—— UNTIL THEY LOST —–
Did you know Southern leaders boasted — boasted- – of killing to spread slavery?
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Some Southern leaders , like US Senator Atchison, even boasted early on of the the joy (yes joy) of killing to spread slavery.
When Atchison reached Kansas after he and Stephen A Douglas passed the Kansas Act, he started terrorizing, later killing, to spread slavery.
A few of Atchison’s early supporters reported him to Jefferson Davis, then Secretary of War, and President Pierce. As you will see, Davis accused those Democrats of Treason and Atchison tried to arrest them.
As you will see, these former Democrats contacted none other than a fellow named Abraham Lincoln, who actually went to Kansas, met with Atchison’s former supporters, a story that you likely have never heard elsewhere
These Democrats invited him to Kansas — and he went. Though LIncoln (and most of the country) was exceedingly aware of what Atchison and others were doing in Kansas, Lincoln got to know these men, and they got to know him, during his trip here. They later not only helped Lincoln win the nomination in his party, the then helped him get elected .
Those Democrats– former Atchison supporters who saw what Atchison did, reported him to President Pierce, soon found out that Jeff Davis and the President Pierce worked with Atchison, supported his killing sprees.
That’s when Lincoln came in the picture…..the US and the world were never the same.
We will show you just a few of those Southern leaders, and document their boasts — about killing to spread slavery. There are many more, and we will add them as time goes on. Atchison and Davis were just two of the most important men.
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1) MEET DAVID RICE ATCHISON….
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US SENATOR |
As you will see, Atchison boasted
✔ The Joy of killing to spread slavery
✔ Why the Confederate flag was red (the color of blood to spread slavery)
✔ Who paid his hired men (Jeff Davis)
✔ The goal of their violence (spread slavery into Kansas and the West.
✔ Who they worked for (the entire South)
And much more — read it.
Atchison speech of the joy of killing to spread slavery….
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2) MEET JEFFERSON DAVIS
Davis issued it officially in 1863. But he was boasting of this kind of thing for years already, and so were others.
Atchison, Davis and others like him, were some low level drunks in a bar.
Not Southern leaders speaking sarcastically, vaguely, or coyly (though at times they would use other words — Orwellian double speak, they also were extremely blunt at times)
And not just a few times.
Specifically, officially, proudly, in context, and with great specificity, Southern leaders made it very clear, why they were invading and spreading slavery by force.
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NOT JUST A RIGHT TO SPREAD SLAVERY
A DUTY TO SPREAD SLAVERY
Much more than a right to spread slavery, Southern leaders spoke of the DUTY — to GOD, to “Southern Honor” and to White Survival to spread slavery.
Keeping slavery was not nearly enough — their duty to God, their duty to their race, their duty to their honor, was to SPREAD- – spread slavery.
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Atchison and Stephen A Douglas were partners, in business, and in passing the Kansas Act.
Immediately after he passed Kansas Act, Atchison went to Kansas and there, with hired men, terrorized and later tortured and killed to spread slavery — and bragged about it.
Douglas stayed in Washington, defended Atchison as “a peace loving man and patriot” who would never do such things. Douglas went with Jeff Davis and David Rice Atchison personally to get Kansas Act passed.
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Not to keep slavery — to spread slavery where it was rejected by vote and by clear public sentiment, in Kansas, but also into the the entire West, “to the Pacific”.
Jeff Davis himself made it clear he would spread slavery even to the North during the Civil War.
Why don’t we teach this — this period of boasting lasted not for days or weeks, but for YEARS, almost a decade, until they lost the Civil War.
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Why don’t we teach this?
Southern leaders did not just say it, they did it.
They did not just say it, and do it, they boasted of clearly, repeatedly, loudly, proudly. In context, with full explanations.
They were not coy — for a time. f
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This was NOT a one time speech, with no other like boasting by him and others. Atchison actually had a habit of boasting of things proudly that most people would be ashamed of.
And it was not just Atchison…..that fellow named Jefferson Davis, too, in his own way, was very clear, very boastful, not only for his support of Atchison and the paid killers in Kansas from 1856 on, Davis could hold his own in the bragging about killing to spread slavery.
As you are about to learn.
Davis not only bragged he would spread slavery into the North — “by force of arms” — he tried to do so, That’s like Atchison too, they didn’t just boast, they actually did what they said, or they tried to do it, using hired men.
Another similarity, both men boasted in advance and after their attempts to spread slavery. Did you ever hear your teacher speak of this?
Hell no. It’s not in any US text book that we ever saw.
Oh yes, you get some watered down, vauge, and essentially meaningless mention of “Trouble in Kansas,” which conveys nothing clear or specific about who killed who, and why.
Since Southern leaders then were exceedingly proud and clear at the time, why the hell do we not teach that, and show the killing sprees they hired men to commit, and show their own clear goals for these killing sprees, as true?
Their boasts were true. Their motivations were as they claimed. Their “logic” and justifications for the killings are as they said at the time.
So what the hell is wrong with showing both the boasting, and the actions?
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Nor was this at all — in any way — unusual or odd for Davis and other Southern leaders. You just never heard of it in any candid way — the way Southern leaders boasted of it, at the time, until they lost..
We are about to change that.
UNTIL THEY LOST
It is not in the hype or exaggeration to say Southern leaders — until they lost — boasted they were killing to spread slavery.
Southern school boards have never allowed, from the start of text books in schools, to this day, for such things to get in US text books. Often they give exactly the opposite impression of what Southern leaders did, why they did it, and what Southern leaders bragged of….
until they lost.
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WAR ULTIMATUMS
Kind of a big deal, don’t you think?
When Jeff Davis and his supporters met in Montgomery Alabama to declare themselves their own country, do you know what they did first?
Not second — what they did FIRST? Right away. Immediately, before anything else.
They issued War Ultimatums, They were proud of these.
Their own President made it clear that it was “intolerable” that Kansas resisted slavery – even though Kansas voted over 90% to reject slavery and became a free state, now in the Union as a free state, because Kansas citizens clearly overwhelmingly by vote and by fighting Davis paid killers (yes, killers) in Kansas since 1856.
Southern War Ultimatums were nothing new.
A US Senator, working for Jeff Davis as you will see, already issued War Ultimatums in 1856, in Kansas. They were the same basic war ultimatums.
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Atchison speech — and those like it, his other statements, the statements of his men — are more important than Lincoln’s Gettysburg speech, and even than Lincoln’s House Divided Speech, to learn about the US Civil War. Yes, Lincoln’s Gettysburg speech is important — and his House Divided Speech was actually about what Davis and Atchison were doing passing the Kansas Act and their use of Dred Scott decision.
Atchison had already hired several groups of killers to invade Kansas –always Atchison got men from elsewhere, Missouri at first, then when he could not get enough Missouri men, he hired men from Texas, South Carolina, and Alabama.
You literally can not – can not — understand the Civil War unless in any basic war unless you know Southern leaders sent over 1000 killers to Kansas after Atchison passed the Kansas Act.
d then went to Kansas to terrorize, and later to kill.
When we are taught about “The Kansas Act” in high school, and about Stephen A Douglas, we are told the Kansas Act was about “popular sovereignty” Idiotically, we are even told LIncoln was against popular sovereignty.
the deliberate “machinery” to spread slavery — that is Kansas Act and Dred Scott –which would, unless changed or amended, would lead to slavery in all states, because if they could spread slavery into Kansas by these means, which 95% of the people there were against slavery, there was no rational way to keep slavery out of all states.
Atchison himself, then Jefferson Davis too, used Kansas Act to justify the violence. It became very clear to anyone, everyone, that what Lincoln and others had predicted– that Kansas Act was a ruse, a violent ruse, to spread slavery into Kansas, was exactly right. ___________________________________________ THEY NEEDED MORE THAN KANSAS ACT….. WHERE TO GET MORE?
They — mostly through the “genius” of Roger Taney and Jeff Davis — came up with “Dred Scott” decision, to make that justify more killings and justify sending two thousand Southern men to Kansas to terrorize and kill there. Davis and Atchison, obviously, had already sent the men to Kansas, already tried to force slavery into Kansas. It did seem to work — as you will see by the books published at the time– but it did not work. The people of Kansas, with the help of many Democrats as you will see, fought back and kept slavery out almost entirely, by vote, and by fighting fire with fire. The Dred Scott decision was actually “crafted” — made, manufactured, as Lincoln said, to go along with Kansas Act to justify SOuthern leaders violence in Kansas, and beyond. Dred Scott did not even come out till 1857. But the killers came already, in 1854, then more in 1855, then whose those efforts were not enough, over 2000 men hired mostly from Texas, South Carolina, and Alabama, went to Kansas. as excuse for killings they already had committed. Seems most history teachers never noticed that Southern leaders justification of killings by citing Dred Scott anyway, so of course they do not notice, could not on their best day notice, that Dred Scott came after Southern leaders were already killing and boasting of it, in Kansas. Any child should have noticed- – the time line: Southern leaders were already using killers before they could do Dred Scott. Yet Jeff Davis brazenly claimed Dred Scott changed everything, and justified the violence in Kansas. ___________________________________________ |
FOR THE ENTIRE SOUTH
In both sets of War Ultimatums the Southern leaders demanded the spread of slavery.
The spread of slavery against state’s rights.
Not the spread of slavery FOR state’s rights.
When Atchison boasted of fighting to spread slavery “for the entire South” the men cheered. Other crowds cheered likewise speeches, and references to Southern Honor, “our right” to slavery in Kansas and beyond.
Such speeches always came — because without such appeals, without pumping up the hate and fear, Southern leaders could not get enough men to actually go to Kansas and do the dirty work.
And they had to PAY these men. When the money stopped the men went home. They were not doing any of this for free.
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TERRORIZING TO START
At first, Atchison terrorized more than killed. As Lincoln and others pointed out, slavery always spread this way.
You may thing slavery was a thing people voted on, or that this state or that (white males anyway) “wanted slavery”?
Not true. Earlier spreads of slavery were this same way — by terror, by force, by cruelty. Nothing shows that like the killing sprees in Kansas.
Atchison first men rode into Kansas by the hundreds, as one witness said you could see the cloud of dust from the horses from miles off. They came heavily armed, and many drunk.
The took over voting places, threw the voting officials out, and dared anyone to stop them.
No one dared. At least, not yet.
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They “voted” dozens or hundreds of times each, then quickly set up their own “legislature” which, from that day to this, has been called “The Bogus Legislature.”
The bogus legislature quickly made it a law that no one could publish anti-slavery newspapers, only pro slavery men (who did not even live in Kansas) could hold office or vote.
As you will see, Davis and other Southern leaders had been boasting about killing to spread slavery (yes, killing, yes to spread slavery, and yes boasting of it) since 1856.
NOT JUST BRAG
For years Southern leaders not only bragged about killing to spread slavery, and spread it AGAINST state’s rights, they also did exactly, precisely, as they boasted of. And they continued the boasting, until they lost.
Would someone — anyone — tell me WTF we don’t teach either thing? We do not teach that Southern leaders bragged (see below) that they were killing to spread slavery, they did more. They actually killed to spread slavery.
And they were not coy. They did not mumble. They did not (for a time) use euphemism or Orwellian double speak (that came later).
They were killing to spread slavery – spread it against the will and vote of the people in Kansas, and boast of it.
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___________________________________ Atchison was the US Senator from Missouri who compelled Stephen Douglas to push Kansas Act throught the United States Senate — always promising that the law would “give the people of Kansas the perfect right” to decide slavery themselves. But after they passed the legislation, Atchison personally left Washington City, went to Kansas, and started terrorizing, later killing, to spread slavery. ________________________________ GENERAL OF LAW AND ORDER IN KANSAS 1855-1860 CONFEDERATE GENERAL 1861.
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The man who passed the Kansas Act….
then boasted of endless killing to spread slavery to the Pacific.
Boasting of killing people in Kansas, 1856
Sadly you are more likely to learn the name of Robert E Lee’s pet chicken in the Commonwealth (state) of Virginia history classes, than learn about Southern War Ultimatums, or the stunning speeches boasting about killing to spread slavery.
Not speeches by some nuts — speeches by the top Southern leaders of the day.
If your history teacher even mentioned such speeches were ever uttered, you have a rare teacher.
If your teacher had you study those speeches, and gave you copies, you have an actual history teacher.
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WHO KILLED WHO — WHY
WHAT DID THEY BRAG ABOUT AT THE TIME?
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The Commonwealth of Virginia is not much worse about whitewashing the basic facts of “Who killed who — and why” than other states.
We don’t teach the Civil War in terms of who killed who and why. Our text books have never been that candid about any US war, and text book publishers were not going to make an exception of the US Civil War.
School boards, particularly in the South, would not abide by textbooks showing a drastically different set of facts than what they wanted their children to believe.
It was not a conspiracy — it was and is human nature.
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HOW IS ATCHISON TAUGHT?
Often, your history teacher may only mention David Rice Atchison when they “show off” about trivia knowledge, that (supposedly) Atchison was technically President of the United States for one day.
Even in Atchison Kansas itself, a city named by him at the time, schools do not teach what Atchison boasted of, and did. A local library actually gives bus tours of the city, and the librarian will speak about Davis Rice Atchison.
About the worse thing she will say about Atchison is that he cussed a lot.
No, we are not kidding.
We spoke to her. We had to show her in Kansas Historical Archives what she never dreamed was there – Atchison’s speech boasting to his hired men of the joy of killing to spread slavery.
Now, remember, that is the “expert” person PAID to tell the public about Atchison. In Atchison. She simply did not know.
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ATCHISON AND STEPHEN A DOUGLAS.
Atchison was unique in one sense — he passed the Kansas Act then rushed to Kansas. No one else did that. Atchison’s partner, Stephen A Douglas stayed in Washington and for a time, covered for his partner who hurried to Kansas.
Eventually, when Douglas became so hated because of what Atchison was doing in Kansas, that he had to publically turn against his partner, in private as Chairman of Committee on Kansas Territories, Douglas continued to work with Jeff Davis to fund Atchison and his men. As you will see, Atchison boasted he and his men were paid “by the present administration” which was Jeff Davis and Stephen A Douglas.
Later, in 1861, Douglas would say Southern leaders (he did not name names) should be hung. But Stephen A Douglas had already done more damage than anyone else, other than Jeff Davis and Atchison.
It is important to know that Stephen A Douglas, Atchison, and Jeff Davis personally took the Kansas Act to President Pierce in 1854, had him sign it, then Atchison rushed to Kansas and there terrorized, later killed, and boasted about killing to spread slavery for the entire South.
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f you don’t know that Southern leaders actually bragged –for years — about killing to spread slavery, it’s not your fault. We don’t teach it.
Senator Atchison, who Davis named as “General of Law and Order in Kansas” in 1855, sent reports to Jeff Davis on the progress of his killings in Kansas.
This was years before Lincoln even ran for Senate, or the South states seceded.
That’s the main thing we do not teach. Southern leaders were ALREADY killing, already bragging they were at war “for the entire South” to spread slavery.
In fact, you probably are never taught that at Southern leaders every boasted they were killing to spread slavery – yet they certainly did, for years, until they los.
You should have been told this from 5th grade on
You were not told.
Until now.
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Example 1
Davis issued this proclamation that he will enslave blacks in the North…..
“so there would be no misunderstanding in the future”.
By “force of our arms” we will enslave blacks in the North.
Did we think he was joking?
Davis, true to his words, did send his Army North, and did, in fact, capture over 1000 blacks, and enslave them, take them back South under control of Robert E Lee, and apparently sold them at auction.
Why on earth do we not teach this — if they bragged about it, or not? And they bragged about it, until they lost!
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Here is a link to Davis address — “so there will be no misunderstanding in the future”.
What the hell did he have to do, to get that message across? Rent billboard space in advance for 150 years?
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What they bragged about from 1848 to 1865 should be common knowledge — certainly every high school and college teacher should know this backwards and forward.
Students can graduate from high school, or even college, and go teach history, yet not have a clue who Atchison was — that he was the Senator who got Kansas Act passed, then went to Kansas, there hired at first hundreds of men, then later over 2000 men, to terrorize, torture, or even kill, to spread slavery into kansas and beyond.
Atchison was by no means the only Southerner in Kansas, nor the only one killing and boasting proudly about it. But Atchison was the official leader. Jeff Davis named Atchison, officially, as “General of Law and Order in Kansas Territories.
While the President had the power to name the governors of Kansas territory, Jeff Davis actually named the first three governors, too. Those men turned out to be honest men, honest Democrats. When they heard reports — and then saw personally- – Atchison and his men’s actions of killing and treachery, they refusted to help hiim, and reported him to Jefferson Davis and the President.
In fact, the first governor of Kansas, Andred Reeder, personally went to see President Pierce, who seemed to ignore his telegraphs and mail. Once in Washington h e quickly saw that Jefferson Davis controlled the President, and told the President the governore was guilty of Treason. Reeder had to flee and hide out until well into the Civil War.
Two other Democrats governors also saw- after Reeder — how violent and deceptive Atchison and his men were. They too reported Atchison’s killings and terrors to the President. They too were accused of treason.
Very basic. The thing to remember — Atchison was the US Senator who got Kansas Act passed then immediately came to Kansas to terrorize.
Others made it almost as clear at Atchison that they were killing to spread slavery.
Yet as you will see, nothing is more basic
. And no one was more basic in the entire process than Atchison, who worked for, and was paid by, Jefferson Davis, then Secretary of War.
Atchison had the money to pay the thousand or more men arrived from Texas, South Carolina and Alabama.
Atchison is the one the placed the ads in Southern papers offering men money to come to Kansas.
Atchison is the that passed Kansas Act, and compelled his partner Stephen A Douglas to lead the way there.
