But it
roused the Border Ruffians to fury. Armed companies of both sides
marched through the country, and when they met, there was bloodshed.
For three years Kansas was in a state of disorder and riot. Governor
after governor came with friendly feelings to the South. But when
they saw the actions of the slave party they resigned rather than
support such injustice.
At length the slave party gained their end, but they were defeated.
They were defeated by Douglas, that same man who had caused the
Missouri Compromise to be done away with. Then he had blackened
his name, now he redeemed it.
The President was ready to use all his power to force the admission
of Kansas as a slave state. Douglas warned him to beware, and
when the President persisted, he rose in his place, and made such
a wonderful speech that the bill introduced by the slave-holders
was defeated. And when at length Kansas was admitted to the Union
in 1861, it was admitted as a free state.
__________
Chapter 81 - Buchanan - The Story of the Mormons
THE President whom Douglas defied over the question of Kansas
was not Pierce, for in 1857 his term of office came to an end and
James Buchanan was elected as President. Like Pierce, he was a
"Northern man with Southern principles," and he threw his lot with
the slave-holders.
Like Pierce, he was a lawyer, and in ordinary times might have
made a good President and have left an honoured name behind him.
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