spend their summers with Virgil, Jared’s grandfather in Lone Jack, Missouri. Jared never had any friends during his visits but this particular summer that changed. Several of the town kids befriend Jared and together they battle the biggest bully in town but that’s not all!

You see during the Civil War a battle was fought in and around Lone Jack. Hundreds of Union and Confederates were killed and are buried in the town cemetery. The problem is that their spirits are stuck in Lone Jack and can’t get out. Jared with the help of his new friends plus Girus, his grandfather and father, the adventure begins to solve this mysterious puzzle. Something very strange is happening in Lone Jack!

This is the first Young Adult book that I have read in years and I really didn’t know if I would enjoy it since my interest in the civil war is on the lives of the soldiers and their families but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It was refreshing and enjoyable. It held my interest, wanting to find out how Jared and his friend were going to handle the bully of Lone Jack and then the ghosts, why were they still there, what were they going to do next. I also have to say that Lee Summit is only about 3 hours from my hometown of Wichita, Kansas and yes Wichita is mentioned plus Missouri has always been Kansas’s rival since before the Civil War started.

Overall, I would highly recommend The Ghosts of Lone Jack
for any young adult. My daughter, who is a civil war buff and working on her History Major would of really enjoyed this book if it had been around several years ago.

Free Meal for Military

If you are in the Military and would like a free meal, then head to Applebee's on Veterans Day, November 11, 2009.

“In recognition of your service to our country, all veterans and active duty military personnel are invited to eat free at Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar Restaurants this Veterans Day, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009."

Proof of service includes:
U.S. Uniform Services Identification Card
U.S. Uniform Services Retired Identification Card
Current Leave and Earnings Statement
Veterans Organization Card
Photograph in uniform or wearing uniform.

My husband is in the United States Airforce! Hope to see you there!

Do You Know How Veterans Day Started? - History of Veterans Day

World War I – known at the time as “The Great War” - officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.”

In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words: "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…"
The original concept for the celebration was for a day observed with parades and public meetings and a brief suspension of business beginning at 11:00 a.m.
The United States Congress officially recognized the end of World War I when it passed a concurrent resolution on June 4, 1926, with these words:

Whereas the 11th of November 1918, marked the cessation of the most destructive, sanguinary, and far reaching war in human annals and the resumption by the people of the United States of peaceful relations with other nations, which we hope may never again be severed, and Whereas it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations; and
Whereas the legislatures of twenty-seven of our States have already declared November 11 to be a legal holiday: Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), that the President of the United States is requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on November 11 and inviting the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches, or other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples.

An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday—a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as "Armistice Day." Armistice Day was primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I, but in 1954, after World War II had required the greatest mobilization of soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen in the Nation’s history; after American forces had fought aggression in Korea, the 83rd Congress, at the urging of the veterans service organizations, amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word "Armistice" and inserting in its place the word "Veterans." With the approval of this legislation (Public Law 380) on June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.
Later that same year, on October 8th, President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first "Veterans Day Proclamation" which stated: "In order to insure proper and widespread observance of this anniversary, all veterans, all veterans' organizations, and the entire citizenry will wish to join hands in the common purpose. Toward this end, I am designating the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs as Chairman of a Veterans Day National Committee, which shall include such other persons as the Chairman may select, and which will coordinate at the national level necessary planning for the observance. I am also requesting the heads of all departments and agencies of the Executive branch of the Government to assist the National Committee in every way possible."

On that same day, the President Eisenhower sent a letter to the Honorable Harvey V. Higley, Administrator of Veterans' Affairs (VA), designating him as Chairman of the Veterans Day National Committee.

In 1958, the White House advised VA's General Counsel that the 1954 designation of the VA Administrator as Chairman of the Veterans Day National Committee applied to all subsequent VA Administrators. Since March 1989 when VA was elevated to a cabinet level department, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs has served as the committee's chairman.

The Uniform Holiday Bill (Public Law 90-363 (82 Stat. 250)) was signed on June 28, 1968, and was intended to ensure three-day weekends for Federal employees by celebrating four national holidays on Mondays: Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Columbus Day. It was thought that these extended weekends would encourage travel, recreational and cultural activities and stimulate greater industrial and commercial production. Many states did not agree with this decision and continued to celebrate the holidays on their original dates.