But mostly, ATCHISON is the man who hired the others, gave speeches to these men, got them pumped up with hate and the glory of “our cause” and “Southern Rights”.
The Southern Rights Atchison boasted of was their right to spread slavery into Kansas and beyond, even though 90 to 95% of the people in Kansas were against slavery.
And you know that for a fact when you learn about Atchison (and others) speeches.
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And sadly, it’s not much better even for Phd’s in history.
Phd’s may know who Atchison was, and of course some know the entire story– but I have yet to met any personally that knew, when asked, who was it that passed the Kansas Act, and then went to Kansas immediately.
Yet this is as basic as knowing where the heart is, for a medical doctor. The fact Phd’s in US history can’t tell you who passed the Kansas Act, then immediately went to Kansas, and Sumner spoke of him by name and devoted the famous Crimes Against Kansas Act to Atchison’s actions, says there is something really wrong with how we teach US history, at any level.
We do NOT teach who killed who, and why.
We do NOT teach what Southern leaders bragged about, until they lost.
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It should be obvious to any college history major, after a 101 course, because the famous “Crimes Against Kansas Speech” by Charles Sumner was about Atchison, by name, and how he (Atchison) passed Kansas Act.
So why, when you meet a PhD in history, who actually teaches others about the Civil War, do they not know this?
You can bet they know the “trivia” thing that Atchison was supposedly President for a day.
They often do not know much more than that, in a clear way.
SUMNER NAMED ATCHISON
AND LISTED FOR TWO DAYS
THE KILLINGS AND TORTURES COMMITTED BY ATCHISON AND HIS MEN.
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The same week Sumner was beaten, after he had given his speech about Atchison, Atchison himself gave a speech which you can read your self HERE
Atchison was actually bragging – yes bragging -that he and his men were doing exactly as Sumner as laid out for two days, in hundreds of examples of the killings and tortures by Atchison and his men.
TIMING OF MORE INTENSE KILLINGS…
More important for you to know, even, than this — and all that is very important — is that Atchison speech to his newly arrived men was the first day of an entirely new and more horrific level of violence.
Atchison gave his OWN speech the same week.
Sumner’s speech was about the first two years of what Atchison and his men did– before the thousand or more men arrived from Texas, Southern Carolina, and Alabama.
Because of these newly hired men, killings were going to get much, much worse, as you will see. Had Sumner waited another week, he would have had much more to report.
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DID LINCOLN KNOW
LIncoln, at least in public bent over backwards not to incite violence, though his private letters show Lincoln was exceedingly aware of Atchison and his men’s killings and tortures in Kansas.
Lincoln literally went back into politics because of what Atchison did, so of course he knew. When Douglas and Atchison passed Kansas Act, Lincoln jumped with both feet back into political life.
Atchison was still on his way to — after he passed Kansas Act — when Lincoln started his speeches about the dangers of this Kansas Act. Lincoln was in no way wrong, he and others knew what was coming, because they knew Kansas Act was a fraud meant to push slavery into Kansas by force.
And it was exactly that.
When Atchison’s killing sprees and crimes against Kansas grew worse Lincoln did little but go around speaking about Kansas and the Kansas Act. Lincoln had given several speeches about Kansas, for example at Cooper’s Union, and in Peoria, both famously.
“CONTEMPT KICKING AND DEATH”
In one speech, Lincoln even said those who make mere merchandise of slaves deserve nothing but “contempt kicking and death”.
Remember, Atchison was in Kansas boasting of doing the very things Sumner listed (and Sumner named names) These were the very things that spurred John Brown into action, and spurd LIncoln into action. (see below).
Simply put, Atchison thought his killers would just cause everyone to run off. As you will see, some good men — like Lincoln, like John Brown, ran TO Kansas. And Atchison ran away.
INEVITABLE WAR
STARTED IN 1855
Atchison killing sprees, after he passed Kansas Act, set gears in motion that made, as you will see, war inevitable, because those killing sprees were war.
Atchison called his actions “war” — and war for the entire South to spread slavery.
His actions were very war like — killing torture, death, boasting.
Kansas was not a “prelude” or “harbinger” to war. It was war. War where Atchison had the cannons and money from Jeff Davis, as Secretary of War. Atchison had all the power — Kansas residents, 95% of which were against slavery, had no power.
If you do know know how and why Kansas citizens won that war, you don’t have any business teaching the US Civil War.
It might not be your fault that you don’t know, but you still have no business teaching it.
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Every student — even in high school, should at a minimum know Southern War ultimatums and speeches by their leaders boasting of killing to spread slavery.
Did you ever hear of Southern War Ultimatums of 1856?
No.
Did you ever hear of Southern War Ultimatums of 1861?
Probably not!
Here is the War Ultimatums of 1861, which was headlines in Richmond newspaper at the time, boasting of it.
Why don’t we teach this? It was by no means unique, different, odd. It was exactly what they had been saying — what Atchison and Davis had been boasting about, for years already.
Here is a link to “The TRUE ISSUE ” as boasted of in Richmond papers.
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Southern leaders did not just brag about it -they bragged officially, repeatedly, clearly, in context. And the public, North and South, were very aware of it.
Why don’t we teach what Southern leaders bragged about? They thought it was so important Davis not only put it in writing, but as you will see, he sent over 2000 hired men to Kansas in 1856 under David Rice Atchison to terrorize, and later kill, to spread slavery there.
Atchison did his OWN boasting, too!
And that is just two examples.
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WHY LINCOLN GOT BACK IN POLITICS
1854
As Atchison said, as Davis said- – both clearly — that the issue was the spread — remember this — the spread of slavery.
Where to spread it?
Unless you know about the spread of slavery at the time, and how fast, how vast the spread was, you will remain stupid (sorry, it’s true though) about why Lincoln was aghast, and immediately got back in politics when Atchison and Douglas passed the Kansas Act.
And all the places — remember this too — that they were trying to spread slavery, it was
1) By force.
2) Against the will of the people there.
Do not forget that — by force, and against the will of the people there.
Not for, not with state rights. Not for, and not with “popular sovereignty” There is this stupid notion that the South cared about state’s rights, and the only way you can say such stupid things is if you don’t know Southern War Ultimatums, and do not know where and how the South was spreading slavery.
Legal limits of slavery, 1848
Legal limits of slavery 1850
Legal limits of Slavery
as demanded by David Rice Atchison
1855
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Atchison gloried in violence, as you will see, and his speech to his newly hired men from the South shows that clear.
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If Phd’s in American history don’t know that Atchison gave that speech, and that Charles Sumner was talking about Atchison by name in the famous “Crimes Against Kansas” speech, and the details of all this is NOT in US text books, then where, pray tell, are students supposed to learn it?
From a duck?
The Phd’s I met who had no idea who Sumner spoke about, and no idea that Atchison went immediately to Kansas and led the killers there after he passed Kansas Act, worked in places like special library section on the Civil War, and some work in places like Southern Museum of HIstory.
How the hell– I want to know — how the hell are these men working in places that teach this period of US history, yet they don’t the basic fact — the man who passed the Kansas Act then went to Kansas and started terrorizing, later killing and torturing there, and boasted he was killing and torturing to spread slavery.
And Atchison specifically boasted that he was killing to spread slavery “for the entire South”.
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Is our entire “academic” system this shallow and stupid? They probably can tell you all kinds of trivia — but do they know what the hell happened?
You have to wonder.
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SLAP YOUR TEACHER
AND ASK FOR YOUR MONEY BACK
It is not your “history teacher’s” fault they are that stupid, since most can only teach from the text book.
They may add trivia details — like the name of Lee’s pet chicken — to sound smart, but how can they teach what they were not taught.
Why didn’t they tell Atchison he worked for Jeff Davis?
(because they did not know)
Why didn’t they tell you he passed Kansas Act?
(because they did not know)
Why didn’t they tell you he then immediately went to Kansas, and there terrorized, later killed and boasted of it, to spread slavery?
(because they did not know)
Whey didn’t they tell you Jeff Davis said everything Atchison did was “Constitutionally required” ?
(because they did not know)
Why didn’t they tell you Charles Sumner was beaten almost to death after he spoke for two days about Atchison and his men’s killing sprees in Kansas?
(because they did not know)
And why didn’t they tell you that Atchison gave his own amazing speech, to newly hired men, the same week Sumner gave his speech, after which Atchison’s killings grew much worse, because he just got an extra 1000 men paid by Jeff Davis?
(because they did not know)
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Might as well ask for your money back for the the textbooks you had to buy or rent, too, if they did not cover this. I have yet to see a US text book cover this clearly either.
What the hell did Atchison have to do? He boasted of this, he passed the Kansas Act, Charles Sumner gave a two day speech about him by name, and revealed all this. Newspapers were filled with the details.
Bizzare.
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When you know that Atchison’s men not only killed, but they tortured, too, and they bragged of it, till they lost, you will have an idea of how toxic they were.
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SOUTHERN RIGHTS
Kansas had no right to keep slavery out —
According to Jeff Davis and David Rice Atchison, even though Kansas was a free state by the time Davis said this, and even though 85% of Kansas residents were against slavery, to reject slavery.
A very basic fact not taught in US schools. It can not get more basic– Kansas, the state, Kansas citizens, Kansas legislature, had no right to reject slavery.
Not only did they have no right — it was “INTOLERABLE” — intolerable — that Kansas even resisted slavery. Davis justified sending over 2000 killers to Kansas by that logic. They had no right to resist slavery, even though 95% of the citizens there were against slavery, and even though they were a free state.
I was never taught this in high school, or college. Never saw this explained in any history book — that Southern leaders not only said repeatedly and emphatically that state’s rights did not matter, but sent killers to Kansas, and dozens of other places, in efforts to force the spread of slavery.
Instead, absurdly, we teach some double speak about South cared for state’s rights.
They were killing to stop state’s rights for years. And if Lincoln had not stopped them, they would have spread slavery successfully — and by violence — again.
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But to really understand how toxic, you need to know that Jeff Davis was still Secretary of War, until March of 1857, and that Davis had complete control of the President, Pierce. Davis and Atchison branded people as criminals and “traitors” who tried to stop Atchison’s killing sprees, with the total support of Pierce.
Further, to “really” understand it, you would need to know this is how slavery always spread, in 1848, in 1850 and in 1854. The Mexican War itself, as you will see, was a war by slave power people, politicians who 100% supported the spread of slavery, by any means. The “trouble in Kansas” was a war to spread slavery.
The Civil War itself — as is clear by the South War Ultimatums and speeches by Southern leaders at the time — was their effort to spread slavery. Not an effort to “keep slavery, but they explained very well (until they lost) this is what they started, and proudly so, to spread slavery.
Atchison and Jeff Davis were following a long tradition of means “foul and more foul” to spread slavery.
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LONG HISTORY OF KILLING TO SPREAD SLAVERY
Lincoln himself- – and of course most people — were acutely aware of the 60 years of violence to spread slavery. Southern leaders like Davis were manifestly clear, and specific. We have the right — in fact it is our duty — to spread slavery. We have the right to slavery in Kansas and beyond, regardless of what people in those states and territories want.
Yes, even people in states — Kansas specifically — must accept slavery. We show Southern War Ultimatums and very clear articulation by Jeff Davis, of WHY states have no right to spread slavery.
Remember, even after Kansas was a free state, Davis and Southern leaders made it very clear, Kansas must accept and respect slavery, no matter what the people said there, no matter what their legislature said there, and no matter what a Congress might say in DC.
Slavery, according to Davis, was protected by the Constitution, and it was an act of war — war– to try to stop the spread of slavery, even if the overwhelming percentage of people were against slavery, that did not matter.
See Davis clear articulation of his basic principle — and the next time your history teacher even hints that the South cared for state’s rights, you (rhetorically) slap then with the facts, and have them learn what the hell Davis and Atchison was doing, who they were killing, and what they were bragging about, until they lost.
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DOUBLING SLAVERY
THE MASSIVE GROWTH OF SLAVERY
LIKE A CANCER….
Yet most high school and college students can not even tell you where slavery was allowed in 1848, so they of course do not know how or where it doubled in two years, by 1850.
Slavery was spreading “like a cancer” doubling then doubling then doubling again. And never did it spread by vote of the people, never did it spread peacefully.
That is very basic — slavery was a violent act itself, and it spread, always, by means “foul and more foul”.
Why can’t your history teacher tell you how slavery spread?
Why on earth do we see sentences like “Missouri wanted slavery” in a text book? That was not true – if only because Missouri is a geographic concept. People in Missouri were never allowed a real vote on slavery, certainly women and blacks were not allowed to vote.
And it was a crime, punishable by torture, in most Southern states to even speak openly against slavery or write books, newspapers articles or pamphlets against slavery.
Even preachers could be arrested- – and tortured publically — for preaching against slavery.
Why don’t our students know that? Because our teachers do not know that.
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SOUTHERN WAR ULTIMATUMS
And they can’t possibly tell you what Southern War Ultimatums of 1856 and 1861 demanded. In fact, inexplicably, we know of no US text book that showed War Ultimatums, and boasted of in Southern papers and or speeches, in 1856 and 1861.
Remember this — Southern leaders boasted publically about the violent spread of slavery, and issued war ultimatums for the spread of slavery, at least twice, in 1856, and then again in 1861. In both cases, they were already — already — killing to spread slavery before they issued the ultimatums.
They were not joking around about it. It was not a request. It was a war ultimatum, complete with killing.
So why can’t your history teacher tell you want those Ultimatums were about?
Should be simple.
Very basic– Southern leaders were loud, clear, proud, and succinct of their details. It was no secret. It was no mystery. They were not coy.
They demanded the spread of slavery.
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ATCHISON SPEECH TO HIS HIRED MEN
In 1856, they tortured John Brown’s son to madness, and killed another son, which was, as you will see, a big mistake on Atchison’s part.
Unless you know these men — the men Atchison spoke to here, are not from Kansas, but from Texas, South Carolina, and Alabama, and that they came to Kansas for one reason — because Atchison paid them, and that their group had already killed John Brown’s son Frederick and tortured his other son, you won’t know shit about what happened in Kansas, or what caused the US Civil War.
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While Atchison may have never killed or tortured anyone himself, (we don’t know for sure) we do know he sent his followers out to kill and torture. We knew because he boasted of it, and his right hand man, Stringfellow, boasted of it, too.
Atchison bragged about it in speeches you can read yourself, and you could have read for over 100 years.
You should have read his speech about it, from your own text books. But it’s not there, nor even mentioned in your history text books.
Here is a link to a written transcript of Atchison speech, in 1856.
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A picture of the survivors of Atchison’s first raid into Kansas, using men from Texas and South Carolina. The people you see here were young at the time Atchison raid, this was taken in 1895.
The first raid was mostly terrorizing — in later raids the men actually slaughtered women and children, too. Why? Because that city {Lawrence)had resisted Atchison time and time again.
Each invasion grew more deadly.
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It may seem like an extreme comparison, but is it?
Charles Mason perhaps did not kill or torture anyone with his own hands — but he sent his follower out to do it.
Atchison paid his followers to do it to kill and torture — Yes, he did, check that speech and newspapers of the time. Not kinda, not sorta.
Even Manson did not write letters bragging of it, and give speeches to his men bragging of it.
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This is from one of Atchison’s letters to Jefferson Davis about the progress of the killings in 1854
“We are organizing. We will be compelled to shoot, burn, and hang, but the thing will soon be over”
Atchison made it very clear, they were killing to spread slavery, not just into the huge Kansas territory (much larger than the state of Kansas now), but to spread slavery “all the way to the Pacific”.
And all of this — 100% of this — was killing, and a war, “for the entire South”.
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Really, read Atchison’s speech.
There is a long hand version of his speech to his hired men
But also a text version of Atchison speech to his hired men,
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ANOTHER UNTOLD BASIC STORY
DEMOCRATS WHO CONTACTED LINCOLN
To those who claimed, much later, that Atchison could not have given that speech, do not know that the first three governors of Kansas, all Democrats sent by Davis to help Atchison, and who believed Atchison at first, saw first hand what Atchison was doing, and not only refused to help him kill and torture, they reported his killings to President Davis and others, and actively tried to stop Atchison and his men from further killings.
The first Governor of Kansas — remember — sent by Jefferson Davis, believed Atchison at first. His name was Andrew Reeder.
When he saw with his own eyes what Atchison’s men were doing (it was not hard, they boasted of it!) actually went to President Pierce and reported about Atchison and his men
Reeder was called a traitor, and later charged with Treason for it. He had to hide out for several years.
But far more Democrats than Reeder saw Atchison and his men at work, and reported him to Davis.
They were all hated by Atchison and his men, and Davis of course backed Atchison.
Davis made sure the President did not believe the governors of Kansas, though they were Democrats, and Davis had appointed them!
Davis even ordered the US Army in Missouri and Illinois to assist Atchison and his men by holding as prisoners anyone Atchison wanted to imprison. Further more, if Atchison was correct in his speech, Davis paid the men with US funds.
Worst of all, however, Davis gave Atchison and his men access to United States armory supplies of cannon, guns, and any equipment Atchison wanted, — including the cannons Atchison set up as certain points entering Kansas, to prevent anyone from even entering the state that would not sign an oath to support slavery.
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BASIC POINT Democrats who believed Atchison, at first, were then his most vocal critics, and they contacted a man name Abraham LIncoln. Lincoln went to Kansas and met with these same men — men that believed Atchison and Jeff Davis at first.
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ALL DEMOCRAT
These men who contacted Lincoln, and met with Lincoln, were all Democrats, because the Repubicans were not fooled by Douglas and Atchison to begin with.
But Democrats were fooled — until they saw Atchison in action.
These men – nearly all Democrats –helped Lincoln get nominated and elected, and even served as Lincoln’s personal guard.
