Bleeding Kansas

Bleeding Kansas, sometimes referred to as Bloody Kansas, was a sequence of violent events that took place in Kansas Territory between roughly 1854 and 1856. The territory bordered Missouri, a state where slavery was allowed, and the area became a battleground for pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces who fought over whether the resulting state of Kansas should be a slave state or a free state.

This was an important time period in the lead-up to the American Civil War. History of Kansas has more information about these events.