The first Veterans Day under the new law was observed with much confusion on October 25, 1971. It was quite apparent that the commemoration of this day was a matter of historic and patriotic significance to a great number of our citizens, and so on September 20th, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed Public Law 94-97 (89 Stat. 479), which returned the annual observance of Veterans Day to its original date of November 11, beginning in 1978. This action supported the desires of the overwhelming majority of state legislatures, all major veterans service organizations and the American people.

Veterans Day continues to be observed on November 11, regardless of what day of the week on which it falls. The restoration of the observance of Veterans Day to November 11 not only preserves the historical significance of the date, but helps focus attention on the important purpose of Veterans Day: A celebration to honor America's veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good.

Courtesy of Department of Veterans Affairs

2010 America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places® Nomination Guidelines

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has posted their Nomination Guidelines for the Top 10 Most Endangered Historic Places. All Nominees must be in by January 8, 2010. You can click here to nominate a piece of American History that could be lost forever!

"America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places has identified more than 200 threatened one-of-a-kind historic treasures since 1988. Whether these sites are urban districts or rural landscapes, Native American landmarks or 20th-century sports arenas, entire communities or single buildings, the list spotlights historic places across America that are threatened by neglect, insufficient funds, inappropriate development or insensitive public policy. The designation has been a powerful tool for raising awareness and rallying resources to save endangered sites from every region of the country. At times, that attention has garnered public support to quickly rescue a treasured landmark; while in other instances, it has been the impetus of a long battle to save an important piece of our history."

BRADLEY, Thomas Wilson, (1844 - 1920)

I was doing some civil war searching on the battle of Chancellorsville and came across this. Thought you all might be interested in this letter. Enjoy!

BRADLEY, Thomas Wilson, a Representative from New York; born in Yorkshire, England, April 6, 1844; immigrated to the United States in 1846 with his parents, who settled in Walden, Orange County, N.Y.; attended school until nine years of age; during the Civil War entered the Union Army as a private; promoted to captain in the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry; was aide-de-camp to Major General Mott, Third Division, Second Army Corps; awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor “for gallantry at Chancellorsville”; was brevetted major of United States Volunteers; member of the State house of assembly in 1876; delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1892, 1896, and 1900; elected as a Republican to the Fifty-eighth and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1903-March 3, 1913); was not a candidate for renomination in 1912; engaged in banking; president and treasurer of the New York Knife Co.; died in Walden, N.Y., May 30, 1920; interment in Wallkill Valley Cemetery.


Here's a letter that was written by Bradley which was published in the National Tribune on February 4, 1886

“Smith’s Battery has not received in history full credit for the heroic and valuable work done by its members at Gettysburg. I was at that time 1st sergeant of Company ” H,” I24th New York. I saw the Battery come down Rock Run Glen. The guns were unlimbered at the foot of Rock Ridge and hauled up the steep acclivity into position amid the rocks on its crest, and the Battery was soon engaged in a hot duel with the rebel batteries on the heights beyond the ” peach orchard.” Under cover of the Confederate fire, Longstreet’s Corps, massed in battle lines eight or ten deep, moved in confident, rapid attack on our position. The Battery changed from shell to canister, and, working as I never saw gunners work before or since, tore gap after gap through the ranks of the advancing foe. All this time the men were exposed to the direct fire of Longstreet’s Sharpshooters, and his front line. Every round of ammunition had to be carried from the foot of the ridge, the Battery keeping up a well-directed fire until the enemy was at the base of the heights and the guns could no longer be depressed to reach him. Then knowing that greatly superior force would overwhelm us and capture the guns unless checked, Colonel Ellis of the 124th, after a few rapid words with Major Cromwell, ordered a charge. It was immediately responded to and as quickly repulsed. It was again made in the face of a withering fire that ‘left killed and wounded two-fifths of the regiment. Flanked at the Devil’s Den by the turning of our line at that point, we were swept from the position, and the crest and guns were for a brief time in possession of the enemy. Meanwhile Captain Smith had removed horses, caissons and ammunition, rendering the guns useless to the enemy, whose hold on the position was so short that he could not remove them. * * * Longstreet’s determined charge, now so famous in history, was so dauntlessly met by our single line of battle on the crest of Rock Ridge, his force so terribly broken by the merciless fire of Smith’s canister and the fierce grapple amid the rocks of Devil’s Den. * * * The foregoing account is my recollection of Gettysburg, July 2, 1863. It may be faulty; it was more than twenty-two years ago, and I was but nineteen years of age then. The business cares and thoughts of an active life have come in between. I was seriously wounded in the second charge and my memories of the last part of the contest are confused with the agony of wounds, of being trampled under foot, carried and placed helplessly beside a rock on the other slope between both fires, hoping as I lay there that I might live long enough to see our side win, which I did, thank God ! I recovered and returned to duty. During the last of my service I was a major and aide-de-camp on the staff of the Third Division, Second Corps. This Division was formed by the remnant of the old Third Corps left alive after Gettysburg. I managed to get ‘ plugged ‘ a couple of times after that and yet see and take part in some pretty active fighting, but I never saw such a gallant rush ‘into the jaws of Hell’ as was made by our little regiment that July day, or a Battery worked and fought with such coolness and skill, such tireless devotion, and with such terrible havoc to the enemy. * * * Without that charge and the work of Smith’s Battery, our left would have been more seriously turned; but now, in the light of after experience, as I think of it, what a mad act it was. Our regiment—a mere handful, at that—with no order back- of its Colonel, charging from its base in line of battle to lock arms with Longstreet. This good it did, it gave pluck and steadiness to the men at our left, who were needing it and who fought like heroes, as the slaughterhouse in the Den abundantly attested.”

