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Title: An Act to Organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas
Description: This is a copy of “An Act to Organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas,” otherwise known as the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The act, proposed by Senator Stephen Douglas, allowed Kansas to determine through popular sovereignty whether or not to legalize slavery. Despite much dissent in the House and Senate, the Kansas-Nebraska Act passed and was signed into law by President Franklin Pierce on May 30, 1854.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: May 30, 1854

Title: From Amos Lawrence to Francis Granger
Description: This letter, dated September 9, 1856, is from Amos A. Lawrence in Boston to Francis Granger. Lawrence criticizes President Pierce and his administration for assuming that Kansas settlers are mounting an insurrection against the government. Lawrence insists that Kansans are loyal to the U.S. government, despite resisting the laws of Missouri. He adds that Kansans have "been on the defensive wholly" and have not retaliated against the Missourians who "robbed, burned & murdered" Kansas residents.
Date: September 9, 1856

Title: Memorial to the President of the United States
Description: This 1854 broadside, entitled “Memorial to the President of the United States,” was drafted “on behalf of the settlers upon lands in Kansas Territory, ceded to the United States in July last, by the Delaware Indians.” The memorandum protests against a new treaty between the U.S. government and the Delaware Indians, because it will result in white settlers being driven from Kansas Territory and “will benefit none but speculators.” The document’s authors beg the President to reconsider the treaty.
Object Type: Broadside
Date: 1854

Title: Proclamation of Daniel Woodson
Description: This proclamation was issued July 4, 1856 by Acting Kansas Gov. Daniel Woodson. Woodson forbids all persons claiming legislative authority or power in Kansas from assembling at Topeka, Kansas and from organizing, attempting to organize, or acting in any legislative capacity whatsoever. Woodson declares that this proclamation upholds President Pierce’s proclamation of February 11, 1856, which decreed that all such acts would be considered insurrectionary.
Object Type: Government Document
Date: July 4, 1856

Title: From James Griffing to Augusta
Description: This April 6, 1855 letter was written by James Griffing in Wakarusa, Kansas, to Augusta. James has been helping some new “pioneer friends” stake a claim and become settled in Kansas Territory, remarking, “You can hardly think how fast the emigration is pouring in from the free states.” James describes a recent episode of election fraud: “armed forces from Missouri came and took possession of the ballot boxes and pretty much carried on the election as they pleased. Their proceedings will only work against them.”
Date: April 6, 1855

Title: From Israel B. Donalson to Daniel Woodson
Description: This letter, dated September 1, 1856, was written by U.S. Marshal Israel B. Donalson in Lecompton, Kansas, to Acting Kansas Gov. Daniel Woodson. Donalson states that a large number of armed men, probably commanded by Gen. James Lane, are entering Kansas daily for the purpose of driving citizens from the Territory, robbing and burning houses, and committing murder. Donalson does not possess enough troops to suppress Lane’s men, and is submitting the facts of the situation to Woodson so he can determine a course of action.
Date: September 1, 1856

Title: Genl. Franklin Pierce: Fourteenth President of the United States
Description: Currier & Ives lithograph of President Franklin Pierce, circa 1853.
Object Type: Image

Title: From G.H. Forkney to Col. Peery
Description: This letter, dated June 13, 1856, is from G.H. Forkney in Basin Knob, Missouri to Col. Peery. Forkney discusses business dealings, then goes on to describe the "deplorable state of affairs" in Kansas Territory: "murders are common & occasionally the women & children fall victim to the fury of the northern fanatics." He reports that President Franklin Pierce has put Kansas under martial law, and that Missourians are preparing for "a war of extermination."
Object Type: Letter
Date: June 13, 1856

Title: From T.W.B. Rockwell to Robert M. Stewart
Description: This letter was written on February 28, 1859 by T.W.B. Rockwell in Butler, Bates County, Missouri to Missouri Gov. Robert M. Stewart. Rockwell states that he arrived in Butler that day and found the citizens in a state of alarm after several thefts by "collections of thieves" from Kansas. Among the items taken were "fifty stand of those guns that was in charge of Capt. Weaver." Rockwell says that many citizens of Bates County have moved to the central and eastern portions of the county in an effort to escape the thieves; "What must our President think of this," he asks.
Date: February 28, 1859

