THE CAPTURE AND SACK OF LAWRENCE. 243 ists." The call was promptly made | May, 1856, Lawrence was surrounded by proclamation from the governor, and the whole Missouri border came over to execute vengeance on Lawrence and the Free-State men. This army encamped at Franklin, a proSlavery settlement, a few miles from Lawrence, and there remained several days, during which Thomas W. Barber, a Free-State man, returning from Lawrence to his home, seven miles off, was shot dead by some of them, but no other serious damage done. Finally, articles of negotiation and adjustment were agreed upon between Gov. Shannon and the Free-State leaders, in Lawrence, which suspended the feud for the present. The Missourians dispersed, and the troubled land once more had peace. In the Spring of 1856, the proSlavery party on the Kansas border were reënforced by Col. Buford, from Alabama, at the head of a regiment of wild young men, mainly recruited in South Carolina and Georgia. They came in military array, armed, and with the avowed purpose of making Kansas a Slave State at all hazards. On one of their raids into Kansas, a party of Buford's men, who were South Carolinians, took a Mr. Miller prisoner, and, finding that he was a Free-State man, and a native of South Carolina, they gravely tried him for treason to his native State! He was found guilty, and escaped with his life only, losing his horse and money. Kansas now swarmed with the minions of the Slave Power, intent on her subjugation; their pretext being the enforcement of the laws passed by the fraudulent Legislature. On the morning of the 21st of and surprised by various parties of enemies, part of them under Gen. Atchison, who, with the "Platte County Rifles," and two pieces of artillery, approached from Lecompton on the west, while another force, composed in good part of the volunteers from the Atlantic Southern States, under Col. Buford, beleaguered it on the east. ed it on the east. They bristled with weapons from the United States Armory, then in charge of the Federal officers in Kansas. Nearly all the pro-Slavery leaders then in Kansas, or hovering along the Missouri border, were on hand; among them, Col. Titus, from Florida, Col. Wilkes, from South Carolina, Gen. Stringfellow, a Virginian, Col. Boone, hailing from Westport, and many others of local and temporary fame. The entire force was about 800 strong, having possession of Mount Oread, a hill which commanded the town. The pretext for this raid was a desire to serve legal processes in Kansas, although deputy marshal Fain, who held a part of those processes, had been in Lawrence the evening before, and served two writs without a sign of resistance, as on several previous occasions. He now rode into the town with ten men, and arrested two leading Free-State citizens, no one making objection. Meantime, the posse, so called, were busy in the suburbs, breaking open houses and robbing their inmates. Fain remained in town until afternoon, eating dinner with his party at the principal hotel, but neglecting to pay for it; then returned to the camp on the hill, and was succeeded by "Sheriff Jones" of that county, whose authority, being derived from וי Such were the beginnings of the so-called "Kansas War,” a desultory, wasteful, but not very bloody conflict, which continued, with alternations of activity and quiet, throughout the next year. One of its most noted incidents is known as the "battle of Black Jack," wherein 28 Free State men, led by old John Brown, of Osawatomie, fought and defeated, on the open prairie, 56 "border ruffians," headed by Capt. H. Clay Pate, from Virginia, who professed to be an officer under Marshal Donaldson. It terminated in the surrender of Pate and all that remained of his band, twenty-one men, beside the wounded, with twenty-three horses and mules, wagons, provisions, camp-equipage, and a considerable quantity of plunder, obtained just before by sacking a little Free-State settlement, known as Palmyra. the sham Legislature, the people did | ed at $150,000. None of them were not recognize. Jones rode into killed or wounded; but one of the town at the head of twenty men, at ruffians shot himself badly, and three P. M., and demanded that all another was killed by a brick or the arms should be given up to him, stone, knocked by one of their canon pain of a bombardment. The non from the upper story of the people, unprepared to resist, consent- Free-State Hotel. ed to surrender their artillery, consisting of a twelve-pound howitzer, and four smooth-bore pieces, carrying each a pound ball. All these had been buried some days before, but were now dug up and made over to Jones. A few muskets were likewise surrendered by their owners. The pro-Slavery army now marched down the hill, and entered the south end of the town, where Atchison made a speech to them, declaring that the Free-State Hotel and the two Free-State printing-offices must be destroyed. "Sheriff Jones" declared that he had an order to that effect from Judge