Easily one of the most amazing stories of the entire 1850’s, and all but ignored by any history teacher we ever heard of. Democrats in Kansas turned against Davis, turned against Atchison, turned against Stephen Douglas (the three who pushed Kansas Act through) and were the pivotal difference not only in Kansas, but in getting Lincoln nominated and then elected.
And even guarded Lincoln personally.
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This is an excellent book about those men — who contacted Lincoln, then helped Lincoln get elected in order to stop the killings in Kansas…..killings by Atchison and his hired me.
The 116– the story of Lincoln’s “Lost Guard”.
I think it should have been named, “The Democrats who contacted Lincoln for help to stop David Rice Atchison”.
Get it from your library, or amazon.
Your history teacher likely doesn’t have a clue about any of this — but will insist they know all about it. Ask them a few questions first, and you will see how little most of them know.
Hint -to get good grades in history class, do not show up the teacher. It can really piss them off if you do it in a way that challenges their status. Better to ask nicely.
Only give them this information, if you dare, and if you are nice about it.
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ORIGINAL SOURCES
Original sources are the best — if you have 400 hours to spend reading Southern books, Southern newspapers, Southern speeches, Southern documents, I can help make a list of those things for you.
In fact, I am compiling a list of such documents when I get time.
I found most of what I draw from, from SOUTHERN newspapers and speeches at the time. Surprised to find these amazing things so often, especially since Southern leaders were boasting of it, I decided to look further.
There are some excellent books on all this, if you don’t have those 400 hours. Just remember, the original documents are the most important, and even the most amazing. You can’t outdo Atchison’s own bragging — or Jeff Davis’s own bragging, no matter how hard you might try.
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NOT A CONSPIRACY
None of this is some big conspiracy by bad guys to cover up for Southern leaders, though certainly Southern school boards would never abide by showing what their heroes bragged about.
Faulty textbooks, and the natural tendency for bullshit by historians, explain why your teacher doesn’t know.
BULLSHIT IS FINE. HUMAN NATURE.
Bullshit is fine, we all do it. But get the basics right first, get this correct: “Know who killed who, and why”.
Then add all the bullshit you want.
But our historians, nor our text books, use that approach.
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The first raid into Lawrence by Atchison’s men, local artist, the following day.
The first raid was not deadly. It would have been if people in Lawrence resisted. Later they did resist and many were killed.
Atchison promised Davis — and his hired men — that Kansas men were cowards and a quick show of force would be enough.
Uh – no so much. Especially after they killed John Browns son, Frederick, and tortured his other son to madness.
Pissed John Brown off something terrible.
When you hear about John Brown from your history teacher, they probably don’t know that Atchison’s men killed his son, and tortured his other son to madness.
And they promised to kill Brown and his wife.
JOHN BROWN
Those kinds of details matter. Otherwise, by not telling you, or not knowing, they can, and have, made Brown sound like a madman.
The madmen were Atchison’s men, travelling all the way to Kansas, then killing and torturing to spread slavery because Atchison could pump up the hate and pay them some cash that came from Jefferson Davis.
Brown was not insane – he was pissed off, and rightly so.
Of course you could not know that if no one told you.
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The third raid into Lawrence.
KILLER? A US SENATOR?
WORDS MATTER
Instead of calling Atchison a “killer” — even “historians” doing their best have called Atchison, at worst, a “Firebrand”.
What the hell is a firebrand? It means nothing, conveys not one scintilla of useful information.
If you told who Atchison and his men killed, how they killed them, how they tortured some, of course you would not then use the stupid meaningless term “firebrand”.
That’s the amazing thing about Atchison — he did not exaggerate or bluff. He boasted to his men about killing.
He took ads out making it clear they would be at war.
He told them they were at war to spread slavery.
He told them their goal was to spread slavery all the way to the Pacific.
He told them they were doing this “for the entire South”.
He was not ashamed of anything –and many Southern leaders during that same period of time, were proud and clear, almost as proud and clear at Atchison.
That is — until they lost. After they lost, it was an entirely different story.
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DOUGLAS COVERS FOR ATCHISON
Douglas said Atchison could not have done any of the things he was bragging about because Senator Atchison “is the most patriotic and peace loving man I ever met.”
The most “peace loving” man Douglas ever saw!
Remember, Douglas was getting reports — from other Democrats– about exactly what Atchison was doing. Newspapers were filled with reports of the killings and terror.
Do you seriously think Douglas did not know?
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YOUR TEACHER:
“Atchison lead his anti-slavery forces”
Why that is less than useless.
Instead of your teacher saying Atchison hired over 2000 men from Texas and South Carolina to terrorize, and later kill people in Kansas for trying to vote against slavery, your history teacher might say “he led his proslavery troops”.
LED PROSLAVERY TROOPS?
Led his “proslavery” troops is not a lie, exactly, but it does not convey, in any meaningful way, information that matters.
Making students stupid.
Unless the teacher then made it clear WHO those “forces” were (men from Texas, mostly) who paid them (Atchison and Jeff Davis) and what they were doing (terrorizing, torturing, and killing) the student would be worse than stupid after such information, they would assume they knew all they needed to know.
They would, of course, be wrong. Innocently wrong, but wrong. Yet you can not say he did NOT lead the “forces”, And typically a history teacher is loath to admit they repeated stupid watered down nonsense. They prided themselves on knowing all this, including trivia to impress the kids.
Maybe they didn’t know – and maybe they don’t want to know, depending how attached they were to the narrative they thought was valid.
We need candid words in our students heads, and our own.
A great place to be clear is this — who killed who, why, and what did they boast about at the time?
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Orwellian double speak, and watered down euphemisms, lead directly to war and death. they always have. It is better to teach nothing, than to teach things are are essentially deceptive.
Your history teacher, above all, should avoid repeating (and thereby furthering) such deception.
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ENSLAVE IN THE NORTH
But states rights was NOT a term they used from 1856 to 1861 about Kansas and the West. Even California and Oregon, already free states, must be slave states.
Since Kansas had no right to reject slavery — even after it became a free state, there was no logic on earth that made Kansas (a free state by the time Davis issued War Ultimatums that Kansas must be a slave state) Lincoln was right. by the “logic” of Dred Scott and Kansas Act, we will be “all one thing or all another.”
Lincoln said that “all one thing or all another” dozens of times.
Yet stupidly we assume that’s not possible, he must have been exaggerating.
Not at all. In fact, Atchison and Jefferson were in total agreement with Lincoln on this.
If they could spread slavery into Kansas by the logic of Dred Scott and Kansas Act, they could put slavery wherever they had the violence and men to do so. There was no more any “legal” right to keep slavery out.
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But you can’t always rely on your school books or teachers to tell you.
A good history teacher will stress the value of DOUBT — to even doubt that history teacher!
They will show you, help you, find and learn original sources.
The may even welcome different points of view.
But at the end of the day, it’s not “point of view” that matters.
What matters is what the hell happened. Who did what. That does not change because you believe it or not, know it or not.
Famous speech named “Crimes Against Kansas” by Charles Sumner, , given at the time, listed in great detail, in a speech that took two days to give fully, explained what Atchison did, and what his men did, listing the killings, and the tortures, explicitly.
But you may need to actually read the Crimes Against Kansas speech, word for word.
The Crimes Against Kansas speech is about David Rice Atchison and his men!
The Crimes Against Kansas speech was Sumner saying what the public already knew, about Atchison passing Kansas Act. It was no secret.
Nor was it a secret Atchison then immediately went to Kansas and started terrorizing, later killing.
Sumner’s long list of killings and tortures were not made up, he did not get the information from a duck…. Sumner actually listed his sources, gave dates, names, details.
JUST THE START
Maybe the most important thing to know — and your history teacher probably has no clue — those crimes Sumner mentioned just the start– after the speech, those killings and tortures grew worse.
Much worse…those killings, those braggings, were the warm up. Atchison speech was to his newly hired men — and they were about to make things far more deadly, far more violent even that what had already taken place.
Don’t forget that.
The speech Atchison was beaten for giving…..
Crimes against Kansas was the same week as Atchison’s speech, where Atchison boasted about killing to spread slavery, to his newly hired Texas men.
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Your “history teacher” probably does not know this — but David Rice Atchison got the Kansas Act Passed in 1854. He and his partner, Stephen A Douglas, claimed the Kansas Act would give the citizens of Kansas the “perfect freedom” to decide slavery on their own.
” Let the people decide” they told the country, the President, and Congress.
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WHO PASSED THE KANSAS
ACT?
Atchison and Douglas pushed Kansas Act through the Senate, personally.
In a unique situation in US history, Stephen A Douglas, Jefferson Davis, and Atchison personally took the Kansas Act to President Pierce in the White House.
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There, Davis, Douglas and Atchison assured President Pierce that Kansas Act would allow the citizens of Kansas the “perfect freedom” to decide themselves — so the President signed it.
Peirce foolishly believed Atchison Douglas and Jeff Davis to his dying day, no matter how many other Democrats came to him and told him of Atchison’s hired men terrorizing, torturing, and killing in Kansas. Every time someone would get into Pierces office to tell him the facts, Davis would be right there telling the President that person was a liar, or a traitor.
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WHY DID THEY BOTHER TO PASS
THE KANSAS ACT?
Such legislation was needed because Kansas territory, and all of the West . was outside of the area that slavery was allowed, by the “Compromise of 1850”.
In other words, you could not make Kansas a slave state — because the South already was allowed to double their size of slave states by 400%.
Southern leaders had demanded Congress specifically allow slavery lands to double, then double again, and essentially promised, those doublings, which increased the size of slavery by 400%, would be all they required.
In other words, South demanded repeatedly to double and double slavery — but promised to keep slavery in the South. So slavery was by far bigger than Northern states, by 1850.
Then — Southern leaders wanted more.
Kansas Act was their way to get more.
They claimed — over 100 times – that they “just wanted the people to be able to vote”.
Then Atchison rushed to Kansas, as we know, and started terrorizing, later killing, to make sure they could NOT vote or even speak openly against slavery.
So no — Kansas Act was always a fraud, their own words, their own actions make that so clear even “history ” teachers should figure it out.
ATCHISON LEAVES WASHINGTON IMMEDIATELY
Atchison left Washington immediately, went to Kansas, and with men he had already hired, and weapons allowed him by Jefferson Davis as Secretary of War, Atchison first used terror — then later killings and torture too, such that newspapers there in Kansas, and hundreds of witnesses, said was Atchison’s “reign of terror”.
LETTERS TO DAVIS — WE WILL SHOOT BURN ND HANG
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“We are organizing. We will be compelled to shoot, burn, and hang, but the thing will soon be over” Letter from Senator Atchison to Jeff Davis. Then later Atchison writes:
“Our people are resolved to go into Kansas and take their niggers with them. I have publicly advised [our people to] give a horse thief, robber, or homicide a fair trial, but to hang Abolitionist without Judge or Jury…… we will shoot, burn and hang abolitionist. It will soon be over.
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BOTH SIDED TO BLAME
Yet, stupidly, most “history teachers” if they even teach anything clear about what Atchison did, sell this period of time as “both sides are to blame”.
Since history teachers are not generally stupid people, there is only one explanation. They don’t know what the hell actually happened — they don’t know who killed who, and why.
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CHANGE OUR HISTORY TEXT BOOKS?
Good luck with that.
We should change how we teach the civil war — but we won’t — to include Southern War Ultimatums of 1856 and 1861, and show Atchison’s speech, or others like it, on the front page of every history text book in the United States.
Why not use the very words, spoken and written at the time, by Southern leaders about these killings and tortures?
As amazing as the killing and tortures were –the boasting about them was equally extreme.
Simply put, why on earth do we not teach what Southern leaders themselves boasted about doing, until they lost?
VICTOR TELLS THE HISTORY?
In wars of absolute annihilation there is some truth in “the victor writes the history”. But everyone writes what they hope others will believe, what sounds good after the fact.
Certainly the Vietnamese, for example, tell the story of US invasions and the killing of 700,000 of their people, many by bombing and napalm, and many of those children, than we teach our students about that war. We don’t even point out the most basic facts possible about that war.
Whose history is correct?
The Civil War is no exception to that rule.
Southern textbooks, Southern heroes, Southern lore, Southern biographies, were big for after the war excuses and lofty justifications — which is perfectly normal.
It would be bizarre if that were not so. Certainly the “victors” did not write the history.
To a large extent, Southern school boards did.
WHAT WAS MISSING
AFTER THE WAR?
After the war, all that boasting about killing to spread slavery, all that boasting of enslaving for GOD per the bible, all that claiming anyone against slavery was against GOD, all of that was gone.
So too were any mention of the killing sprees, glorified at the time, to spread slavery. Gone was any clear mention that when they spoke of “Southern Rights” they were litterally speaking about their right to kill to spread slavery.
Spread it- – not keep it. The “Southern Rights” was a term Davis and others used, and they made it clear (then, not later) that the Southern right was to SPREAD slavery –by force.
Yet we teach that Davis was a moderate! Why?
Because Davis could, at times, be very Orwellian, slick, and use clever euphemism. He could fool almost anyone who did not know better.
Like when he claimed pompously “all we ask it to be left alone?
Left alone?
Davis had just sent over 1000 killers to Kansas not only to force slavery there, but to stop people in Kansas from voting or even publishing anti-slavery newspapers.
How is that “left alone?”
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NOT A FEW NUTS
They themselves — the topmost Southern leaders, such as Jefferson — thought these things were so important, they not only bragged about them, Davis made official proclamations about it.
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TEACHING NONSENSE
WITH TOTAL SELF CONFIDENCE
Typically, we teach Southern leaders as being for “state’s rights.” Well true enough, there was at time that Southern leaders claimed they were for state’s rights, but that ended, and ended rather abruptly, when Kansas citizens overwhelming rejected slavery and tried to enter the US a a free state.
Southern leaders almost overnight got rid of the talk of “States rights” and went with “Our rights in the territories” no matter what the people of Kansas, or elsewhere, wanted.
As far as I know, not one textbook at use in US today mention this abrupt 180 degrees flip flop — nor the violence, the killings, the tortures, the boasting by Southern leaders about what they were doing to force slavery into Kansas.
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LECTURES BY TEACHERS NOT ABOUT WHO KILLED WHO
MAYBE THEY SHOULD BE
Who killed who in Kansas, and why, and who paid those killers, is not generally a basic point in the lectures nor books about the Civil War, or what led to it.
Such “who killed who, and why” focus simply does ot come into narratives by historians like Eric Foner, James McPherson, Bruce Catton, Shelby Foote.
Yet to get the basics right, you must include somehow the ugly basics – who killed who, and why.
Showing what they bragged of, until they lost, can help explain why.
Some historians get it exactly right, but they tend to include “who killed who, and why”.
Michael Burlingame is one. Here are pictures of four books which cover, in detail when necessary, what was going on, who was killing who, and why.
There are more, these just are my current batch of books that caught my eye and have such information in them.
But your best source is still Southern leaders own words at the time, typically in their own publications boasting about it — until they lost.
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” DO YOU WANT YOUR DAUGHTER TO SLEEP WITH NIGGERS”
Those boasting of killing to spread slavery were NOT the common man of the South.
They were almost always the political leaders of the South, who actually had to out do the others to win those top political positions. Stunningly, if you were not pro “spread slavery” enough in the South, you could be called an abolitionist.
We will be exterminated — the white race will literally be exterminated — said such speakers as Robert Toombs, the first Secretary of State for the Confederacy — unless we spread slavery.
Not keep slavery — unless we SPREAD slavery.
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WHY WE FEAR AND HATE LINCOLN
“Burning slowly to death”
Other Southern leaders made it clear — we do NOT fear Lincoln ending slavery here in the South.
We fear our children being “burned to death slowly” by equality of the races if we can not SPREAD slavery.
That fate — death — “certainly await’s our children”.
It is important to understand, this is the kind of rhetoric common in Southern political speeches, and nearing the Civil War, such speech, and the ability to get crowds to cheer, you had to lay this on more emphatically than the others.
It was a crime — prohibited by law- – to preach or speak or even own books against slavery. Mail was searched, ships where searched, for books or pamplets against slavery.
Even preachers could be arrested — and whipped — for owning the wrong book.
We simply do not teach the social reality, and the pervasive urging of violence, to anyway who got in the way of “Southern honor” which literally meant our rights to spread slavery.
Anyone not hateful enough did not do well politically. Crowds cheered those who could and would pump up the calls for “Southern honor” and implant graphic pictures in the minds of men that unless we spread slavery, black men will take our daughters.
You can easily go through college, and major in history, and depending on where you are taught, not know that the basic emotional issue of the South, and even North, politics of the 1850’s was freed black men taking white women.
It’s an ugly issue, and it was ugly and violent then.
Stephen A Douglas was the the partner — business and politics- of US Senator David Rice Atchison.
Atchison is the Senator who forced Douglas to front, and be the spokesman for the Kansas Act.
Atchison is also the Senator that, immediately after he, and Douglas, went personally with Jefferson Davis to get Kansas Act passed, went to Kansas, and there terrorized, later killed and boasted of it, to spread slavery in Kansas— against states rights, and against the clear and overwhelming sentiment of the citizens of Kansas.
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Ninety five percent of Kansas citizens, as you will see, were against slavery. But there Atchison and his men where violently pushing slavery into Kansas, not by discussion or speeches or logic, but by brute, and often, horrible force, including tortures which they themselves boasted of.
Jefferson Davis, for his part, actually paid Atchison and his men, first Missouri men, but when those men where not enough, Atchison hired men from Texas, South Carolina, and Alabama — and these men came specifically to kill, not to just terrorize.
HOW DO WE TEACH THE CIVIL WAR
Most US history teachers can wax on for hours about how the Civil War was a “clash of ideas” about economic issues and “states rights”. The South, the history teacher will claim, was deeply concerned about state’s rights.
