Thus said a learned gentleman,
"It has been maintained by the sharp logic of the revolver and the
bowie knife, that the people of Missouri are the people of Kansas!"
The Governor of Kansas was named Reeder. His sympathy was with the
South. But he was an honest man, and when he saw the lawless way
in which the Missourians were behaving, he resolved to see justice
done. And although they threatened to hang him, he ordered new
elections in the seven districts which dared to make a protest. But
the new elections made little difference. Owing to the fact that
so many of the people were disputing its result, this election
did not settle the question whether Kansas were to be admitted as
a slave or a free state, and it still remained a Territory. And as
soon as the legislature met, the "Free State" members were promptly
unseated, and the others had things all their own way.
The laws which this legislature drew up with regard to slaves were
quite out of keeping with the needs and desires of free America.
If any person were to entice a slave away from his master they
were to suffer death. If they hid and protected a slave, they might
be imprisoned with hard labour for five years or more. And if any
person declared that Kansas was not a slave territory, they were
to be imprisoned with hard labour for at least two years.
These were only a few of the laws.
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