PUBLIC OPINION IS MORE THAN LAW: POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY AND VIGILANTISM IN THE NEBRASKA TERRITORY

After months of intense debate, Congress finally passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act on May 30, 1854, largely along sectional lines. Over the next several years Kansas Territory became "Bleeding Kansas" as violence erupted between pro-slavery and free-state factions. While scholars continue to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Great plains quarterly Vol. 31; no. 4; pp. 309 - 324
Main Author:	KAMMER, SEAN M.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Lincoln THE CENTER FOR GREAT PLAINS STUDIES 01-10-2011 Center for Great Plains Studies Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska Lincoln
Subjects:	Baking Bleeding Clubs Colonies & territories Debates Democracy Equality Federal Legislation Kansas Laborers Land conservation Laws Legislators Nebraska Political violence Politics Popular sovereignty Public land Public opinion Self Determination Slavery Sovereignty Speculators Territories United States History Vigilantism Violence Kansas Nebraska
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Summary:	After months of intense debate, Congress finally passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act on May 30, 1854, largely along sectional lines. Over the next several years Kansas Territory became "Bleeding Kansas" as violence erupted between pro-slavery and free-state factions. While scholars continue to debate the true causes of the fighting in Kansas, there is a strong consensus that the conflict was fundamentally shaped by the national political debate over the extension of slavery--if not by the slavery issue itself. Bleeding Kansas occurred at a time when one type of vigilante group, the "claim club," was becoming widespread across not only Kansas but also in places such as Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Montana, and California.
ISSN:	0275-7664 2333-5092