Bleeding Kansas: It became the first battle ground between those for slavery and those against it. Kansas had the same rich soil and good climate of Missouri, and settlers moving there wanted to bring slaves, to claim Kansas to the South. The Northerners did not like this, so they hurried in to make the territory theirs. Pro-Slavery people from Missouri stomped into Kansas, called the "border ruffians." They voted illegally in Kansas to get pro-slavery legislation elected. So then the North made their own side of the government, by March 1856 Kansas had two governments. Then on May 21, 1856, border ruffians attacked Northern towns and destroyed many towns. Newspapers called this "Bleeding Kansas" which was a scene of a territorial civil war between the two. By the end of 1856, 200 people had died and about 2 million dollars worth of property had been destroyed.
The Caning of Charles Sumner: With tension rising in Kansas, so is it in governement; which greatly debated what to do with the Western territories. Senator Charles Sumner gave a speech accusing pro-slavery senators; naming Andrew P. Butler or South Carolina. Several days later on May 22, Butler's cousin; Preston Brooks, approached Sumner and criticised Sumner's speech. And before Sumner could respond, Brooks pulled out a gold-handed cane and beat him savagely, leaving the senator wounded and bleeding on the floor. The violence over slavery was now in the central government. My Southerners found this action of Brooks to be heroic, but it also showed and strengthened Northern determination to end this slavery.
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