Title: From E.V. Sumner to Daniel Woodson
Description: This dispatch, dated July 2, 1856, was sent by Col. E.V. Sumner at Headquarters, 1st Cavalry in camp at Topeka, Kansas, to Acting Kansas Gov. Daniel Woodson. Sumner states that he will be glad to meet the following day with Woodson, Judge Cato, Col. Isaacs, and U.S. Marshal Donalson. He asks Woodson to bring the Governor’s and President’s proclamations, along with his instructions under them, and the Governor’s letter about the Topeka legislature.
Date: July 2, 1856

Title: From Edward Fitch to Dear Father
Description: In a May 26, 1856 letter to his father in Massachusetts, Edward Fitch describes the Sack of Lawrence that had occurred six days earlier on May 21, 1856. He mentions that Governor Shannon has called for protection “for fear we should rise up and exterminate him and the Pro-Slavery party.” He expresses his own fear that the Free State Party will be defeated and that Kansas will become a slave state. He also fears for his personal safety, saying he "shall not dare to stay at my cabin without a rifle or gun at my bedside." He adds that he hopes John C. Fremont will win the upcoming presidential election.
Date: May 26, 1856

Title: President Franklin Pierce, Seated, with Left Hand Inside Vest
Description: Portrait of President Franklin Pierce circa 1855-1865.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1855-1865

Title: From Edward Fitch to Mr. Editor
Description: This letter, dated July 4, 1856, is from Edward Fitch of Lawrence, Kansas to the editor of the Hopkinton (MA) Patriot. Fitch states that the Free State Legislature was supposed to convene that day in Topeka, but Colonel Sumner arrived with armed troops and, under orders from Washington, commanded everyone to leave. Fitch declares that “unless the North awakes and men (not fools) are placed in the Presidential chair this fall, Civil War must follow.” He also discusses a group of women who, in response to local rum selling, "took possession of the Liquor, which they spilled without mercy." He signs the letter “Yours for Free men, Free speech, Free Kansas, and Fre-mont.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: July 4, 1856

Title: From William Murphy to John W. Geary
Description: This letter, dated October 3, 1856, is from William Murphy, mayor of Leavenworth, Kansas, to Gov. John W. Geary. Murphy states that three Leavenworth citizens received letters signed by “Regulators” ordering them to leave Kansas Territory; he tells Geary that he has investigated the incident but cannot determine who sent the letters. Murphy admits to Geary that citizens have complained about his performance as mayor, but he insists that their criticism is not justified. Murphy complains about people who are disloyal to the country and to President Pierce, and he expresses his support of the Democratic Party.
Date: October 3, 1856

Title: From Persifor Smith to M.C. Dickey
Description: This letter, dated July 23, 1856, is from Persifor Smith, a U.S. Army Major at Fort Leavenworth, to M.C. Dickey and “others, conductors of emigrating companies.” Smith responds to a letter in which Dickey and the others request military protection from armed bodies guarding the Kansas border. Smith denies their request: “I have no evidence that any parties are in arms to oppose you . . . I cannot act on your vague suspicions.”
Object Type: Letter
Date: July 23, 1856

Title: From Wilson Shannon to E.V. Sumner
Description: This dispatch, dated June 23, 1856, was sent by Kansas Gov. Wilson Shannon in Lecompton, Kansas, to Col. E.V. Sumner. Shannon, who says he will soon leave for St. Louis, urges Sumner to attend the meeting of the Topeka legislature. Shannon indicates that he fears an outbreak of violence will occur if U.S. troops are withdrawn from Kansas, and says he will write to President Pierce saying so. Shannon requests that Sumner make no changes with the troops until he returns in ten days’ time.
Date: June 23, 1856

Title: Letter From Judge Lecompte
Description: This September 13, 1856 newspaper article is an open letter from Judge Samuel Lecompte to James A. Stewart, a Maryland Congressman. In the letter, Lecompte defends himself against several charges; he denies that he packed the jury in a murder trial, that he was in possession of illegal whisky, that he misrepresented the crime of treason to a grand jury, and that he participated in a meeting of the Law and Order Party. He states that he is aware of threats to remove him from his post as Chief Justice of Kansas Territory, but he insists that he has been a fair and impartial judge.
Object Type: Newspaper Article
Date: September 13, 1856

Civil War on the Western Border: The Missouri-Kansas Conflict, 1854-1865

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