There was, our history teachers tell the students, who can not know any better, at least five “factors” that led to the Civil War.
It all sounds sophisticated, and the teacher, the text book, that must be correct. The “economic” clash of agricultural vs industrial and manufacturing, We teach the cotton gin, John Brown, and state’s rights, the difference in climate, on and on. There are prize winning books about the various “causes” of the Civil War. So millions of children have gone to school named after some of these noble men who cared about “state’s rights”.
Many are told, by teachers and documentaries and movies, that Southern leaders did not fight for slavery, much less that they fought for the violent spread of slavery.
In fact, these men were often anti-slavery, even kind to their servants who they treated like family. Over all, the civil war was a war of “ideas” where one side were for small government, states rights, and the freedom for the (white) public to choose.
UNFORTUNATE
It was “unfortunate” our historians like Foner and others tell us, that “they didn’t compromise, after all our nation’s genius was compromise, but they failed to do that.”
Bullshit can make teachers sound brilliant.
That’s the big reason they use it.
It’s human nature.
We make our children repeat it back to the teacher on tests, that South cared about state’s rights, that the “economic” clash of industrial and agriculture, the arrival of the cotton gin, that crazy John Brown’s killing sprees, that clash of ideas.
1856 THE RED FLAG
Atchison boasted the rebel flag was red in color — for the color of blood they would spill to spread slavery.
Oh, and that he and his hired men were there in Kansas to spread slavery “for the entire South”.
It did not matter a damn to Atchison that 90 to 95% of Kansas citizens were against slavery — in fact, the overwhelming rejection of slavery is why Atchison hired these men, and went to Kansas to spread slavery anyway.
Just read his own speech to his own men, about it.
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Of COURSE ….There ARE Phds in history that know the name of the man who passed Kansas Act, then rushed out to Kansas and started terrorizing and killing to spread slavery.
The name is David Rice Atchison. He made it rather easy, because he and others boasted of what he did and why he hired those men.
I just have not personally met one that knew– face to face.
Oh the PhD will eventually “get it” when you mention Atchison’s name, and then it’s “Oh yeah, sure, I knew that”.
They are clearly puzzled, though, about what Atchison did. They simply don’t connect Sumner speaking about the Crimes Against Kansas as all about Atchison passing Kansas Act then rushing to Kansas and there terrorizing and killing.
Sumner did not use Atchison name in every sentence — he did not need to, he was speaking to the US Senate. They all knew Atchison — he was a US Senator! Sumner even said “I do not need to mention the name” then he mentioned Atchison’s name.
And he mentioned Stephen Douglas’s name as his partner.
And he mentioned Atchison then leaving quickly for Kansas after he passed Kansas Act.
And then Sumner mentioned for two days the details of Atchison’s men killing and torturing.
Not too much to expect a PhD to know — especially since these PhDs I met put themselves out as educators about what led to the Civil War.
Im sure I will get to meet PhDs that know this all very well, face to face. I can’t wait!
How the hell did that happen?
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Strange indeed — it was so important to Southern leaders, that they issued official documents, boasted, gave speeches, hired men to make it happen, and were “joyous” about it- but we don’t teach this in a clear way, as you will see.
They boasted of it, until they lost.
Over and over — and over — Southern leaders boasted of killing to spread slavery. They not only boasted of it, true to their word, they did kill to spread slavery.
Not to KEEP slavery — let’s be very clear here. They killed, and boasted they killed to SPREAD slavery.
You might be surprised to find out their “logic” of why they had the right to force slavery to spread……. which is a shame, this is basic, and Southern leaders explained it pretty well at the time.
Jeff Davis explained it about as clearly as anyone, because he boasted of it.
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Jeff Davis not only boasted of it — at the time — he made if very clear in his own book why he had the right force slavery into Kansas
Kansas citizens had no right to keep slavery out, because of Dred Scott decision, Davis wrote.
In fact, it was an “intolerable grievance” for Kansas to even try to reject slavery, so much so that Atchison paid men from Texas, South Carolina and Alabama to travel to Kansas in 1856, and force slavery into Kansas.
We are not told, in a candid way, how Southern leaders even spread slavery, much less how they justified it.
We are talking here about SPREADING slavery — and spreading it, as in Kansas, even when 90 and 95% of the citizens there rejected slavery.
Slavery was a “protected right” according to Davis, because of Dred Scott decision. The South had spread slavery again and again, before Dred Scott decision, in fact, the doubled the size of slavery twice, before Dred Scott.
But now, Davis insisted that Kansas (and yes, he knew that 90% of the people of Kansas rejected slavery) must accept slavery, and that their vote, nor their legislatures vote, nor the vote of US Congress, could override Dred Scott’s order that the federal government must protect slavery.
Slave power first spread to here, by 1848
Yes, you heard right, and Davis was correct, the Dred Scott decision ordered the federal government to protect slavery, even in Kansas. The will of the people did not matter, their vote did not matter, and their representatives did not matter
By 1850, slave power demanded this much slavery
and promised that was enough forever. .
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I am terrible at graphics, this is the best I can do now.
But here below is what Atchison promised for where they would spread slavery– all the way to the Pacific.
By the “logic” of Dred Scott, there was no way to stop it, because no longer, according to Davis, did the public have a right to vote against slavery, nor did their legislature, nor did Congress.
It was up to –by default — the slave owner. His “right to property” was greater than the right of the people to reject slavery, even if 90 or 95% of the public were against slavery, it did not matter.
That meant spreading slavery into California and Oregon, both which were already free states.
Yes, it’s lunacy now when you hear that South leaders boasted they would spread slavery into California and Oregaon, free states.
But that no more lunatic than killing to spread slavery into Kansas –– which is exactly what they were doing
As Lincoln explained over and over, at great length, if they can spread slavery into Kansas territory, by the “logic” of Dred Scott, there is no rational or possible legal way we can stop them from spreading it anywhere else.
Remember this – Kansas became a free state, and STILL Jeff Davis demanded, after that, that Kansas accept and respect slavery. And AFTER Kansas became a free state, South sent killers there to kill to spread slavery in that free state.
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We simply do not teach this most basic of facts. After Dred Scott, Southern leaders, Davis most certainly and he was in charge — were violent, adamant, and very clear — we have the right, the duty, to spread slavery, because blacks are property, by the authority of the Supreme Court, and by that same authority, the government must protect slavery.
Lincoln was not kidding, Jeff Davis was not kidding, both men were 100% correct on the effect, the practical effect of the Dred Scott decision.
As a practical matter, according to Lincoln and Davis, states now had no right, any more than Kansas had, any more than the states in the North where Davis boasted he would enslave blacks, had the right, to reject slavery.
If Davis could enslave blacks in Kansas, a free state, and Pennsylvania (he did enslave blacks there, see below), what difference did it make for California, Oregon, or anyplace else?
The toxic nature of Dred Scott and Kansas Act, as Lincoln said, was cancerous. Because of that cancer (Kansas Act and Dred Scot was the cancer) the United states had to end or slavery had to end.
Why on earth do we not teach this? Lincoln was saying it 100 times, Jeff Davis was boasting of it — Dred Scott as justification for killing to spread slavery into Kansas and the North!
Why we do not teach this in candid terms?
We teach a watered down bit of nonense — that Dred Scott was about “citizenship” Oh hell no, it was about killing, justification for killing, justification for slavery and the spread of it. Quit the nonsense Orwellian double speak.
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So it helps to know what these guys were boasting about — and getting others to do.
Davis and other Southern leaders had riled up the crowds, got people hateful and fearful of black men taking white women, Much of the South population heard nothing but hate and fear about “our rights” and “our honor”.
Slavery was now, as Lincoln said, held as a “sacred right” and the idea that “all men are created equal” was thrown out by the Taney Court, which specifically ordered– yes ordered– that blacks be seen not as humans (not persons).
Blacks were “inferior beings” and had no rights white man needed to respect.
This in white outline is the area specifically boasted about by US Senator Atchison as where they will spread slavery.
Remember Jeff Davis justified everything Atchison did by the Dred Scott decision. It did not seem to matter to Davis that Atchison was already killing to spread slavery before Dred Scott decision even came out.
Davis excuse sounded good to Davis — so he used it.
Davis was a lot like most history “professors” — they don’t bother to notice, or mention, that Atchison was ALREADY killing and torturing in Kansas before Dred Scott decision.
Why didn’t your history teacher notice that?
History teachers seem to know only what they are told. And they don’t seem to be told that, it’s no in their books in a candid way, so they don’t know.
Davis liked being able to quote from Dred Scott decision, so he used that. The point is, Dred Scott and Kansas Act were, as Lincoln said repeatedly, the machinery to spread slavery where it could not otherwise go.
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LINCOLN AGREED
Lincoln spoke of this “logic” of Dred Scott hundreds of times. And he agreed with Jeff Davis in that, by the “machinery” of Dred Scott and Kansas Act, the United States has been turned upside down, from declaring all men are equal, to declaring blacks are not only not human beings, but they are property, and as such, by Southern logic, the government must protect ownership of that property.
Therefore, Davis’s twisted logic — which came right out of Dred Scott decision that he probably helped write — fit perfectly, for the South, with Kansas Act, to render it impossible to ever stop the spread of slavery.
We will be all one thing, or the other, said Lincoln dozens of times. His famous “House Divided” was about this exact thing — how Dred Scott and Kansas Act were the machinery that was leading to destruction of the United States, or the destruction of slavery.
Because of Dred Scott decision “we can not live half slave, and half free”
Kansas citizens right to reject slavery did not exist, was Davis central argument, because of Dred Scott decision. And if their right to reject slavery did not exist, then no one’s right to reject slavery existed either.
And Davis wrote this all down, and explained it in speech after speech. “Southern Rights” when you hear the term, was NOT the right to keep slavery…. it was the right to SPREAD slavery.
If they could double the size of slavery AGAIN, after doubling it twice already, and if they could make it unconstitutional to reject slavery by vote, or by their own legislature, or by Congressional action, there was no earthly way to stop slavery.
As Lincoln ( and others) knew well, and spoke of thousands of times.
Why do we think Lincoln was wrong about this? Essentially our text books do not give Lincoln’s (and Jeff Davis) own words about Dred Scott credence.
Ironically, Davis and Lincoln AGREED on Dred Scott ruling. It meant the people do not matter, even in 90% of Kansas citizens rejected slavery (as they did) it did not matter.
By that logic, slavery had to spread — like a cancer, LIncoln said repeatedly — or it would die. We will be all one thing or another… Because of Dred Scott, now it was all or nothing.
Now slavery would spread, with no way to stop it, the citizens of Kansas could not stop it, the legislature of Kansas could not stop it, and the laws passed by Kansas could not stop it. Even Congress, if it wanted to, could not stop it.
We must change the Dred Scott decision — by rehearings, or by Constitutional Amendment, Lincoln explained repeatedly.
Lincoln changed Dred Scott, by Constitutional Amendment, the 13th Amendment.
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Southern leaders were bragging about spreading slavery, based on Kansas Act and Dred Scott…. and not just bragging, they were sending killers to make it happen.
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SPREAD = SPREAD = SPREAD OF SLAVERY
Unless you know — and even most “history teachers” are vague on this — it was the SPREAD of slavery Southern leaders demanded, and killed to attain.
As you will see, Davis sent over 1000 killers to Kansas in 1856, long before you think the Civil War started, the war was going on, big time.
Southern leaders boasted of it.
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You need to understand the SPREAD of slavery, and where it was going — always by violence, as you will see. Always.
Slavery was never spread by debates, votes, by people voting. It is astonishing when you read “historians” write things like “Missouri wanted slavery”. Or “Kansas wanted slavery”. Jesus, that takes a special kind of stupid. Each time, as you will see in Kansas, violence and terror was used to spread slavery. There were no exceptions.
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If you read on, you will learn — Kansas is the clearest example of killing to spread slavery, while claiming they were just doing it for “states rights”.
Actually, they were killing to STOP states rights,
Yet your “history” teacher probably does not know — they are not taught — the basic facts.
By the “logic” of Dred Scott and Kansas Act — as enforced by Jeff Davis and David Rice Atchison — this is what Southern leaders demanded. Slavery all the way to the Pacific.
Why did it not matter what the people of Kansas wanted, or voted? Jeff Davis explained that clearly — because of Dred Scott decision.
From Jefferson’s Davis own book — about his logic to spread slavery — is very clear. Dred Scott decision that blacks are not human beings (not persons) but property — and in the same decision, SCOTUS ordered, (remember this, ordered) the federal government to protect slavery, even in places like Kansas that had voted repeatedly to keep slavery out.
It was “intolerable” that Kansas rejected slavery, and it did not matter what “majority” rule might want, regarding slavery. Let that sink in – yet again and again we are told that South cared about state’s rights.
You don’t send paid killers to Kansas because they voted overwhelmingly against slavery, if you are for state’s rights.
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NOT JUST DAVIS
THE TRUE ISSUE
It was not just Davis, the people in the South had heard endless attacks on the North for “stopping our rights in the territories” Davis speeches, and Southern newspapers, are filled with such diatribes about “Southern honor” and “rights in the territories”.
That sounds logical right — if you don’t know the facts. By what “right” did South folks have to demand that Kansas folks accept and respect slavery?
Good question — and as you will see, Jeff Davis himself had and answer for that. We show you his answer, below.
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Never once, however, did the newspaper editors or Jeff Davis tell their public that Kansas citizens had repeatedly rejected slavery by votes of 90% and 95%. They left that “detail” out.
Instead Davis insisted our rights, our honor, our very lives (yes our lives) depended on spreading slavery further.
The crowds cheered.
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SAME DETAILS NOT TAUGHT IN OUR SCHOOLS?
Ironically these are the same “details” that our history text books never make clear, nor the does the teacher.
When Southern leaders sent killers to Kansas — they did so BECAUSE they knew most people in Kansas were against slavery. And they went there because Atchison passed Kansas Act, which, in his mind, allowed them to kill and terrorize to spread slavery there.
Of course, Kansas Act said the Act would make the people “perfectly free” to decide slavery themselves.
Turns out, as Lincoln said (and other said) Kansas Act was a vile fraud, exactly the opposite as they claimed, and was used to force slavery into Kansas by having a vote, then making sure only Atchison’s paid killers could vote.
And it almost worked.
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Your history textbooks even repeat that bizarre lie that Kansas Act was about popular sovereignty.
Hardly. Kansas Act was passed to allow Southern leaders to PRETEND they cared about voting rights, but actually, as Atchison made clear, it was dangerous to your health in Kansas if you dared even speak against slavery.
Atchison only terrorized, at first. He took hundreds of paid Missouri men, armed to the teeth, and with cannons supplied by Jeff Davis. Atchison had convinced Davis that was all they would need to do. Kansas men were cowards, and we just do a show of force, we get slavery “accepted” and it’s done.
Uh – not so much.
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Stephen A Douglas, who Atchison got to push Kansas Act through the Senate, (Douglas refused to support Kansas Act until Atchison threatened hIm) said it repeatedly — that “19/20th” of the people of Kansas were against slavery.
Don’t worry, Douglas said in effect. Slavery will not ever spread there, the climate is wrong, he said, and the people do not want slavery.
He and Atchison “just wanted the people of Kansas to be perfectly free” to decide by voting on it.
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HEADLINES
Here was a headline in Richmond papers after Kansas became a free state, and Southern leaders seceeded. The “TRUE ISSUE” according to headlines, was that Kansas must accept and respect slavery.
Davis and the newspaper editors had pumped up the hate and fear, there was no turning back now. The TRUE issue, just as Davis explained, was the spread of slavery into Kansas.
You would think that states rights, or popular soverighty, or the will of the people, would matter.
Nope, not on slavery, as Davis explained so well in his own book.
With Dred Scott decision, it did not matter at all that 90 or 95% of the citizens in Kansas rejected slavery — even after, yes after, Kansas became a free state officially.
Jeff Davis himself demanded Kansas accept and respect slavery.
He did not just talk, he sent hired killers to Kansas to get it done — justifying it in writing emphatically, that the “legal basis” of sending killers to Kansas was the Dred Scott decision
By that logic, that people could not decide because of Dred Scott decision, no place was safe from the spread of slavery.
Not the people, not their legislature, not Congress could interfere with “the rights of property” in the territories or anywhere else. In fact, the government must — must — protect slavery property, no matter what the votes and laws on slavery were in Kansas.
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One thing you need to know is the time line on SPREADING slavery, how slave power demanded slavery DOUBLE in 1846, then double again in 1854, and openly bragged — and killed – to spread slavery all the way the Pacific.
Not some nuts in a bar — the people bragging about killing to spread slavery were the very people doing it.
That is proven by South’s War Ultimatums, documents, speeches, and most of all — ACTIONS – they were actually killing to spread slavery and boasting of it.
Over and over they had demanded the spread of slavery –now, with Dred Scott decision, as you will see, there was no lawful authority, per Jeff Davis and the United States Supreme Court, to stop slavery by vote or by legislation.
Unless you understand that about Dred Scott decision, and how Southern leaders used it, and boasted of it, and sent killers because of it — you won’t know much about US history, the Civil War nor why slavery had to die, or the US was going to die.
When Lincoln said we will be all one thing — or another — this is what he was talking about. And he was right.
Remember this — South was at war, before Lincoln even ran for Congress, or Senate and decades before Lincoln became President. And they were bragging about it, being a war…. until they lost.
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Not only that they (people in Kansas) did not have the right, it was so vile, so evil that Kansas people even tried to reject slavery, that Davis sent over 1000 men there, and to the extent he could, he used the US military in Illinois and Missouri, to arrest and imprison those in Kansas who even TRIED to vote against slavery.
