Bleeding Kansas
Atchison County Historical Society Museum Annual Meeting
- Location: 200 S 10th St, Atchison, Kansas, USA (View on Google Maps) Start Date: January 18, 2025
- Start Time: 2:00 pm
- End Time: 5:00 pm
Annual Meeting and presentation from Charles and Sara Robinson aka Steve and Suzanne Germes, using their unique historical character interpretation skills will bring the period of “Bleeding Kansas” to life illustrating how Kansas became the 34th State.
The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 allowed settlers in Kansas Territory to vote on whether to allow slavery within its borders. This new law would put into motion the period called “Bleeding Kansas.” This new act repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which had prohibited slavery in any new States created north of the latitude line 36°30′. Predictably, violence erupted between Northerners and Southerners who rushed into the territory to further their beliefs. Within a few days after the passage of this Act hundreds of pro-slavery Missourians crossed into Kansas Territory with the intent on establishing a Pro-Slavery State. Atchison, Kansas played a critical political role in the early years of this period. Dr. John H. Springfellow, a territorial politician, came to Kansas Territory and settled in Atchison and published the first newspaper, the Squatter Sovereign , which was a pro Southern newspaper.
