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The Kansas-Nebraska Act was introduced in 1854 by Illinois Democrat Stephen Douglas to create the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. Within, it also introduced the idea of “popular sovereignty,” in which residents of Kansas Territory would vote on whether or not to enter the Union as free-states or slave-states. Its enactment effectively repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which outlawed slavery north of the 36º30' parallel north (Missouri’s southern border). In a United States already locked in debate over enslavement, the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 further aggravated tensions.
Section 19 of the Kansas-Nebraska Act outlines this, with the most relevant portion italicized:
And be it further enacted, That all that part of the Territory of the United States included within the following limits, except such portions thereof as are hereinafter expressly exempted from the operations of this act, to wit, beginning at a point on the western boundary of the State of Missouri, where the thirty-seventh parallel of north latitude crosses the same; thence west on said parallel to the eastern boundary of New Mexico; thence north on said boundary to latitude thirty-eight; thence following said boundary westward to the east boundary of the Territory of Utah, on the summit of the Rocky Mountains; thence northward on said summit to the fortieth parallel of latitude, thence east on said parallel to the western boundary of the State of Missouri; thence south with the western boundary of said State to the place of beginning, be, and the same is hereby, created into a temporary government by the name of the Territory of Kansas; and when admitted as a State or States, the said Territory, or any portion of the same, shall be received into the Union with or without slavery, as their Constitution may prescribe at the time of their admission: Provided, That nothing in this act contained shall be construed to inhibit the government of the United States from dividing said Territory into two or more Territories, in such manner and at such times as Congress shall deem convenient and proper, or from attaching any portion of said Territory to any other State or Territory of the United States: Provided further, That nothing in this act contained shall be construed to impair the rights of person or property now pertaining to the Indians in said Territory, so long as such rights shall remain unextinguished by treaty between the United States and such Indians, or to include any territory which, by treaty with any Indian tribe, is not, without the consent of said tribe, to be included within the territorial limits or jurisdiction of any State or Territory; but all such territory shall be excepted out of the boundaries, and constitute no part of the Territory of Kansas, until said tribe shall signify their assent to the President of the United States to be included within the said Territory of Kansas, or to affect the authority of the government of the United States to make any regulation respecting such Indians, their lands, property, or other rights, by treaty, law, or otherwise, which it would have been competent to the government to make if this act had never passed.
Enacting the Kansas-Nebraska Act led to Bleeding Kansas, a series of violent confrontations that killed dozens. These series of events pushed the United States closer to Civil War, which broke out in 1861. When the war eventually began, Stephen Douglas supported the Union; he died before the War ended.
"Border Ruffians Invading Kansas," an illustration by Felix O.C. Darley, depicts pro-slavery raiders crossing into Kansas from Missouri amidst Bleeding Kansas violence. The illustration is undated. Photo courtesy of Yale University Art Gallery.
In 1820, the Missouri Compromise outlawed slavery north of the 36º 30’ parallel (Missouri’s southern border). However, in 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise by instituting popular sovereignty, under which settlers of Kansas Territory could vote on whether or not it would be admitted to the Union as a free or slave state. Violence broke out that year, with conflicts between pro and anti-slavery factions who sought to turn Kansas in their favor. 56 people were killed in Kansas as part of “Bleeding Kansas” violence.
Manhattan was spared from the worst of Bleeding Kansas for two main reasons: firstly, its location, far from Missouri and close to Fort Riley. It had been founded by staunchly Free-State settlers. However, it was not spared from conflict entirely. Proslavery newspaper Leavenworth Herald reported on an incident in Manhattan: in 1855, William Osborn, a proslavery man, took over the cabin of a man who left town after transferring his property to the Boston Town Association (which is what Manhattan was called at the time). He was run out of town, through force. His friend, Isaac Hascall, was also forcibly removed for “claim-jumping,” though his claim was later recognized as legitimate.
This turbulence continued until Kansas became a state. The anti-slavery faction eventually won, and Kansas entered the Union as a Free-State in January 1861. The Civil War officially broke out only 3 months later.
To learn more about Bleeding Kansas and how the Civil War affected Kansas, you can go to: Civil War on the Western Border
In 2006, PBS released "Bad Blood: The Border War that Triggered the Civil War," a docudrama based on Bleeding Kansas. The drama was filmed at various sites throughout Kansas and Missouri, but of local interest is the filming at the First Territorial Capital State Historic Site Beecher Bible Church at Fort Riley, and the Goodnow House State Historic Site in Manhattan.
Bad Blood: The Border War that Triggered the Civil War is available to view here
They survived almost daily prairie fires, lightening, heat, blizzards, snakes, grasshoppers, and boredom with tenacity, faith, and fortitude and usually with a sense of humor. They lost half their children to disease and accidents and still they carried on. Hear their words and their stories. Our pioneer mothers.
Presenter: Susan E. Church is an historian, retired Museum Executive Director, and a speaker on Westward Migration, Women’s Roles in the 19th Century, and American Civil War topics. She has held many positions and is a nationally recognized Civil War Historian. In addition to serving on several national battlefield preservation boards…educator at several Civil War sites and has spoken at several national conferences.
Primary Sources
Secondary Sources
Olson, Kevin G., Frontier Manhattan Yankee Settlement to Kansas Town, 1854 – 1894, University Press of Kansas, 2012.
Riley County Genealogical Society, Pioneers of Riley County, Kansas 1853 to 1860, Riley County Genealogical Society, 2004.
Roberts, Mary and Olney, Elaine, Brown, Evelyn, Dexter, Mariam, Sitz, Golda, Pioneers of the Bluestem Prairie, Riley County Genealogical Society, 1976.
Streeter, Floyd Benjamin, The Kaw: the Heart of a Nation, Farrar & Rinehart, New York, 1941.
Political map comparing slave states to free states and what territory is open to slavery or freedom based on the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. Dated 1856. Courtesy of Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed in May 1854 and Kansas Territory was opened to white settlement. The Homestead Act of 1862 gave settlers up to 160 acres of public land. Over 270 million acres was granted by the government while the law was in effect.
Boston was established by the New England Emigrant Aid Company, led by Isaac Goodnow. When Goodnow’s group arrived in the area in March 1855, they staked their claim between Polistra and Canton. These two settlements had been established in the fall of 1854. All three agreed to consolidate into a Free-State town and to name it “Boston.” The combined settlements moved quickly to adopt a town constitution that divided and distributed stock to the original founders, including shares set aside for religious, educational, and commercial development.
In June 1855, the Hartford steamboat from Cincinnati, Ohio ran aground near Boston, carrying approximately 75 settlers. The Hartford group was persuaded to join Boston, with one of the negotiations including the town name change to Manhattan.
Manhattan was the only settlement to vote in anti-slavery delegates to the first territorial legislature in 1855. Elsewhere, pro-slavery men from neighboring Missouri flooded the territory at other election sites. Kansas became the first and only state in the Union to be settled solely on the proposition of having no slavery within its territory.
Though it was difficult, the Manhattan settlers managed to build a thriving frontier town with a schoolhouse, college, sawmill, and other businesses. The combination of these groups managed to build a town that encompassed the best of them all.
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