Review: Legacy of a Southern Lady

Legacy of a Southern Lady: Anna Calhoun Clemson, 1817-1875 is based on the dairies that Anna Calhoun Clemson kept during her life. She was born in 1817 to a socially prominent claveholding family and very close to her father, John C. Calhoun traveled to Washington, DC as a statesman from South Carolina. Anna accompanied his to be his assistant. Anna was considered his “favorite child” and he made sure that she had everything plus some. John C. Calhoun was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Secretary of War, Vice President, Senator, and Secretary of State.

In 1838 Anna met Thomas Green Clemson; they were married. Thomas was a engineer, planter, diplomat and the founder of Clemson Agricultural college of South Carolina, which today is Clemson University. Thomas suffered from depression and mood swings that became severe. During these times Anna became a shield between Thomas and the children. Anna and Thomas’s first daughter, died soon after birth. There second child, a boy, named John Calhoun Clemson; third child, 17 months later, named Elizabeth Floride Clemson. Then when John and Elizabeth were in there teens, Anna had another daughter but she died when she was three years old. This put Thomas into a very bad depression, Anna and her mother Floride Bonneau Cohhoun Calhoun became worried that he might commit suicide. With the help of family and friends Thomas was able to get through this.

Thomas, Anna and the children lived in Brussels, Belgium from 1844 to 1851; Thomas served as Charge d’Affaires to the court of King Leopold I. They were able to return for a visit from November 1848 to May 1849 then returned to Brussels. Anna’s father died in 1850.

During the Civil War Thomas and his son John joined the Confederate Army in South Carolina. On September 3, 1863 John was captured and sent Johnson’s Island in Lake Erie a Union prison camp. John remained there until the end of the war. Anna and there daughter Floride was living in Maryland and did not move until the spring of 1865, so they were able to visit John once in 1864.

Anna came from family of 6 children; in 1865 she was the only child left living. Anna and Thomas’s daughter Elizabeth, on August 2, 1869 married a man named Gideon Lee, Jr. and they had one daughter Floride Isabella Lee, on May 15, 1870. On July 23, 1871 Elizabeth died from tuberculosis; she was only 28 years old. Anne and Thomas’s son John was killed 17 days later in a train accident he was only 30. Anna and Thomas were both devastated. So they worked on putting their dream together; of opening an agricultural college. Anna didn’t live to see the dream come true. She died on September 22, 1875 at the age of 58. Thomas established the Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina, which is Clemson University and sets on the land that was their plantation home. Thomas age 80 died April 6, 1880.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the diaries of Anne Calhoun Clemson. She was a very interesting woman that lived through very tough times. There is no-way I can even compare anything in my life to the lives that people lived before, during and after the Civil War. I thoroughly enjoy reading about the families and what they had to endure.

If you would like to read the 1st chapter, click here

Violence in Kansas

Here is the next article for you that don't know much about the civil war.
To read the previous article "The Compromise of 1850"...click here.