Lecompte, of the Federal Court. The whole force accordingly marched into the heart of the town, destroyed the printing-offices, and fired some fifty rounds from their cannon at the Free-State Hotel, which, being solidly built of stone, was not much damaged thereby. Four kegs of gun-powder were then placed in it and fired, but only two of them exploded, making little impression. Fire was now applied to the building, and it was burnt to the bare and blackened walls. The dwelling of Gov. Robinson" was next set on fire, and, though the flames were twice extinguished, it was finally consumed. The total loss to the citizens of Lawrence by that day's robbery and arson was estimat 2 Elected Governor under the embryo organization, by the great body of her settlers, of Kansas as a Free State. 十 The Legislature chosen under the Free-State Constitution was summoned to meet at Topeka on the 4th of July, 1856, and its members assembled accordingly, but were not allowed to organize, Col. Sumner,3 with a force of regulars, dispersing them by order of President Pierce. The village of Osawatomie, in the southern part of the Territory, was sacked and burned on the 5th of June by a pro-Slavery force, headed 30 Since known as Maj.-Gen. Edwin V. Sumner: fought bravely in several battles of the War: died at Syracuse, N. Y., early in 1863. THE SACK OF LEAVENWORTH. 245 by Gen. Whitfield. But few of the | save of their passage-money, which male citizens were at home, and there was no resistance. Leavenworth, being directly on the border, and easily accessible from a populous portion of Missouri, was especially exposed to outrages. It was long under the control of the pro-Slavery party, being a military post, and a point whence overland trains and mails were dispatched, and at which a vast Federal patronage was concentrated. The office of The Territorial Register (Free-State) was destroyed by a Missouri band, December 20, 1855. Many collisions and murders occurred here, and in the vicinity; and at length, on the recurrence of the municipal election (September 1, 1856), a large force, mainly of Missourians, took possession of the town; and, under the pretense of searching for arms, plundered and ravaged as they chose. William Phillips, a lawyer, refused to submit to their search, and stood on his defense. He killed two of his assailants, but was finally killed himself; while his brother, who aided him in his defense, had his arm shattered by a bullet. Phillips's house was burned, with several others, and every known Free-State man put on board a steamboat and sent down the river. It was boasted by the Missouri journals that not a single "abolition vote" was cast at that election! Meantime, the emigrants flocking to Kansas from the Free States were arrested on their passage through Missouri and turned back: cannon being planted along the Missouri river to stop the ascending steamboats for this purpose. Not many of these emigrants were actually plundered, was in no case returned. A large Yet the immigration continued; so The Democratic National Convention for 1856 met at Cincinnati on } 246 the 2d of June. John E. Ward, of The Convention, in its platform, after adopting nearly all the material resolves of its two immediate predecessors, unanimously "1. Resolved, That, claiming fellowship with and desiring the cooperation of all who regard the preservation of the Union | under the Constitution as the paramount issue, and repudiating all sectional parties and platforms concerning domestic Slavery, which seek to embroil the States and incite to treason and armed resistance to law in the Territories, and whose avowed purpose, if consummated, must end in civil war and disunion, the American Democracy recognize and adopt the principles contained in the organic laws establishing the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska, as embodying the only sound and safe solution of the Slavery question, upon which the great National idea of the people of this whole country can repose in its determined conservation of the Union, and non-interference of Congress with Slavery in the Territories or in the District of Columbia. "2. That this was the basis of the Compromises of 1850, confirmed by both the Democratic and Whig parties in National Conventions; ratified by the people in the election of 1852, and rightly applied to the organi zation of the Territories in 1854. "3. That, by the uniform application of the Democratic principle to the organization of Territories, and the admission of new States with or without domestic Slavery, as they may elect, the equal rights of all the States will be preserved intact, the original compacts of the Constitution maintained inviolate, and the perpetuity and expansion of the Union insured to its utmost capacity of embracing, in peace and harmony, every future American State that may be constituted or annexed with a republican form of government." The dissolution of the Whig party, commenced by the imposition of the Southern platform