In fact, Atchison made it a crime to even publish a newspaper that was anti-slavery. He made people sign oaths to support slavery. He paid men to come to Kansas to terrorize and kill
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REMEMBER 19/20
And remember this — because your “history teacher” is almost certainly stupid about it, 19 out of 20 (95%) of the people in Kansas were against slavery, a fact confirmed by vote later. Stephen A Douglas had said, repeatedly, while trying to pass Kansas Act that 19/20 people in Kansas were against slavery.
And everyone knew it. So when you learn that Davis is sending killers out there, and Atchison is leading over 1000 men from Texas, South Carolina, and ALabama into Kansas to terrorize– remember that almost no one but SOUTHERN LEADERS wanted slavery there.
In fact most people in Kansas were very much against slavery.
Yet Davis wrote that their “resistance” to slavery was “intolerable”.
Intolerable.
Most history teachers are stupid about this–they assume that Kansas had a lot of people who wanted slavery, and this was a dispute between two groups of people, one pro slavery, one anti-slavery.
OH HELL now. This was an invasion by a hostile power, into Kansas, by hired men, who came there for one reason– to terrorize and or kill enough Kansas citizens, until they accepted slavery.
That is a hell of a lot different than “two groups” who “could not compromise” as Southern apologist and Davis devotee Shelby Foote has described Kansas.
It was NOT two groups,. It was the vast majority of Kansas citizens against slavery, while Jeff Davis, David Rice Atchison, and Stephen A DOuglas started their fraud, the Kansas Act, added some terror, some torture, some killing.
It should be taught as that, because that is what happened.
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Davis was not messing around. And he was proud of that.
Davis and his fellow Southern leaders, especially US Senator David Rice Atchison, not only hated the idea of Kansas being a free state –(Atchison said he would see Kansas in hell, first) they both supported the killers that Atchison hired, and Davis paid.
So this is much more than boasting — they actually sent the killers to Kansas, and the killers did exactly as they were hired to do — until the money ran out, and men in Kansas started to fight back.
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NOT SHY
Those who led those killers were not shy, were not coy.
The coy stuff came later– after the war, after they lost.
But before they lost, they were loud, even joyous. Atchison even bragged this was the most joyous time of his life, in Kansas, in 1856, leading his hired killers after they just arrived from Texas, Alabama, and South Carolina.
As Atchison told them, they would be “well paid” (by Jeff Davis) and they could keep all loot gathered from the homes they will invade.
Like I say, you need to read his speech.
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There are a dozen or more men who boasted of killing to spread slavery there, and hundreds of Southern newspapers congratulating and supporting Atchison and his men.
Lincoln, of course, was extremely well aware of Atchison and his men, as were many people alive in the United States at the time,
We will go into this much further, but the speech by Charles Sumner — where he was beaten almost to death on the Senate floor — was about exactly, precisely this. About how David Rice Atchison passed the Kansas Act, then rushed to Kansas, and there terrorized, later killed and tortured, to spread slavery in Kansas.
That is the famous “Crimes in Kansas” speech, after which Atchison was beaten almost to death.
Sumner listed — for two days – details of Atchison’s killings and tortures, and pointed out that Atchison was proud of this, and Atchison was proud of it. In fact, the speech I have linked twice already is Atchison boasting — the same week as Sumner gave his speech.
A stunning detail you probably will never find anywhere else – that Atchison’s speech in Kansas about the joy of killing to spread slavery LINK HERE both men gave the same week, Atchison in Kansas, bragging about it, and Sumner on the Senate floor, describing what Atchison was doing.
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As Atchison said, (really read his speech!) he was in Kansas killing “for the entire South”.
And everyone we know of, who publically in Kansas were boasting of killing to spread slavery, worked for, and with, Senator David Rice Atchison. And they all worked for, were paid by, and supported with legal facades, by Jefferson Davis, when he was Secretary of War, and later, when he was President of the Confederacy.
At first Atchison did try to suffice by getting Missouri men to help his first invasions and early terrorizing. But when Atchison found more resistance than he told the Missouri men- – and many of those went back home — Atchison needed more men.
Kansas citizens clearly did not want slavery — and Atchison could get no local “organic” citizen help in Kansas. He had no choice, therefore, to advertise, as he did, in Southern newspapers for men. Therefore in his speech, he repeatedly gets them to cheer by speaking of “Southern honor” and “spreading slavery for the entire South”.
Oh, and he made them all promise to kill that day. Yeah, you really should read his speech.
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Atchison boasted more than anyone, he seemed unable not to brag. He did not admit any of this — he bragged about all of it.
COUNT IT ALL JOY.
In fact, in Atchison’s May 1856 speech, he explained the highest joy of his life was leading the killers into Kansas — they had just arrived from Texas, South Carolina, and Alabama.
Ironically, as you will see, another US Senator, that same week, spoke for two days on the floor of the US Senate, exposing former Senator Atchison and his paid killers, and listing dozens upon dozen documented killing and tortures Atchison men had already done, even before the 800-1000 men from Texas, South Carolina, and Alabama got there.
Atchison sent reports to Davis on the progress of the killings.
Atchison had promised his men it would be over quick, and that the Kansas men were too cowardly to fight back. And he was right — for a while.
Things were about to get much – much — worse, when these hired men showed up.
And behind it all, was Jefferson Davis, who steadfastly insisted everything Atchison did in Kansas was “Constitutionally required”. And Davis had his “logic” that Kansas did not get to decide slavery.
We will get to that part, though if our education system was educational about history, you would already know it was his logic was.
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This, even though Kansas voters repeatedly voted against slavery by 90 and 95% — and more amazing is this: even after Kansas became a free state, despite Davis sending killers there, Davis still insisted that Kansas must accept, respect and protect slavery.
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BY WHAT LOGIC?
The fact that almost no high school teachers know what Jeff Davis “logic” was about forcing slavery into Kansas, against state’s rights no less, shows you how distorted our US text books are about what Southern leaders did – and bragged about doing — until they lost.
Stupidly (and yes, it’s from being uninformed) that most history teachers tell their students the South cared about “states rights”. Never mind that Southern leaders sent killers to Kansas — and for years tried to terrorize and kill enough people in Kansas to make them accept and respect slavery, against states rights.
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THERE WAS A TIME
Oh yes, there was a time some in the South said they were for state’s rights. That was always an excuse, never a reason for their killing sprees. Yet we teach the Civil War based on Southern leaders false excuses….
And more inane, we do not teach that South leaders simply did a 180 flip even on their excuse. When Kansas citizens repeatedly rejected slavery, Southern leaders sent killers there.
They not only boasted of it — they bragged of it, until they lost.
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WHEN DID THE KILLING
AND BOASTING
START?
The fact that most college history majors, if they even know this much, think the US Civil War started in 1861, shows the shallow way we teach US history. Southern killing sprees started long before that. But the most important killing sprees started in 1856.
Ironically, DEMOCRATS who went to Kansas helped, once they saw what was going on with their own eyes, to stop Jeff Davis and his paid killers there. We should honor these men with statues, state holidays, schools, etc.
But we hardly mention their names. None are honored. Not one.
WHAT IS WAR?
If a war is a period of time national leaders boast you are at war, and they area paying, ordering, men to kill, to torture, and they officially boast they are a war – as Atchison and Davis both did, then the US Civil War started in 1856.
Not 1861. 1861 is simply when, officially, the United States could fight back.
Stupidly, most history teachers think Fort Sumter was the only thing attacked. Try over a dozen federal places, and there was ALREADY hundreds of killings and tortures done by, and boasted of, by that time.
Why on earth do all our children know about Fort Sumter, but have no clue — at all – Southern leaders were already killing and boasting they were at war — for years?
Atchison was the US Senator who passed the Kansas Act. If you leave here and know that much, you will be smarter about a basic point than most high school history teachers.
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“Oh there is always your extremists”
A common refrain, for any history teacher when they first find out that Southern leaders were killing, torturing, and bragging about it as war, is to say “Oh, you always have your extremist on both sides”.
WTF? They don’t even know who Atchison was, and they don’t know what he did. They don’t have a clue he passed Kansas Act, and was THE major player in leading up to the US Civil War. Not even Jeff Davis or Stephen A Douglas, both of whom worked with Atchison to pass Kansas Act come close — because Atchison personally went to Kansas, hired the men, led them into killing sprees.
These were not “a few extremist”. Atchison worked officially for Jeff Davis — he sent Davis reports on progress of the killings. Southern newspapers glorified him, and Atchison took out ads in Southern papers for men to come to Kansas “ready for action — the time to talk is over”.
Atchison was offically the “General of Law and Order” in Kansas, over the governors that Davis also named.
When three Davis appointees as governer saw what Atchison was doing — they reported Atchison to Davis, only to find Davis was is on it. Davis insisted everything Atchison did was “Constitutionally required” — including the killings and tortures.
Davis knew very well about the killings and tortures– not only did Atchison send him reports on the progress of those, the entire country was “aflame” as Stephen Douglas found out, about Atchison and his killing sprees in Kansas.
Davis own hand picked governors reported to him about Atchison, and the first governor Davis appointed was soon called a triator by Davis own people and charged with treason when he dared to report the truth of what his fellow Democrat — Atchison — was doing.
So Davis knew. And defended the killings. Davis even paid the killers, and paid Atchison, out of US funds he controlled as then Secretary of War.
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NOT A SINGLE TEXT BOOK
Yet there is not a single text book published in the USA that points out clearly — Atchison, Douglas, and Davis pushed the Kansas Act through Congress. Even that fact is simply not there.
Never mind that Davis himself repeatedly told the story of how he, Atchison and Douglas personally took the Kansas Act to the President to sign. Even Davis boasting of that was not enough to get textbook editors to include it.
HOW STUPID CAN WE TEACH?
In fact, when we do teach the Kansas Act, we tell the children Kansas Act was passed so that the people of Kansas could “decide for themselves” about slavery.
How stupid — seriously — how stupid can you get?
The man who passed Kansas Act then rushed to Kansas, terrorized and later killed, to STOP the citizens there from voting — or even speaking — against slavery.
There was a five year war — before 1861 — about it.
By saying “The trouble in Kansas” in a completely vapid, empty way, without telling our students that Southern leaders sent killers there, that the ONLY killers in Kansas were those paid by Southern leaders, and the “trouble” had names.
The names were David Rice Atchison, and his paid men.
Saying “trouble in Kansas” acts as if the trouble just fell out of the sky, as if no one caused it. No one hired the killers. No one led the killers. No one paid the killers.
No one bragged they were killing to spread slavery for “the entire South’.
And no one who did that was the very man who passed the Kansas Act in the first place.
And he boasted of it. Why not teach what he and others were boasting of, and doing?
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NO LESS THAN LINCOLN
Do we think the man most responsible for passing the Kansas Act was joking? Wrong? What is the problem?
No less than Lincoln, at the time, starting immediately when Atchison and Douglas passed the Kansas Act, said over and over, in 100 different ways, 1000 different times, that Kansas Act was part of the fraud created to spread slavery.
Atchison was boasting of it (as were others) LIncoln was exposing it (as were others) and the facts are clear — because Atchison was the guy who passed Kansas Act, as he made clear himself. And Atchison was the guy who then immediately show up in Kansas with over 800 paid men to terrorize, and later kill, to spread slavery into Kansas- – against, remember this — against — the will of 90 and 95% of the people in Kansas.
Atchison almost got it done.
He did not have enough men or money –for one thing.
He thought it would be quick — a little terror, and we have slavery in Kansas.
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MAKE A NOTE
DON’T KILL JOHN BROWN’S SON
Browns men grew violent, killing and torturing those who resisted. That might have been enough, but they killed John Brown’s son Frederick. And the tortured another son to insanity (possibly castration).
Big mistake. They also promised to kill Brown and his wife.
At that point John Brown started to fight back. Yet often times, our history teacher forgets to tell us all that — or does not know. They way they lay out the story, “both sides” were to blame, and that crazy John Brown started the trouble.
Most teachers don’t even mention — at all — that Atchison passed Kansas Act, then using hired men, invaded, terrorized, tortured and killed — and it almost worked. They pissed of the wrong man when they pissed off John Brown.
Atchison did not know it then, but they really pissed off the wrong man.
Brown decided to fight fire, with fire.
It’s important to know this — many of Atchison’s men left Kansas because they were not told these Kansas men would fight back. They had the weapons — not Kansas men, at first. They had the “tough guys” who were paid. They had guns, money and “legal” standing because Jeff Davis named Atchison “General of Law and Order”.
It seems like Atchison and Davis had all their ducks lined up in a row. And maybe, just maybe, if they did not kill Brown’s son, and torture the other, and promise to kill his wife, they would have gotten away with it. (Slavery ALWAYS spread by these types of men and these tactics– another basic fact we do not teach).
Atchison had promised the early men that Kansas men were cowards. They were going to be “well paid” Atchison told them. They would get lots of “bounty” from the houses they raided.
It’s one thing to have 10 armed men surrounding one unarmed man. But over time, especially after Brown started fighting back, Atchison didn’t have overwhelming force.
And Kansas men got the rifles they needed, the leaders they needed – including Brown, and even Democrats who saw what Atchison was doing, and joined the fight against Davis and Atchison.
And when Davis was no longer Secretary of War — the money to pay the hired killers stopped. Suddenly many of those “bad asses” Atchison hired were no where to be found. They went home.
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The problem our schools have is this: the factual distortions — of omission and commission –is so tangled now, even in the minds of Phds in history, that we need to clear away the BS.
When Phd’s – with a focus on Civil War — do not know who passed the Kansas Act, and our text books teach that Kansas Act was about popular sovereignty, no wonder our kids are stupid about the US Civil War.
We teach about David Rice Atchison — yes — as a trivia question. Not as the central mover in the 1850s.
Not as the man who got Kansas Act passed.
Not as the man who then rushed to Kansas then started to terrorize, and later kill, to spread slavery there in Kansas and beyond.
So if you don’t teach that, you can’t possibly have students that know what the hell went on, unless they get it outside of class.
The bullshit problem is a bigger problem than Southern school boards interference in US public text books — and that is a serious problem.
We need to show what the hell happened — who did what, and why.
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Real history is this — who killed who, and why.
Everything else is bullshit. Get “who killed who, and why” right first, then add all the bullshit you like.
But first, get that right.
Southern leaders boasting that they were killing to spread slavery — until they lost — is a necessary insight into knowing who killed who, and why.
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Yet this was manifestly and clearly known by the public, not only because Atchison boasted of the killings, but newspapers North and South, as we show below, were filled with reports of the killings and tortures Atchison and his men were doing.
In fact, the famous “Crimes Against Kansas” speech that even history teachers do usually know about — was 100% about this. How Atchison and Douglas passed Kansas Act, and how Atchison immediately went to Kansas and started terrorizing and killing.
Senator Sumner beaten almost to death on the Senate floor– moments after his two day speech about Atchison and his men killing and torturing in Kansas.
PHds in US History.
I am sure there are Phds in US history — with a focus on the Civil War– who know that Sumner was beaten almost to death on Senate floor for his speech detailing Atchison and Douglas passing Kansas Act, then Atchison rushing to Kansas to kill and terrorize there.
Still, I have yet to meet any.
When I meet Phd’s in US history, or others who describe themselves as experts in what led up to the Civil War, I ask them who Sumner was talking about in his Crimes Against Kansas speech. They do not know.
Nor do they know that seated just feet away from Sumner, was Atchison’s partner in passing the Kansas Act, Stephen A Douglas. And that Douglas was laughing and smiling all during the beating, as shown by reporters at the time.
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WHAT ELSE DO THEY NOT KNOW?
Again, I am sure some DO know- – but I have not personally met them– that Atchison himself gave his own speech to his hired men, making them promise to kill that day, and declaring this attack on Kansas as the most “joyous” day of his life. Atchison speech about Atchison’s killing sprees was the same week as Sumner’s speech about Atchison and his killers in Kansas.
So it’s not in the text books.
Yet Senator Atchison is in Kansas, killing to spread slavery, bragging about it, making it very clear he is there to spread slavery into Kansas and beyond “for the entire South” as he said, and they don’t know?
Phd’s in history, in person and in their own books, do not seem to grasp these basic facts.
How the hell are our children supposed to learn these basics? By dreaming? Some video game?
The fact we do not teach this most fundamental fact is a tribute to Southern school boards who would never allow such candor in text books.
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ALREADY AT WAR
Southern leaders were already at war– already boasting of the killings, and calling it war themselves.
Jefferson Davis himself had already hired over 1000 killers and sent them Kansas to spread slavery. As you will see, Davis made his own official announcement about killing to enslave blacks in the North. Why don’t these Phd’s even refer to Jeff Davis own documents? Davis was boasting of this, too.
US Senator David Rice Atchison — boasted repeatedly that he was in Kansas to spread slavery “for the entire South” and to spread it all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
He was backed — paid, and his men were paid — by Jefferson Davis then Secretary of War.
Clearly, repeatedly, and in context —calling it a “war” to spread slavery by force “for the entire South”.
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1861 was the second time South issued War Ultimatums and sent killers to various places, not the first time. 1861 is when the North could finally fight back.
By 1856 the South was already at war, and South leaders already called it war, in fact, Southern leaders already bragged they were at war — a war to spread slavery, a bloody war they boasted of. And they were specific, clear, proud.
They were spreading slavery in new places, even in places where the public was overwhelmingly against slavery.
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David Rice Atchison, on the right. His partner in Senate for Kansas Act on the left, Stephen A Douglas.
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Lincoln had not even yet run for Senate, when Southern leaders sent over 1000 killers to Kansas, from Texas mostly, under the leadership of US Senator David Rice Atchison.
By what right did Atchison hire over 1000 men in 1856 to invade Kansas? Because he could — and he need the killers, as you will see, to force slavery into Kansas. Ninety to 95% of Kansas citizens were against slavery.