Under the Missouri compromise, slavery was prohibited in land north of 36 degree, 30 and on May 30, 1854 the Kansas-Nebraska Act was finally passed. Four attempts to organize this territory had already been defeated in Congress, mainly because of southern opposition to the Missouri Compromise. The Kansas-Nebraska Act organized the northern Great Plains into the territories of Kansas and Nebraska and allowed popular sovereignty in the territory. The territorial organization of this area was no problem but this bill, which revoked the Missouri Compromise of 1820, prohibited slavery’s expansion into the territories north west of the border between the states of Arkansas and Missouri. The terms of the bill allowed the residents of Kansas and Nebraska territories to decide for themselves whether they would enter the Union as a free state or slave state. By revoking the Missouri Compromise, the Kansas-Nebraska Act reopened the dividing issue of slavery.

After the Compromise of 1850 was past, which settled the slavery issue in New Mexico and Utah, many Americans hoped the controversy over slavery was finished, but soon it rose again, manly because plans were being drawn up for the building of the transcontinental railroad to the pacific coast. This railroad was very important for the settlements of the western territories and the location of where it would be built. Northern Congressmen wanted a northern route, while the Southern Congressmen wanted a southern route. This divided debate threatened to stop its construction until Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois entered the heated dispute. Stephen, a devoted supporter of the western expansion and promoter for the Midwest’s development, understood that a railroad was absolutely necessary for that’s region’s political and economic future. Douglas realized that if it took a northern route, Chicago would probably serve as its eastern stopping point, which would benefit his home state of Illinois. But national interest was the concern. Douglas believed that a heavy populated and prosperous Midwest would be able to settle the divided conflicts between the North and South and provide harmony for the Nation.

Douglas also knew that a transcontinental railroad running from Chicago to San Francisco was only possible after the settlement of the Midwestern lands between the Rocky Mountains and the Missouri River. Douglas introduced a bill to organize the land into the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, which he believed would bring settlers into the northern Great Plains.

Douglas needed support for the bill. He found an influential senator from Missouri named David R. Atchison, who was seeking reelection in 1854. Atchison’s campaign put him up against Senator Thomas Hart Benton, an opponent of slavery’s western expansion. Atchison was a strong supporter of slavery’s expansion and he saw the Kansas-Nebraska bill as an opportunity to expand slavery’s domain. Atchison promised Douglas that he would support the bill and the settlement of the Kansas and Nebraska territories under one condition. He insisted that the Missouri Compromise be revoked so that his slaveholding population would be allowed to move into the new Kansas and Nebraska territories with their human property. To appease Atchison’s concerns, Douglas introduced a bill for the territorial organization of Kansas and Nebraska. This bill included a clause that effectively revoked the Missouri Compromise. The bill stated that the Compromise of 1850 had replaced the 1820 principle that slavery would not be extended north and west of the Arkansas-Missouri state border. The bill also stated that the question of slavery in the territories should be settled by the person living in them, which is known as Popular Sovereignty.

The wording of this bill favored Atchison in his campaign. Thomas Hart Benton was in a dilemma. If he voted for the bill, he would betray his antislavery sympathies; but if he voted against it, he would be defaulting on his promise to work for expansion into Kansas and Nebraska. Benton voted against the bill and lost the race with Atchison. After three bitter months of debate in Congress the final bill explicitly revoked the Missouri Compromise, which would have made the territory one, and slavery would have been banned. The possibility now of slavery in the new territories was made real. The obvious conclusion, at least to the Missourians, was that Kansas would be slave and Nebraska would be free.

The political development of the Kansas-Nebraska bill reached well within the politicians. The Southern members of Congress were nearly unanimous but the Northern Democrats were split in half. Half of the votes in the House went for the measure and the other half against it. Nearly all-northern Whigs opposed the bill. Under no circumstances did proslavery Congressmen want a free territory (Kansas) West of Missouri.

In addition to the political changes, the Kansas-Nebraska Act had direct consequences. In 1854 Kansas and Nebraska were promptly opened for settlement. Nebraska remained relatively quiet while Kansas, the destination of most of the new settlers, became a place for heated political debate. Settlers came to Kansas not only to develop the frontier but also to help determine whether Kansas would be a free or slave state.

Almost from the start, Kansas was lacking political stability. Proslavery Missourians traveled into Kansas to vote in favor of slavery, often arriving in armed bands. The Emigrant Aid Company of Massachusetts, which helped to establish settlements in Topeka and Lawrence plus other groups from the North and East, helped large numbers of antislavery settlers move into the territory. It was thought that these settlers would not permit slavery in Kansas. Territorial elections were held in 1854 and 1855, in which the proslavery forces won. Missouri raiders or “Border Ruffians,” as they were sometimes called, were Missourians who were sympathetic to slavery. They entered the territory in great numbers stuffing the ballot boxes, which made an honest count impossible. In some districts the number of ballots counted were twice the number of registered voters.