on its National Convention of 1852, was consummated by the eager participation of most of its Southern members of Congress in the repudiation of the Missouri Compromise by the passage of the KansasNebraska bill. Those, of whatever party in the past, who emphatically condemned that repudiation, and who united on that basis to ignore past political denominations, with a view to united action in the future, were first known simply as "anti-Nebraska," but gradually, and almost spontaneously, assumed the designation of "Republicans." carried most of the Free State elections of 1854, but were less decidedly successful in those of 1855. Their first National Convention was held at Pittsburgh, Pa., on the 22d of February, 1856; but no nominations were there made. Their nominating Convention met at Philadelphia on the 17th of June, Col. Henry S. Lane, of Indiana, presiding. JOHN C. FREMONT, of California, was nominated for President on the first ballot, receiving 359 votes to 196 for WILLIAM John McLean, of Ohio. As such, they L. DAYTON, of New Jersey, received 259 votes on the informal ballot, to 110 for Abraham Lincoln and 180 scattering, for Vice-President. Mr. Dayton was thereupon unanimously NOMINATION OF FILLMORE AND DONELSON. Resolved, That, with our republican fathers, we hold it to be a self-evident truth, that all men are endowed with the inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and that the primary object and ulterior design of our Federal Government were, to secure these rights to all persons within its exclusive jurisdiction; that, as our republican fathers, when they 247 but those who are citizens of the United States, under the Constitution and laws thereof, and who have a fixed residence in any such Territory, ought to participate in the formation of the Constitution, or in the enactment of laws, for said Territory or State." This Council proceeded to condemn the National Administration, among other things, for "reopening sectional agitation by the repeal of the Missouri compromise." This was not satisfactory to the "anti-Nebraska" members of the nominating Convention; on whose behalf, Mr. Killinger, of Pennsylvania, proposed the following: had abolished Slavery in all our National territory, ordained that no person should be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, it becomes our duty to maintain this provision of the Constitution against all attempts to violate it, for the purpose of establishing Slavery in any territory of the United States, by positive legislation, prohibiting its existence and extension therein. That we deny the authority of Congress, of a Territorial Legis-ciples for this Nominating Convention; and lature, of any individual or association of individuals, to give legal existence to Slavery in any Territory of the United States, while the present Constitution shall be maintained. 'Resolved, That the Constitution confers upon Congress sovereign power over the Territories of the United States for their government; and that, in the exercise of this power, it is both the right and the duty of Congress to prohibit in the Territories those twin relics of barbarism-Polygamy and Slavery." An "American" National Convention was held at Philadelphia on the 22d of February; all the States represented but Maine, Vermont, Georgia, and South Carolina. An "American" National Council (secret) had met three days before in the same place, and adopted a platform. The following plank is the most essential : "The recognition of the right of nativeborn and naturalized citizens of the United States, permanently residing in any Territory thereof, to frame their Constitution and laws, and to regulate their domestic and social affairs in their own mode, subject only to the provisions of the Federal Constitution, with the privilege of admission into the Union whenever they have the requisite population for one Representative in Congress: Provided, always, that none "Resolved, That the National Council has no authority to prescribe a Platform of prin that we will nominate for President and Vice-President no men who are not in favor of interdicting the introduction of Slavery into territory north of 36° 30′ by Congressional action." This resolve was laid on the table, by 141 votes to 59. The "anti-Nebraska" delegates, to the number of about fifty, thereupon withdrew from the Convention. On the first ballot for President, MILLARD FILLMORE, of New York, received 71 votes; George Law, of N. Y., 27; and there were 45 scattering. On the next ballot, Mr. Fillmore received 179 to 64 for all others, and was nominated. On the first ballot for Vice-President, ANDREW JACKSON DONELSON, of Tennessee, received 181 votes to 24 scattering, and was unanimously nomina ted. The nomination of Mr. Fillmore was ratified by a Whig Convention, which met at Baltimore on the 17th of September-Edward Bates, of Missouri, presiding. Mr. Fillmore was absent in Europe when the American nomination was made; but, returning early in July, |