The Civil War Didn’t Start at Fort Sumter!

It is said that the Civil War started at Fort Sumter, April 12th, 1861, but when you really think about it, it really started in Kansas. “Bloody Kansas” was the real start of the was but no one talks about it that way. Many things happened during “Bloody Kansas” like “Popular Sovereignty”, “Border Ruffians”, the “Jayhawkers”, and the “Pottawatomie Massacre”.

In 1854, the government ran into a problem, Kansas was right in the middle of the latitude that they decided would split free states and slave states. The government didn’t want to get anyone mad so they decided to leave it up to “Popular Sovereignty”. Popular Sovereignty is voting; whatever side got the most votes it would be decided if Kansas was free or not. You would only be able to vote if you were a resident of Kansas. To sum up Bleeding Kansas, it was the Northerners and Southerners coming to Kansas to fight with each other and vote on whether Kansas would be a free state or slave state instead of letting the Kansans vote for themselves.

Who are the “Border Ruffians?” Remember Popular Sovereignty and how it was a poll, like voting, and it was up to the people to decide? Well, Kansas’ neighboring state, Missouri, was very pro-slavery and they wanted Kansas to be the same way. So in the fall of 1854 the Senator of Missouri David Atchison had 1,700 men go over to Kansas and vote so it would be a slave state, just like Missouri. The “Border Ruffians” would threaten to burn, shoot, hang, and even kill anyone who was anti-slavery. But when all the votes got to the government they realized that there are not even that many people in Kansas so there shouldn’t be this many votes! They soon learned about the “Border Ruffians” and didn’t count their votes.

The “Jayhawkers” were a group of people who were very anti-slavery and pro-union who would fight for their cause. The “Jayhawkers” were based or made in the “Bloody Kansas” times. This was the group that would fight with the “Border Ruffians”. When said that the Jayhawkers would stop at nothing to have their free state, they mean absolutely nothing! There were of course fights that it could even get as serious as battles. The fighting between the “Border Ruffians” and the “Jayhawkers” still continued even when Kansas was declared a free state and well into the Civil War.

The “Pottawatomie Massacre” is well known to most Kansans because of John Brown. As you may already know, John Brown was an abolitionist. He was the kind of abolitionist who would fight for freedom. When speaking to his followers about pro-slavery people and going into fights with them he said “fight fire with fire” and to “strike terror in the hearts of the pro-slavery people.” So one night he snuck into a camp of pro-slavery men with his five sons and killed them one by one by chopping their heads off. That night five men laid dead at the hands of John Brown.

When you consider all the things that happened in Kansas it is clear to see that the American Civil War started in Kansas. When you think about it one of the real reason the south secede was because of the popular sovereignty in Kansas. Not even going into “Bloody Kansas”, the “Jayhawkers”, the “Border Ruffians”, and the “Pottawatomie Massacre” with John Brown. If you would like more information you can look at the links and citations below.

"Civil War Facts." History Net Where History Comes Alive World US History Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2016.

"Civil War on the Western Border: The Missouri-Kansas Conflict, 1854-1865." Osawatomie, Kansas. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2016.

"The Pottawatomie Creek Massacre." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2016.

"Kansas Jayhawkers - Terror in the Civil War." Kansas Jayhawkers - Terror in the Civil War. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2016.

"America's Civil War: Missouri and Kansas." History Net Where History Comes Alive World US History Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2016.

"Border Ruffians." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2016.

"Bleeding Kansas." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2016.

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