The story of who Atchison was, and what he did, is the most important story of the 1850’s. Why the hell don’t we teach it?
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TROUBLE IN KANSAS
It’s not your fault that did not know that the top Southern leaders– including Jefferson Davis himself — bragged about killing to spread slavery.
Oh you might have heard a few words about “trouble in Kansas”. Typically those who describe this as “Trouble in Kansas” don’t know who killed who, and why.
That is what actually history is — who killed who and why.
If you don’t know who killed who and why — shut the hell up and find out, before you “teach” history of the Civil War.
There is not a high school teacher we know of, unless they teach drastically different than text books, that teaches who was killing who, and why, in Kansas. Study those textbooks all you like, and you can’t figure out who killed who, by name, and why.
Absent knowing the facts, it’s natural to “blame both sides” as history teachers often do. Shelby Foote, who knew exactly who killed who, and why, made sure he did not tell you, or Ken Burns who killed who and why.
Foote dismissed the entire “trouble in Kansas” as “they failed to compromise –America was based on compromise, and they failed to compromise”. Stupid people nodded, thought Foote was a genius, and went on, still stupid, as Foote wanted them to be, about Southern leaders killing to spread slavery in Kansas, and boasting about it.
BOASTING WHILE CALM
Southern leaders did not just boast about killing to spread slavery a few times, here and there, in emotional outburst, they boasted of it while calm, boasted of before Lincoln even ran for Senate, boasted of it before Kansas Act, and boasted of it officially.
And they kept boasting of it, in one way or another, until they lost.
After they lost, it made no sense to boast they were killing to spread slavery against states rights. In fact, they flipped –they essentially said “Oh we were not even for slavery at all, we were for state’s rights”.
See how that works?
It’s not some diabolical plot. It’s human nature. Had Southern leaders won the Civil War, they would not have walked backed, and lied, about “state’s rights”, Their own states in the Confederacy did not have the right to reject slavery.
Just like they demanded the spread of slavery into Kansas, the CSA Constitution demanded slavery in the Southern states, No one got to chose slavery, or vote on it, in any honest election. The idea was preposterous.
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LEADING UP TO ATCHISON 1856 SPEECH
SUMNER SPEECH IN THE SAME WEEK…..
Atchison’s speech was in May of 1856, following other well known outburst and lesser killing sprees, by Atchison’s Missouri men (mostly)..
Yet the killings were so numerous, the tortures so numerous, that by May of 1856 Charles Sumner spent two entire days speaking in great detail, with names, dates, types of torture, who was killed, etc etc, in his famous “Crimes Against Kansas”.
Remember, that was before Atchison’s men arrived from Texas, South Carolina, and Alabama. When these new men arrived, probably over 1000, it was a whole new ball game.
For Sumner’s speech, a better title would have been “Senator Atchison’s Crimes Against Kansas using Missouri Men”.
After Atchison’s speech, the same week of Sumner’s speech about the killings, it grew drastically more violent.
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ENSLAVING IN THE NORTH?
BRAGGING ABOUT IT?
YEP.
On January 3, 1863, which was six full years after Atchison’s speech, Davis himself boasted in writing — “so there would be no misunderstanding in the future” and explained why he was “by force of our arms” going to enslave in the North
You heard right — in the NORTH.
Link to Davis official declaration
Davis promised perpetual slavery — in the NORTH. Let that sink in. And he said this in his official address — he was making this clear now, “so there would be no misunderstanding in the future.”
Do you yet see that indeed, until they lost, Southern leaders boasted of killing to spread slavery. Not kinda. Not sorta. Not out of context. Not some “gotcha” BS. Not some drunks at a bar.
Southern leaders clearly, emphatically, proudly, killed to spread slavery and boasted of it.
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But Davis speech was not new, not out of character for Davis — quite the reverse.
There was no outcry at the time Davis issued this proclamation to enslave blacks in the North — Davis was actually consistent with his past actions. His war Ultimatums of 1861 demanded the spread of slavery into Kansas, as Southern newspapers boasted of at the time
Davis sent over 1000 paid killers (yes, killers) to Kansas in 1856 under the leadership of US Senator David Rice Atchison.
Why on earth would he change his mind by 1863?
Kansas citizens had no right to reject slavery. Not in 1856, not in 1863. Davis had no trouble making that clear, though our text books have a great deal of trouble even mentioning that now.
Atchison, Davis, and a guy named Stephen A Douglas got Kansas Act signed–that is important to know — they personally went together to get President Pierce to sign the Kansas Act, a story Davis himself repeated several times.
Then Atchison immediately left Washington, went to Kansas.
Yes, we said this before, we say it again so even “history teachers” can get it.
Atchison immediately went to Kansas and personally used terror, starting in 1854, to stop anyone from voting or even speaking publicly against slavery.
Sound like “states rights” to you?
THE BOGUS ATCHISON LEGISLATURE
Using his paid men as the “bogus legislature” Atchison made it a crime to speak publically or publish anti-slavery newspapers in Kansas.
The only men Atchison allowed in this “legislature” were his own men. Speaking, preaching, writing newspapers or pamphlets against slavery was already a crime in almost all of the South.
Atchison made that the law in Kansas.
If you are a history teacher, you should know that.
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WHO CAN COME TO KANSAS….
Atchison would decide who could vote, and even, who came into Kansas. Atchison had US Army cannon, courtesy of Jeff Davis as Secretary of War, stationed at strategic roads into Kansas. He made anyone entering Kansas swear an oath to support slavery.
He tried to keep everyone else out. And he brought in paid killers to do it all.
Kind of a big deal, right?
And the first thing Atchison did with his “bogus legislature” is make it a crime –a crime punishable by death –to publish things that supposedly would cause slaves to escape. In other words, almost anything against slavery would, according to men like Atchison, cause slaves to run away.
Atchison said he “would see Kansas in hell” before he let them be a free state. He did not want “Nigger stealers” to be near a slave state — Missouri (by the same type of violence) was a slave state.
Atchison was in no way inventing a new technique to spread slavery. Slavery always spread by violence and deceit, just like the one that almost worked in Kansas,.
Remember — or if you don’t know learn then remember– 90% of Kansas citizens, then and later, were against slavery. Atchison was there with paid killers because he knew that.
When you ask a history teacher about Kansas leading up to the Civil War, and they do not know this basic fact — that 90% of the citizens there were deeply against slavery — your teacher needs to learn more. _____________________________________________
KILLING JOHN BROWN’S SON
One of the men they killed was John Brown’s son — which would soon backfire and apparently caused Atchison to flee Kansas. They also promised to kill Brown and his wife, and his other sons. When Brown started to “fight fire with fire” — that changed everything. Atchison’s men did not expect armed resistance to their terror.
Why doesn’t your history teacher teach that? Because they don’t know it. They would have to actually learn from original documents — like speeches by Jeff Davis, like speeches by David Rice Atchison. Our text books, and your teachers text books, never did show those documents. And never did explain this in any candid way.
We are never told about those documents and speeches — at least in any clear way. You may, if you read books by McPherson, Bruce Catton, Eric Foner, Shelby Foote, see a bit, mentioned almost as a trivial matter, certainly not as the fundamental boasting and “logic” behind the killers the South hired and sent to Kansas.
In most books by such “historians” there is not one word — not one — about Atchison passing Kansas Act then rushing to Kansas and terrorizing, later killing and boasting of it.
Not one word. You may see things like “Atchison led proslavery forces” — never knowing that they were hired men, paid by Jefferson Davis. You never are told that Atchison and Stephen Douglas passed Kansas Act, then Atchison rushed to Kansas and started terrorizing, later killing.
Your text books has nothing like Southern leaders themselves at the time were making it so clear — the documents were known at the time. Remember, these guys were proud of it, until they lost.
And remember, we do not teach this to any degree, in our US schools. Most kids who remember anything from history class, assume the South cared about states rights. ______________________________________
QUICK EXAMPLE — THE REBEL FLAG
Why the rebel flag was red in color
The first known speech by a Southern leader about the rebel flag bragged was by Senator Atchison — in that speech Atchison bragged– bragged – the flag was red in color for the color of blood they would spill to spread slavery.
That’s right — bragged. And he was very clear — to spread slavery. Not keep slavery, they had a red flag for the color of blood to SPREAD slavery.
Nor was this the only time, Atchison regularly boasted of things that not only have you never heard of, that Southern apologist, from the moment they lost, dare not admit even happened.
Literally, Southern leaders boasted of things then — and killed, tortured as they boasted about –until they lost. And they were very clear, very specific. They were killing to spread slavery, and spread it against (remember this) state’s rights.
They well knew that 90% and more of Kansas citizens were against slavery…..that’s the entire reason Atchison went there with his paid men, aided by Jeff Davis as Secretary of War, because they knew the overwhelming percentage of Kansas citizens were against slavery, they had to be quick and had to use terror and violence.
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KANSAS ACT
Atchison also boasted he got Kansas Act passed, boasted he forced Douglas into passing the Kansas Act, and boasted he was paid, and his men were paid, “by the present administration”.
Douglas at first refused to support, much less pass, the Kansas Act. But within two days, Douglas did what Atchison demanded…. Turns out, Atchison threatened (as President Pro Temp of the US Senate) to take away Douglas lucrative position as “Chairman of House and Senate Committee on Kansas.
Douglas who had railed in extreme terms that “no one would ever be so evil” as to overturn the Compromise of 1850, now went “full monty” to trash the Compromise he helped pass, and to obliterate it with the Kansas Act.
Then, after he got Kansas Act passed, Atchison immediately left Washington for Kansas to terrorize, and later kill, to spread slavery there.
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Newspapers, of course, exploded with the news of Atchison in Kansas, and the killers sent by Jeff Davis. This kind of article was a common type from Kansas that got back to Chicago and New York
They well knew what Atchison and Jeff Davis were up to in Kansas. Sadly, Atchison and Davis claimed they were the “lawful authority” and could, did, create laws against even speaking publically, or publishing anti-slavery newspapers in Kansas.
By the way, the first three governors of Kansas — appointed by Jeff Davis, went to Kansas in total support of Atchison.
But when the first three governors got there, and saw what Atchison and his men were actually doing, all three governors turned against Atchison, reported Atchison to Jeff Davis, they found that Jeff Davis was behind it too.
All three of these men after a time refused to obey Davis and Atchison’s orders to kill and to stop lawful assembly, free speech.
Remember that.
Lincoln himself wrote about this phenomenon (in his “Speed letter) of men Davis sent to Kansas who, once they got there and saw the killing sprees by Atchison / Davis men, refused to cooperate. Every one of them believed Davis and Atchison, until they got there and saw what was going on.
Remember, Davis picked these men, he told them they were upholding the law, and when they arrived in Kansas, they found just the opposite, soon resigned after they refused to take part in the killing sprees and suppression of free speech
When Kansas did vote in an honest election, Jeff Davis insisted the people of Kansas did not get to decide slavery issues. In fact, Jeff Davis wrote emphatically, as he was wont to do, that the resistance to slavery in Kansas as “Intolerable”
.
From Louisville Courier 1855
Southern newspapers were overwhelmingly in favor of the killing sprees to spread slavery into Kansas, with Atchison as “General of Law and Order.”
As far as we can tell, not one Southern paper ever reported that 90 and 95% of the people in Kansas had voted against slavery, nor that Atchison had, with Douglas, repeatedly insisted they passed the Kansas Act so that the people of Kansas would be “perfectly free” to decide slavery issue themselves.
Nor did they mention Atchison boasted of killing to spread slavery, the flag being red in color for the color of blood they will spill to spreads slavery, etc.
It is amazing, the power to make people stupid, and then to make those stupid people do the most vile things, just by lying to them, and making them believe it.
If not for these three men, and other Democrats who went to Kansas assuming Atchison and Davis cared what the people there wanted, then had the honor and integrity to refuse to be part of the fraud, Southern leaders get Kansas spread as they had always spread slavery -by violence and fraud.
This book “Conquest of Kansas” is just one of many eye-witness accounts during that time.
When Phillips wrote this, he thought there was no hope, that Kansas and the entire West would be slavery states all, because of Atchison, Douglas actions. Phillips knew first hand the boasting about not just their ability to terrorize to spread slavery into Kansas, but to the rest of the West.
Even though the overwhelming percentage of people there were against slavery.
For several years, the people in Kansas were taken over by Atchison, his paid men, who used US Army supplies, and even had their prisoners “guarded” by the US Army.
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The men doing the killings and tortures in Kansas under Atchison were not in the US Army. They were paid by Atchison and Jefferson Davis. As you will see, when men in Kansas finally got organized, they fought back, and Atchison himself left, as did many others. When the hired killers faced opposition, and when they were no longer paid, because Jeff Davis lost his “Secretary of War” position in 1858, everything changed.
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If you omit a few dozen facts like that — the speeches and the killings, the invasions, and the tortures — you have a much easier time, like Foner and McPherson or Catton or Shelby Foote, or 100 others, making up lofty bullshit about “a conflict between states rights and central government”.
Atchison and Davis –remember this — hated, hated, states rights when Kansas rejected slavery. Even after Kansas became a free state, Atchison and Davis still demanded the spread of slavery into Kansas specifically.
And Kansas voted — remember this too — 90 and 95% against slavery. Yet Southern leaders not only sent the killers to Kansas, not only issued two sets of War Ultimatums (1856 and 1861), even after Kansas was clearly and officially a state in the Union, a free state, they both sent or led killlers to make, by force, Kansas “accept and respect slavery”.
The ugly truth was this — Southern leaders fought wars, repeatedly, to spread slavery. And to spread it against state’s rights, not for states rights.
Don’t ever let your stupid but well intentioned teacher say the South was for state’s rights. They hated states rights, and killed to stop it, over time, repeatedly.
And they bragged about it, until they lost.
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DO FACTS MATTER TO “Historians”?
This is a legitimate question. Do facts matter to historians?
Or do they just love their own narratives?
That’s a judgement call, but you can’t help wondering how much facts actually matter if you artfully dodge the very facts that destroy your narrative.
Yet Southern leaders were not just talking, not just bragging. They were, in each case we show you, actually killing, actually declared war and started the killings, before they bragged about — and as they bragged about it.
What did they brag about ?
They bragged about killing to spread slavery – and spread it against (yes against) state’s rights.
Why don’t we learn that – they bragged about it. They even issued official declarations to that effect.
Can we trust our own text books — or even the likes of History Channel — for accurate basics on what started the US Civil War?
Maybe. Maybe not.
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Original sources do matter — who knew?
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Original sources, including Southern books, speeches, newspapers, letters, show the most amazing things.
Things never — never — taught in our schools, at least not in a serious candid way. Maybe a sentence here, a comment there, but this was not trivia — it was CENTRAL.
FIRST COUNTRY ON EARTH
Southern leaders boasting they created the first country on earth to be based on white’s right to enslave and PUNISH — yes PUNISH blacks for biblical sins.
That was not by some nut in a bar.
That was the Vice President of the Confederacy in a series of speeches — a speaking tour — right after the Southern states formed the Confederacy.
Alexander Stephens, the VP, went on this speaking tour to explain what they had just done in Montgomery. And their goals.
Crowds cheered.
Stephens boasted- – boasted — the Confederacy was based not only on God’s intention for whites to enslave blacks — in perpetuity no less, but that Africans were being punished for biblical sins. Slavery was payback by God, in crude terms, for the actions of blacks two thousand years ago.
And the Confederacy was based — the only country on earth ever to be based — on the will of GOD for whites to enslave blacks.
He boasted — remember this — he boasted the Confederacy was based on this “great moral truth” and predicted like all truths, this truth the Confederacy would spread to all of the world.
That was not one speech — that was a series of at least five speeches, and crowds cheered.
They cheered.
History channel has never covered this.
No re-enactment of any of these things. If you watch History Channel, for history, you would be necessarily stupid about history of the Civil War.
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No US textbook even mentions what these Southern leaders bragged about.
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Yet bragging is the least of what they did, because they also did, and were doing, what they bragged about– killing to spread slavery.
They actually did what they boasted of.
US Senator David Rice Atchison
author of the “Kansas Act”.
Just one of many documents where Southern leaders at the time bragged of killing to spread slavery — and kill to spread slavery against state’s rights.
Newspapers showing Jeff Davis and others forcing slavery “down the throat of a freesoiler” — a citizen from Kansas.
Remember — 95% of citizens of Kansas not only voted against slavery, they became a free state because of that. The men of Kansas fought a five year war against Atchison and his men.
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US Senator David Atchison, who pushed the Kansas Act through Congress, then immediately went to Kansas to terrorize, later kill torture and boast about killing to spread slavery “for the entire South”.
He even boasted to his newly arrived hire men from Texas that the flag they would ride under, in 1856, was the “Southern flag” — and it was red in color.
He said it was red for the color of blood they would spill to spread slavery.
He boasted they were there to spread slavery “for the entire South”.
We show the speech below– but it our history books did their job, this speech would already be common knowledge to every high school student in the United States. The speech is more important, as a history lesson, than anything Lincoln ever spoke about, certainly more important to understand who did what than Lincoln’s Gettysburg speech.
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ATCHISON PUSHED KANSAS ACT THROUGH CONGRESS…
“PERFECT RIGHT”
Atchison speech is important because he bragged his motivation was to spread slavery “for the entire South”.
Atchison said it clearly — they had the hired men in Kansas is “For the entire South” to spread slavery into Kansas now, then all the way to the Pacific.
Yet just months before, Atchison was in Washington promising folks that the Kansas Act was to “give the people of Kansas the perfect right” to decide slavery themselves.