Few of the Border Ruffians actually owned slaves but they hated the Yankees and abolitionists and were unhappy with the prospect of free blacks living in neighboring areas.

The free-soil settlers were not necessarily abolitionists. Most were farmers who opposed slavery because the institution brought with it the plantation system. A copy of the cotton belt economy in Kansas would drive out the small homesteaders. The free-soil settlers loved their lands more than they cared about the plight of the slaves.

A proslavery territorial legislature was established in the town of Lecompton, Kansas and at the same time an antislavery legislature was established in Topeka. Civil War erupted in Kansas as proslavery and antislavery forces clashed for control of the territory. Radicals from both sides armed themselves, resulting in violence that spread throughout eastern Kansas and western Missouri.

Tempers rose from both groups, common people began to die uncommonly violent deaths. Near Lawrence, Kansas, on November 21, 1855, Franklin Coleman, a pro-slavery claim-jumper from Missouri, gunned down Charles Dow, a neighboring Free Stater from Ohio, shooting him in the back. Pro-Slavery Sheriff Samuel Jones of Westport used the murder as a reason to arrest Dow’s companion Jacob Branson and gather 1,500 pro-slavers from Missouri for an attack on Lawrence. The attack was more of a diplomatic maneuver than bloodshed but it inflamed the residents in the area. Under the command of Dr. Charles Robinson, armed Free Staters gathered. Pro-slaver George Clark murdered Thomas W. Barber, a Free Stater, near Lawrence and E.P. Brown of Leavenworth was killed during the election of January 1856 in a skirmish as a member of a Free State company attempting to drive ruffians from Leavenworth County. R.P. Brown was also brutally murdered by a hatchet to his head. There were more and more murders as the days went on. On May 19, Donaldson murdered a Free State boy named Jones and a friend of his near Lawrence. The boy had been returning home to care for his widowed mother. The senseless killing infuriated free Staters. Violence grew and three days later a band of 800 ruffians assaulted Lawrence. Among their leaders was fire-breathing Missouri Senator David Rice Atchison called ‘Staggering Davy’ by his fondness of hard drink. The mob destroyed two local Free State newspaper offices, looted the town of more than $150,000 in merchandise and burned the home of Governor Charles Robinson.

On May 19, 1858, a pro-slavery band led by Charles Hamilton executed unarmed Free State men near Marais des Cygnes on the Kansas-Missouri border. Hamilton, a native Georgian who had been forced from Kansas into Missouri, assembled about 30 followers and returned to the territory. Along the way, the band captured 11 Free Staters; some were Hamilton’s neighbors and expected no harm from him. The captives were led into a ravine and shot. Five of the 11 victims died and Hamilton and his men immediately returned to Missouri.

Such incidents were by no means isolated. Two hundred people died in the border dispute between November 1855 and December 1856. The new governor John W. Geary, managed to convince the Missourians to return home in late 1856. A very fragile peace followed, but violent outbreaks continued intermittently for several more years.

The National reaction to the events in Kansas demonstrated how deeply divided the country had become. The Border Ruffians were widely applauded in the South while the North mostly ignored them although a few praised them.

In 1857, a Kansas constitutional convention was convened, which drafted a pro-slavery document. Antislavery forces boycotted the ratification vote because it failed to offer them a means to vote against slavery. The questionable approval of the Lecompton Constitution did not deter President James Buchanan, who urged acceptance and statehood. Congress refused and ordered another election. This time the proslavery forces boycotted the process, allowing the antislavery forces to claim victory by defeating the document. Both sides had resorted to fraud and violence, but it was clear the prevailing sentiment in Kansas was antislavery. In mid-1859, a new constitution was drafted which reflected that view and was approved by the electorate by a 2-to-1 margin. Kansas entered the Union as a free state in January 1861.

Statehood didn’t settle the hard feelings in Kansas or the violence. Guerrilla bands from both sides continued to terrorize the Kansas-Missouri border throughout the war. Lawrence, was burned and more than 150 men and boys were killed by a pro-Southern irregular force under William Quantrill in 1863.

The dramatic events that happened in Kansas are known today as “Bleeding Kansas” and were also the opening shots of the Civil War.