What Role Did Kansas Play In The Civil War

Kansas played a big role in the Civil War before and after it became a state. While Kansas was becoming a state, there was an outrage on slavery in the United States. The Northern states fought for anti-slavery while the Southern states wanted to include slavery in the state. Kansas had many battles while in the Civil War, and the brave men of Kansas fought hard and long to protect their wives and children living with them in their state. Although many people were trying to make Kansas a confederate state, the men fighting would not let that happen. Kansas was stuck in between the Confederates of the South and the Union of the North. Kansas got in a few skirmish’s trying to defend itself as a free state against all the other states trying
to overtake Kansas as a slave state. There different ways men tried to make Kansas a slave state. Quantrill tried to make Kansas a slave state by raiding Lawrence on August 21, 1863. He had the intent of killing abolitionist and Kansas senator James Henry Lane, but James escaped. Even though James escaped, Quantrill and his men killed 183 men and boys, but some reported to have the amount of dead men to be over 200, and left the town of Lawrence in flames (Harn 153). Some men used politics to make Kansas a slave state. Some of David R. Atchison’s efforts included taking his men to Kansas and voting to be a pro-slavery state. Other states that legalized slavery, like Missouri, banned any speeches or poster that apposed slavery (Smithsonian 31). Now according to the Kansas cod, if a man was to steal white baby, they would earn up to six months in prison, but stealing a black baby would result in death (Spurgeon 15). Other men like John Brown used lots of violence to show how they felt about slavery and anti-slavery.
Now may people think of John Brown with a big bushy beard, and running around like a mad man fighting against slavery, but he never started growing out his beard until authorities were looking for him. That’s when he went full beard (Williams 79). An Ohioan by the name James Montgomery help John Brown with his fight against slavery as the went helping slaves everywhere (Spurgeon 15). John Brown had two wives in his 59 years of life fighting against slavery. He had seven kids after his first wife, and 13 kids after his second wife. With such a big family, john brown was forced to stay on the move with his whole family, to keep away from creditors. This was hard because his family was so big, and John Brown refused to leave any of them behind. No matter what the circumstances where (William 79). In response of the Lawrence raid John Brown went into slave holding territory, kidnapping 5 men who weren’t even in the raid and Brown ended up killing all 5 men (Corrick 30). Many people think the John Brown is the man that ended the slavery fight in Kansas. He did so much to help out the slaves in the United States, even thought he was so violent while he was fighting (Williams 81). On December 2, 1859, John Brown was killed by being hung because he was convicted of murder and treason. Abolitionists didn’t deny any part of John Browns history. They thought he was a very courageous
fighter while he helped the slaves gain their freedom. John Brown wanted what was best for the United States, but more importantly, he wanted best for the men and women along with their kids. Kansas had a few small infantries to defend their state as well as other people needing help in the Civil War. There were many different situations in the war that needed men to fight for them. Kansas’s army was used is so many different ways. The army was used mostly to defend the state of Kansas. With so many men fighting and having different views on the matter of slavery, Kansas had the highest death rate during the civil war. 8,500 men and boys were killed (Kansas Journey 110). Kansas got their name, “Bloody Kansas,” because it was a place where lots of men killed each other because of their pro and antislavery views (Corrick 29). While the Civil War was going on, men and a few women would form gangs and they showed no mercy to anyone with a belief other than theirs.
Most of the gangs back then were like gangs now-a-days. Men called their gangs “Bushwackers” or “Jayhawkers” (Hearn 151). These men traveled around Kansas using violence to convince people to like the idea of antislavery. Since so many men were fighting in the Civil War, they needed rifles to fight for Kansas. Approximately 100 sharp rifles were smuggled to men fighting against slavery (Smithsonian 30). These rifles where smuggled in between the years of 1854 and 1858. In those four years of smuggling rifles, the men transporting the crates of the guns and ammunition would call them ‘’bibles’’. They would also write the word ‘’bibles’’ on the crates so no one got
suspicious. Lots of men fought in the war for Kansas, and they used many army tactics while fighting for their state. Out of the 30,000 men in Kansas, 20,000 of those men fought in the army to help protect their families in the state they live in. Not all the 20,000 men came from Kansas, but their army showed a very impressing impact in the Civil War as a state. Although the war was fighting for the idea of slavery, black men would fight for their freedom alongside the white men while fighting for the state of Kansas. The first battle of the colored infantry had 225 men, and the fought against over twice as much as men they had. The colored infantry defeated the 500 men fighting for the confederates. Nearly 185,000 African American men participated in the war from or alongside Kansas fighting for the union and freedom. About 38,000 of those African American gave their lives for the other black men and women. Now there were lots of different army tactics the Kansas army could use, but one of the main tactics they used was guerilla warfare (KJ 110). Kansas played a big part in the Civil War while fighting for the freedom of the African Americans. Many men from Kansas knew how to comeback from tough situations, like when Quantrill came to Lawrence and burned the whole town down. The men in Kansas came back from the situation by taking control and fighting back for their state. Although the Civil War was a violent time in the United States, lots of great things came out of it. Freeing all the African American slaves was a big accomplishment in America.