Many people, including Democrats of course, believed Atchison, and went to Kansas as settlers. Importantly, even Democrat Congressmen went to Kansas, assured that Atchison and Douglas’s “Kansas Act” would allow the public to decide slavery.
Some of those Democrats who believed Atchison were eventually appointed by Jefferson Davis as governor of Kansas, while Atchison was made “General of Law and Order”.
Those Democrats, including three governors, soon saw Atchison in action — killing and boasting of it to spread slavery– and quickly alerted Jeff Davis about what Atchison was doing. Jeff Davis turned on these governors, fired them, and got new ones.
Some Democrats in Kansas contacted Lincoln later. Lincoln went to Kansas, met these men, and history was never the same after that. A little known fact that these very Democrats, who flipped to Lincoln’s GOP, helped Lincoln get nominated, then elected, and helped fight for the Union in the Civil War.
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BOASTING OF KILLING TO SPREAD SLAVERY
VS
PERFECT RIGHT TO DECIDE THEMSELVES
Notice any difference? Passing legislation that you promised would give people in Kansas the ” perfect right” to decide slavery as opposed to bragging about killing to spread slavery.
You can not hope to understand the history of this period unless you understand what Atchison was doing — with the help of Stephen A Douglas.
Nor can you understand the Lincoln Douglas debates. When you read the debates, unless you know that Douglas had passed the Kansas Act, and Atchison had already had several killing sprees in Kansas, already promised to keep killing to spread slavery against the will of the people in Kansas, and then to all of the West, you won’t understand a word Lincoln in saying.
Because Lincoln was keenly aware of all this, as were most people, North and South, in the United States.
We often teach about the Lincoln Douglas debates in rather stupid terms, never telling our children the background, and what everyone knew the background was.
When Lincoln is trying in every debate to show the dangers of Kansas Act and Dred Scott decision, because they legitimize the violent spread of slavery, with no way to stop slavery from spreading where the people did not want slavery, you are a lost puppy reading those debates.
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IMMEDIATELY
Senator Atchison, after he passed Kansas Act, personally went to Kansas, started by terrorizing, to spread slavery. That did not work as well as he wanted.
Late Atchison hired more than the original 800 or so men, and actually went to the South and advertised in newspaper for Southern men to come to Missouri to help fight in Kansas
“The time for talk is over” Atchison wrote — but Atchison never did try to “talk” slavery into Kansas, other than by terror.
Here are newspapers from 1856 showing Atchison letters to Southern papers in 1855.
It did not take a genius for reader of these papers to realize — the killings alreading going on in Kansas by Atchison’s men were going to get a lot worse if many Southern men took the bait and hired out to Atchison.
Yet that is what happened. And things got much much worse. In fact, the speech we link to several times here is the speech to Atchison the first time he met these men that came from Texas, South Carolina, and Alabama.
Read the speech! Atchison turned these foolish men, who might have numbered over 2000, into the largest band of hired killers in US history, and we should teach them as such.
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ALONG COMES JOHN BROWN
These newly hired men very nearly overwhelmed the citizens of Kansas- – if not for the stunning bravery and resolve of a man named John Brown. The day after Atchison’s killing spree using these men, Brown struck back.
Atchison men had already killed one of Brown’s son — Frederick, named after Frederick Douglas.
They tortured another of his sons to insanity. They promised to kill Brown and his wife.
The newly hired new men, fresh from Texas most of them, made it clear to Atchison supporters and the citizens of Kansas, that things just reached the kill or be killed stage.
Atchison’s men celebrated. They now had the huge mass of men and horses they needed to do exactly what Atchison and his friends promised to do — kill everyone against slavery.
Now that you know more about Atchison, after he passed Kansas Act — does it sound like he wanted Kansas Act to make the people there “perfectly free” to decide slavery.
Don’t forget that — nothing is more basic.
Yet over, and over, and over, we stupidly teach the “Kansas Act” as being for “the right of people to decide” or “popular sovereignty ”
Seriously, how stupid can you be?
Again and again, Lincoln pointed out the fraud of Kansas Act. Did we think he was kidding?
Do we think Lincoln did not know what Douglas and Atchison were doing?
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JEFFERSON DAVIS ORWELLIAN WORD GAMES
No one at the time was as clever at Davis at using Orwellian double speak. He could, and did, make listeners believe slavery was freedom, war was peace.
Hard to believe, right?
See Jeff Davis official declaration that he will enslave blacks in the North -he wrote in the declaration that he wrote it “so their will be no misunderstandings in the future”
See that official declaration HERE
It is important you notice- Davis official declaration to enslave blacks in the North was in 1863, during the Civil War itself.
Davis already had a 20 year history of insisting slavery must spread, as a Constitutional right, to wherever a slave owner wanted to take his “property”.
That included Kansas, even after Kansas rejected slavery, and even after Kansas became a free state.
Davis is the one that sent Atchison to Kansas, the one that went with Atchison to get Kansas Act signed into law by the President, and the one that paid Atchison’s 800 paid men, later over 2000 men.
So Davis was not just yapping. He was sending others to kill and die to make it happen. Don’t forget that.
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DAVIS LOGIC FOR SPREADING SLAVERY
Davis insisted that “state’s rights” did not apply to slavery because Dred Scott decision declared that blacks are not human beings — not persons. Lined up by Davis clever articulation of that absurdity, he made it seem reasonable to stupid people that killing to spread slavery against state’s rights was not just allowable, but mandatory.
Davis, responding to written questions after the Civil War, responded to a question about Atchison’s actions in Kansas.
Everything Atchison and his paid men did in Kansas was “Constitutionally required” Davis wrote back.
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ALL WE ASK
IS TO BE LEFT ALONE
Davis famously said “All we ask is to be left alone” — a quote of manifest and profound deception, yet it’s taught in high school and college, often with the stupid impression that is true, instead of the most damnable lie in US history.
Orwell much?
Why do we bother to even mention Orwell to our children, if we actually push Orwellian double speak and absurdities as fact, which happens when we quote Jeff Davis, or others, who do the same deceptions?
At least give our students a fighting chance at knowing what happened.
By not including basic facts — like Southern leaders killing to spread slavery and bragging about it, from 1855 on, and by putting up absurdities like Davis “All we ask is to be left alone,” US text books make children — and the public — dumber, not smarter.
Stop that crap. Don’t teach anything at all, schools would be better off simply not mentioning the word history in schools, if we are going to teach absurdities and deceptions as fact.
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Davis had sent over 2000 killers to KS to force slavery down the throats of the people in Kansas, led by David Rice Atchison. This, despite he and Atchison knowing very well — and the country knew– that 95% of the citizens in Kansas were against slavery.
So — unless you know what the hell he was doing, the smooth sound of Davis words bouncing around your head can make you functionally stupid about basic US history –it does not matter if you have a PhD in history, if you buy Davis utter nonsense, you are functionally stupid.
Even history teachers can read Jeff Davis books and speeches and think “well, that sounds reasonable.”
Davis “forgets” to tell the readers he hired and sent the killers and boasted then that it did not matter what the people of Kansas wanted, or voted, even after they were a free state, Davis demanded the spread of slavery there.
A reader of his Orwellian double speak would have to already know, already have in their head, what the hell happened. But most do not know well, and some do not have a clue.
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Atchison’s speech boasting of killing to spread slavery was not the only one, at all.
Hundreds of other speeches, proclamations, and documents, even books, written by Southern leaders and slave advocates at the time said the same thing.
Jeff Davis himself wrote that the resistance to slavery in Kansas (remember 95% of people in Kansas voted against slavery) was “intolerable”.
If “states rights” were any concern whatsoever to Davis or Southern leaders, they would, of course, leave Kansas and other places alone. Everyone- – including Atchison, Davis, and Stephen A Douglas were exceedingly aware Kansas citizens were outlandishly and clearly against slavery.
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TOP DOWN
Southern leaders — not the public nearly as much as the leaders in control — were spreading slavery anyway, many of them said they spread slavery for GOD as biblical punishment, like the Confederate Vice President told cheering crowds in the “Cornerstone speeches”.
Others said they must spread slavery White Survival. Just stopping the spread of slavery would “exterminate” the white race.
And they were spreading it by violence.
It was dramatic politics, perfect for the speeches by extremist like Davis — who was NOT a moderate, no matter who tells you such nonsense. To insist you can — and should — send killers to Kansas and force slavery there is not moderate.
It did not matter what the people of Kansas wanted, or voted, and did not matter what their legislature said, it did not matter what Congress said.
That was Jeff Davis own “logic” for forcing slavery into Kansas and beyond, though 95% of the people there, and their legislature, voted against slavery.
And the “logic” was that blacks were not human beings — they were property.
“We will continue to lynch, hang, tar and feather and drown every white livered abolitionist who dares pollute our soil”
At the time — and until they lost — Southern leaders boasted about killing to spread slavery.
They boasted in detail about the tortures and methods of killing.
Sadly our text books, and many of our “historians” have let them claim the South cared about state’s rights– and you can only let that Orwellian double speak pass as “history” if you omit Southern leaders boasting about killing to spread slavery, and of course, their actual killing to spread slavery,
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FUNNY THEY STOPPED BRAGGING
Funny how later — they didn’t boast about the killing to spread slavery for God.
Funny that later — they didn’t boast about their “logic” that Kansas had no right to reject slavery, even after Kansas was a free state.
Funny that later — they didn’t brag, as they had, that they would get more men and kill in order to spread slavery all the way to the Pacific.
Their words were ugly, extreme and in context — we must expand slavery or we lose slavery, even where it already is.
This “all or nothing” way of pumping up hate was effective.
WHAT DID SOUTHERN HONOR MEAN?
The way Atchison talked, Southern honor and Southern rights were at stake.
By “Southern honor” when they were clear, he and Jeff Davis, and most Southern leaders, meant “We will force slavery to spread — it’s our right to force it”
People today stupidly think the South was horrible that they wanted to keep slavery. Actually, they were killing to spread it.
Why don’t people know that today?
Because they are not told, not in any clear way.
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Atchison: I will see Kansas in hell
before I see it a free state”
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What role did Jefferson Davis play
in Kansas killing sprees?
✔ Jefferson Davis sent Atchison to Kansas.
✔Jefferson Davis paid Atchison.
✔Jefferson Davis paid Atchison’s 2000 men.
✔Jefferson Davis insisted in writing — it did not matter that 95% of Kansas citizens rejected slavery.
✔Jefferson Davis insisted — in writing — Kansas citizens must accept and respect slavery — even after they became a free state
✔ Jefferson Davis said, after the war, that everything Atchison did was “Constitutionally required”
✔ Jefferson Davis himself boasted of sending killers North to enslave blacks during the civil war
✔ Jefferson Davis, Stephen A Douglas, and David Atchison personally took the Kansas Act to President Pierce to sign
✔ Jefferson Davis and Stephen A Douglas personally stayed in DC while Atchison rushed to Kansas after they passed Kansas Act,
✔ In Washington, when reports of Atchison’s killing sprees arrived — including witnesses to the kiling to speak to the President — Stephen A Douglas and Jefferson Davis made the President see those men as traitors, some were arrested, many had to hide until the Civil War was over.
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Jefferson Davis made Atchison the “General of Law and Order” in Kansas. Atchison and his men were “well paid” said Atchison, and they were paid by Jefferson Davis.
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THE GOAL
IS THE SPREAD
OF SLAVERY
FOR THE ENTIRE SOUTH
Atchison was able to hire, as best estimates can be, over 2000 men, and their goal, as he boasted of clearly– was to push slavery all the way to the Pacific.
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WHY DIDN’T ATCHISON OR JEFF DAVIS
CARE THAT 95% WERE AGAINST SLAVERY?
Ninety-five percent of Kansas citizens were anti-slavery, and of course Atchison was keenly aware of that.
Stephen Douglas, Atchison’s business partner and the man Atchison forced into being the main spokesman to sell Kansas Act, said several times that everyone knew “19 out of 20” Kansas citizens were against slavery.
To pass the Kansas Act, Stephen A Douglas and Atchison claimed they “just wanted the people of Kansas to have the perfect right to vote” on slavery.
What could be more fair, more democratic, more American than that Douglas said. Anyone against the Kansas Act must hate the will of the people!
Though Stephen A Douglas had helped pass Missouri Compromise, soon Atchison made Douglas the lead speaker to get rid of the Missouri Compromise — the Kansas Act did away with the Missouri Compromise.
Under the “monstrous lie” by Stephen Douglas and Atchison that the Kansas Act would let the people there be “perfectly free” to decide slavery themselves, many good people in Congress went along with the fraud — later regretting it.
Citizens of Kansas would be “perfectly free” to reject or accept slavery?
Un — not so much.
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Then, while Douglas stayed in Washington, Atchison left immediately after passage of KS Act, went to Kansas and started at first terrorizing all voting places available to him in Kansas.
Douglas and Jefferson Davis role in Washington, it’s now clear, was to keep the President stupid about what was going on with Atchison in Kansas.
The outcry was extreme, news and reports came in from Kansas — people came from Kansas to personally tell Congress and the President what Atchison was up to. Newspapers talked of little else. It was as big, if not bigger, focus of US North and South, as 911 was when the twin towers were bombed in New York.
Instead of helping the citizens of Kansas be free to vote slavery up or down, Douglas and Davis branded those who complained about Atchison were labelled as traitors, and disobedient to “lawful authority” in Kansas.
Davis also named a group of his supporters as Kansas governor, and other leading posts. Davis also had control of the US military there in Kansas and in Missouri.Davis allowed Atchison to get guns and cannon — any supplies he wanted, from the US Army,
And Jefferson Davis paid Atchison and his men with funds from the US Treasury.
So — it was not just Atchison acting alone.
And it almost worked.
Three of the men Davis sent as governor, of course, believed Davis at first. They believed Atchison was there to help enforce the Kansas Act so that everyone was “perfectly free” to decide slavery themselves.
Those three governors, in turn, saw first hand what Atchison was doing and “flipped sides” after a time, refused to particpate in the killing sprees, and naively sent reports and one went to see Jeff Davis.
They thought if Jeff Davis and the President just knew what Atchison and his men were doing, we can fix this.
Jeff Davis was in on the fraud the whole time, and that became clear to Davis own naive supporters.
The very reason Davis, Atchison, and Douglas passed the Kansas was clear — the reason Atchison then rushed to Kansas, was exactly as LIncoln (and many others) said at the time: the Kansas Act was a vile fraud, meant only to spread slavery by means “foul and more foul”.
So why the hell do we now — or have we ever — taught even in one class room, one time, that Kansas Act was an effort to solve the problem of “slavery in the territories”.
It was 100% an effort to push slavery into Kansas by force, but to do that, they needed the false front of obeying the law.
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Atchison said in his advertising for Texas and South Carolina men to come to Kansas — they were not there to talk — time for talk was over. They were to push slavery “for the entire South” into Kansas and onto the Pacific.
He never sought compromise — he sought violent me who agreed to use violence.
It almost worked. Southern leaders explained it very well– including Atchison himself — at the time.
Why not believe their own boasting of killing to spread slavery, as well as the overwhelming documented evidence that is exactly what he did?
Foote, of course, never told Ken Burns one word of what you are about to learn.
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TWO SETS OF WAR ULTIMATUMS
1856
1861
It’s important to know — and remember — these were not suggestions, goals, preferences. They were, and Southern leaders called them, ULTIMATUMS.
Not sorta.
Not kinda.
Not in a way.
In fact, in both sets of war ultimatums Southern leaders had already been killing, before they issued the spoken or written ultimatums.
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When Southern leaders boasted of spreading slavery to all of the West, in 1856, starting with Kansas, 95 % of Kansas citizens — as repeated elections would show — were against slavery.
California and Oregon were already free states.
Kansas eventually became a free state in 1861, after repeated overwhelming votes against slavery. Even so, after Kansas became a free state, the first thing the Confederacy did, according to Southern newspapers boasting about it, was to issue War Ultimatums to spread slavery into Kansas.
Southern headlines called this — THE TRUE ISSUE.
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ATCHISON EXPLAINED IN 1856 WHY THE CONFEDERATE FLAG IS RED
If the only thing Atchison boasted about was the Southern flag’s color, that alone is worthy that it be studied in every history class in the United States, because his speech is the first to describe the Southern flag.
The flag was red in color, he said, for the color of blood — blood they would spill to spread slavery. Read his speech.
Atchison is one of many in power in South who bragged about killing to spread slavery. But bragged about much more — who paid him, he bragged about. How far they would spread slavery, by violence, he bragged about.
The flag was red for the color of blood, he bragged about.
Atchison was also the man who passed Kansas Act with Stephen A Douglas. In fact, Atchison pressured Douglas into passing it — and he even bragged about that. This was well known at the time
Newspaper in Kansas showing Atchison “compelled” Douglas to push Kansas Act through. Douglas was at first absolutely against it. September 2, 1856. But the same thing had been reported for years, and Atchison bragged about it.
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Did you ever hear of Southern War Ultimatums of 1856 and
1861…. both times Southern leaders issued War Ultimatums, they had already started killing to spread slavery.
Headlines in Richmond paper– war ultimatus. “THE TRUE ISSUE” was the spread of slavery into Kansas.
Kansas was a free state by then. Kansas people voted 90 and 95% against slavery, and now were a free state.
Yet the WAR ULTIMATUM was that Kansas much accept and respect slavery.
Southern leaders tended to be men who could get crowds to cheer — cheer about spreading slavery for GOD, spreading slavery for “Southern Rights”
There was a time Southern leaders mentioned states rights –yes. But when Kansas rejected slavery, Southern leaders in 1855 sent hundreds, then a thousand, then two thousand paid men into Kansas.
Davis gave the title “General of Law and Order” to his friend David Rice Atchison, in 1856. Atchisonsent him reports on the progress of the killings.
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Our flag is red for color of blood we will spill to spread slavery
See Atchison’s speech — stunning, if you don’t know the history well. But not stunning at all, if you know what was going on from other sources.
They boasted — boasted — about killing to spread slavery, and actually killed to spread slavery.
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NOT VOLUNTEERS —
These were not “volunteers” who killed to spread slavery, not local folks who deeply and horribly wanted slavery. These were men Atchison paid — paid. You can see in his speech, they will be “well paid” — and they can plunder anything they like from the homes they attack.
Why not at least mention what Southern leaders were boasting about?
And what they doing!
Not only do our text books not say any of this clearly, if they speak of “trouble in Kansas” they act like both sides were to blame. You can only do that by not knowing what the hell these Southern leaders were doing– and bragging about.
Even if a highschool or college “history teacher” is smart enough to know that Atchison was even there, that he passed Kansas Act, then rushed to Kansas, it’s likely they assume many people in Kansas wanted slavery.
Hell no. Atchison, Douglas, and Davis were very very much aware that 95% of of citizens of Kansas were against slavery.
Jesus, you’d think history teachers would know that fact, but most seem clueless, because their text book doesn’t tell them.
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NOT TO KEEP SLAVERY
It is important you know this: They were NOT killing to keep slavery where it was. Over and over people will say the South “did not want to give up slavery”.
That was not the issue –no one fought the war to make them give up slavery. Ib fact,if South had simply gone on about their business — as Lincoln said over and over –and not spread slavery, there would be no problem.
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LINCOLN AND KANSAS
LINCOLN GOT BACK INTO POLITICS
BECAUSE OF DAVID RICE ATCHISON
Below we cover Lincoln actually going to Kansas and meeting Democrats who would help him get elected.
But Lincoln got back into politics because of what David Rice Atchison did — pass Kansas Act, then rush out to Kansas and terrorize, later kill, to spread slavery there.
BEFORE THAT
Even if you don’t know, most people alive in Illinois knew Lincoln’s long history of kicking slavery in the ass, years before Atchicons passed Kansas Act then went to Kansas to terrorize and kill.
Lincoln first tired to expose US going to war for slave power — in Mexico, Lincoln called the President (Polk) on starting the war based on a lie– that Mexico attacked USA on US soil.
Of course, US forces were ordered to attack Mexico on MEXICO soil.
Lincoln asked Polk, from floor of Congress, to “show the spot” where Mexico supposedly attacked.
Those were called the “Spot resolutions”. Polk, of course, just lied.
Lincoln was hated — called “traitor to the United States while soldiers were in the field” kind of thing. Even in Illinois people hated him for that.
Of course many others knew from the start — it was an open secret that even slave owners admitted (like Henry Clay) that the Mexican War was done to double the size of slavery.
Lincoln had to, therefore, vote for funding for the soldiers, but he was against the war.
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40 times
Then, 40 times Lincoln tried to outlaw slavery in the land we just stole from Mexico. Of course those who orchestated this killing spree to double the land for slavery were not going to agree to outlaw slavery in the land they just stole by their killing spree (The Mexican War was essentially a killing spree by US soldiers).
Lincoln did not win that one, either.
THEN WHAT DID LINCOLN DO?
Then, Lincoln tried to get slavery out of Washington DC –by offering to pay slave owners for their slaves. Slave power would have none of this. they did not want a few dollars, they wanted the slave women, the slave children to sell, the slaves to work to make them far richer than a one time payment.
Lincoln was hated by many for that, too.
Lincoln got out of politics then, because there was no will even in the North to effectively take on slave power. There were no riots, no public outcry against spread of slavery by the public — as long as slavery stayed “Down South” it was fine with most people in the North.
Lincoln had fought slavery and lost –now he went back home to work as an attorney.
Until David Atchison and Stephen A Douglas passed the Kansas Act.
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Lincoln is often derided now because he kept offering the South no interference in slavery where it was.
He had no choice. There was virtually no public support to do anything about slavery where it was. And no earthly way to raise an army to fight against slavery where it was.
But Lincoln was well aware what was going on in Kansas and the West — the killings, the tortures, the thousands of paid men to invade Kansas repeatedly –all happened before Lincoln even ran.
So were most people in the US aware of the same thing. The South was proud of spreading slavery. Those pushing the spread of slavery did very well in public support, like Davis, Atchison, Toombs.
Lincoln concentrated on avoiding Civil War to spread North and South — the war the South had already started. Remember this –South was already at war, their leaders already bragged they were at war, see Atchison’s speech.
Lincoln did not start anything, he did all he could to stop war.
The South leaders were killing to SPREAD slavery where it was not. Read Lincoln’s amazing speeches carefully.
Over, and over, and over, Lincoln shows, as politely as any human could, in respectful terms, how the South was now spreading slavery in a way (Kansas Act and Dred Scott) what would necessarily spread slavery to all of the US, or it would die like a cancer.
The machinery to spread slavery — Kansas Act and Dred Scott –was possibly only with the help and design of two men — David Rice Atchison and Jefferson Davis, with plenty of help from Stephen A Douglas.
That machinery, that “logic” of Kansas Act and Dred Scott meant that if they could force slavery into Kansas, the citizens of Kansas were 95% against slavery, then there was no way to stop slavery going anywhere, and always.
We will be all slave, or all free he said.
You need to know the facts I present here, to get it. To get how right Lincoln was, you need to know what Southern leaders were doing, who they were killing, and what they were bragging about.
Lincoln knew.
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FOR OR AGAINST STATES RIGHTS?
Nearly every history teacher gets this backwards, when you know what Southern leaders were doing and boasting about.
Yes, before Kansas rejected slavery, you heard that South was for States Rights. That was never accurate, as you will see. There never was, in the entire history of the USA, an election, an honest election, to allow or to expand slavery.
Slavery was always spread by violence, under the treachery of men like Davis and Atchison who took over the reigns of power.
But they never had the votes. They did, in all cases, simply control who could vote, as they did in Kansas until they lost.
Stupidly you may see in text books sentence such as “Missouri wanted slavery”.
Nonsense, Missouri is a state, anyway. If there were honest elections, and every time there were honest elections, slavery lost.
Which is precisely why Atchison made sure — as long as he could — that Kansas citizens did not have an honest election. That is the whole reason he passed Kansas Act, then rushed out to Kansas.
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SOUTH WAR ULTIMATUMS
If you don’t know Southern War Ultimatums, where South leaders bragged about killing to spread slavery (until they lost) you don’t know what actually caused the US Civil War.
Because not only were Southern leaders boasting of killing to spread slavery, they were actually killing to spread slavery.
Not kinda. Not sorta. Not in a way.
We will continue to lynch, hang, tar and feather, and drown, every white livered abolitionist who dares pollute our soul.
These same men tortured one of John Brown’s son until he went insane, killed another of his sons, and promised to kill Brown himself, the rest of his sons, and his wife. They had killed, and promised to kill as many as they could — and they made good on their threats.
The killers in Kansas — all hired by Atchison — did not bluff. They never issued an idle threat.
(Now you get a clue what Brown was angry about — Brown fighting back against these men is what changed everything, as you will see.Brown either had to leave, or fight back.
He fought back. And the person responsible for killers who tortured his son, and killed another, worked for Atchison.
It’s not my fault no one told you.
Here, Atchison’s own newspaper, the Sovereign Squatter, December 6, 1856, boasts that those against slavery are the “enemy of God and man”.
A typical rant for Atchison / Stringfellow’s newspaper in Kansas. They will take “gloves off” to anyone who disregards the “constituted authorities” –meaning Atchison himself.
Keep in mind, at all times, the vast majority of citizens of Kansas were (and still are) overwhelmingly against slavery.
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ATCHISON………
NOT JUST ANY SENATOR….
Meet David Rice Atchison……the US Senator who boasted he was at war already, in 1856, for “the entire South” to spread slavery into Kansas and all of the West.
All the way to, and including, California and Oregon, both were free states by then. He boasted about it, as you will see, and hired over 1000 men from Texas and South Carolina to first push slavery into Kansas Territory
“I will see Kansas in hell before I let it be a free state” boasted Atchison to cheering crowds — crowds he hired to invade Kansas.
This is important to know – Atchison was not just “any” Senator.
He was the same Senator who, with Stephen A Douglas, passed the Kansas Act.
Atchison and his men were paid by, Jefferson Davis, officially.
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There are, of course, very good books on this subject — like these ….(I will do more of a list, later…)
and
and
and
in it’s own weird way, Jeff Davis own book verifies the “logic” with which he justified sending the killers to Kansas in the first place.
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LINK —ATCHISON’S VERY IMPORTANT SPEECH TO HIS HIRED MEN
“Atchison was not just another guy, not even just another US Senator.”
Atchison owned the newspaper “Squatter Sovereign”.
Atchison was the US Senator who passed Kansas act with Stephen A Douglas, then rushed to Kansas, and there started a “reign of terror” that later included torture and killing.
He worked officially for Jeff Davis.
These paid men bragged– bragged — did I mention bragged — that they were killing to spread slavery, and they will keep killing to spread slavery until slavery is spread to all of the West, including in states and territories that rejected slavery.
All of Atchison’s men — apparently — were paid, per his own speech, and paid by Jefferson Davis (or as he said that day “by the present administration”.)
As you will see, Atchison even sent Jefferson Davis reports, on the progress of the killings in Kansas. Davis would later respond in writing that everything Atchison did was “Constitutionally required”.
It is fundamental that you know this — 90 and 95% of the white citizens in Kansas were against slavery there. Yet Southern leaders — twice– issued War Ultimatums that Kansas must accept and respect slavery, no matter what the overwhelming majority of people wanted or voted.
Don’t forget that .
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This was not only the biggest possible news of that violent decade –it was well reported in the press, and dozens of eye witnesses wrote books about it, went on speaking tours about it.
Southern leaders BRAGGED about it.
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THE RIGHT TO SPREAD SLAVERY
BY VIOLENCE
AGAINST STATES RIGHTS….
Jeff Davis was very well aware Kansas citizens were overwhelmingly against slavery.
Yet Davis created a “logic” that Kansas citizens could not reject slavery– no matter what the public said, no matter what their legislature said, no matter what anyone said.
Slavery –and taking your slaves where you wanted, including to free states–was your “right”.
I will show you Davis “logic” below
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Yeah, you are taught that South cared about states rights….. you heard that all your life, right?
Uh, no.
Not according to Jeff Davis –in writing, clear and repeatedly. Kansas, even when Kansas became a free state–must be a slave state.
Oh –those “details” your history teacher “forgot” to mention.
Keeping slavery out of Kansas – “intolerable”.
WHO DECIDES?
Davis was great at pointing out who can NOT decide slavery. The people in Kansas, could not. The legislature in Kansas, could not. The Congress of the US, could not.
By default, though Davis left this wisely unsaid — slave owners got to decide.
Slave owners got to decide where they “take their property”. Davis was very clear about this — and correct. Dred Scott decision did order (yes order) that blacks are not to be seen as human beings (as persons). The court ordered that blacks be seen as property.
The Dred Scott decision also ordered- – yes ordered– that the federal government “protect” slavery, even in Kansas, where slavery was rejected by vote and by arms. Davis explained it, in his own book, it’s not like that was any type of secret.
South — or any white person –could take their “property” to Kansas, and Kansas must not only accept that –Kansas must protect slavery. Kansas, no matter what the percentage wanted no slavery, did not get to chose.
Because of Dred Scott. His logic was Dred Scott.
Slave owners, any white person in all of the country, that wants to take their slave to Kansas, must be protected by the government in Kansas.
By this “logic” as Lincoln pointed out time and time again, there was no way to stop slavery, even where it was rejected by law and public sentiment.
Dred Scott and Kansas Act, as Lincoln explained hundreds of times, were the “timber” the “machinery” of spreading slavery to all of the US, and unless we change the Constitution, or get the Dred Scott decision overturned, one or the other must end. Slavery must end, or the United States must end.
We can not exist half slave, and have free– when Dred Scott decision went unchecked and unchanged (which is why Lincoln had to change it, with 13th Amendment).
REMEMBER Davis said that KANSAS must accept and respect slavery even after –after –Kansas became a free state.
So when Davis said everything Atchison was doing in Kansas was “Constitutionally required” this is exactly what he was talking about.
Even though 90 and 95% of the public there were against slavery.
Sound like Davis or Southern leaders were for state’s rights?
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Can you guess what right they had to spread slavery against state’s rights?
Gee — kinda shoots the shit out of the smug teachers who claim the South cared about state’s rights.
Davis sent killers to Kansas, went to war in 1856, according to Atchison, and 1861 attacked 12 places (not just Fort Sumter) but was already killing for years in Kansas.
90 and 95% of the public were against slavery?
Too bad.
And that justified sending killers. It was “INTOLERABLE” that Kansas citizens try to keep slavery out.
That was intolerable. Not misguided, not wrong, not unfortunate, not unfair.
That was intolerable. That justified–according to Davis himself — everything Atchison did in Kansas. And justified the Civil War itself, according to Davis writing after the Civil War.
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Davis explained it, in fact he explained it very well.
We show you his speech and “logic” below. The “logic” of why Kansas must accept and respect slavery, even after it was officially a state, and even after Kansas citizens voted 90 and 95% against slavery.
It did not matter what the people or legislature of Kansas voted, according to Davis.
Read his official declaration explaining that, in his clever way.
Majority rule — because 95% of the people in Kansas voted against slavery — did not matter.
Lot of folks know Davis said that –damn few know now he was justifying his violence in Kansas to stop popular sovereignty and the clear will of the people there.
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WHAT WAS CHARLES SUMNER TALKING ABOUT…..BEFORE HE WAS BEATEN ALMOST TO DEATH?
Charles Sumner gave a two-day speech about Atchison and his killers on killing sprees in Kansas.
It was a very detailed, hour after hour, for two days, speech. Reading from newspapers and eyewitness accounts, Sumner detailed the tortures — the killings –and he detailed how Atchison and his men boasted they were killing and torturing.
Remember, 90 of the citizens in Kansas were against slavery. The only ones in Kansas FOR slavery were Atchison’s paid men. Virtually no other people in Kansas were for slavery — and none of those were willing to kill to spread slavery.
Atchison made it clear –that Atchison and Douglas passed Kansas Act, then Atchison rushed off to Kansas to start terrorizing, later torturing and killing.
After the speech, Senator Sumner was beaten nearly to death on the Senate floor.
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Survivors in 1895 met for a reunion. The third raid into Lawrence,,,,women and children were gunned down, not just men. It was a massacre even of children…. Why the massacre in Lawrence? Southern men were livid that Lawrence had disobeyed Atchison earlier. Lawrence had repeatedly allowed an anti-slavery newspaper to print. Atchison, by his “bogus legislature” made it illegal to publish anti-slavery newspapers. If you read his speech, he refers to that. There is a text version of his speech. |
Atchison’s speech was the same week as Sumner’s speech — where he was beaten almost to death.
Remember that, because your teacher has no clue of any of this. That amazing connection — Atchison boasting of doing the killing and torture the same week Sumner is beaten on floor of Senate going over almost endless details of what Atchison and his men did.
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CONSTITUTIONALLY REQUIRED: JEFF DAVIS
According to Jefferson Davis himself, everything Atchison did — including hiring 2000 or more men, repeatedly invading Lawrence Kansas, banning people from even speaking publicly against slavery, and of course their killings and tortures- – were “constitutionally required”.
Who knew that it was constitutionally required to hire men to kill to spread slavery, and boast of it?
Did you even know any of this? If not, that’s not my fault. It was common knowledge at the time.
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Jeff Davis too, later boasted of killing to spread slavery. More about this below, but take a look — Davis actually issued an official proclamation that he would invade the North and enslave all blacks there…… He issued this “address” as he called it, to the “People of the Free states”
Bet you had no idea Davis issued an official proclamation bragging he would send soldiers North to enslave free blacks in the free states.
Read it yourself. He was proud of it.
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When Davis issued this official address, boasting of spreading slavery North, no one was surprised.
Why?
Because people North and South already knew Southern actions and words re spreading slavery.
It would not be until later that Davis and others, after they lost, quit boasting about killing to spread slavery and claim they were just about state’s rights.
Which is absurd — Davis was very clear, very detailed, at the time Atchison was killing in Kansas to spread slavery.
Not just Kansas –not just the West, but the same logic that Davis used to justify force to spread slavery there, he also justified going North and enslaving blacks there.
Davis explained repeatedly that Dred Scott ruled it did not matter what the people in Kansas wanted. Blacks were “so inferior” they were not human beings (not persons). They were property.
As for the North, Davis claimed the public safety required he “by force of our arms” enslave black — IN THE NORTH.
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BLACKS ARE INFERIOR BEINGS…..
NOT
HUMAN BEINGS.
Because Dred Scott decision ruled blacks are not human beings (not persons) but are “inferior beings” they are property.
And the SCOTUS ordered (yes, ordered) two things.
1) that blacks be seen not as human beings, but as property.
2) That the government protect property in all states, including slaves.
Kansas must not just accept slavery, they must protect it.
In fact the federal government itself was required –per Davis–to protect slavery. It did not matter one iota if 80 or 90 or 95% of the citizens there voted against slavery.
Even when Kansas became, officially, a free state by 90 and 95% vote, Davis and Southern leaders issued War Ultimatums that Kansas must accept slavery.
Bet no one told you that, did they?
THE TRUE ISSUE
Southern newspapers, citing Southern leaders, claimed that the spread of slavery into Kansas was “The True Issue”.
They were proud of that.
The SPREAD of slavery was the TRUE ISSU
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WHO WAS ATCHISON
* Officially worked for and reported to Jefferson Davis. then Secretary of war.
* Passed the Kansas Act with Stephen A Douglas
* Placed ads in Texas and South Carolina, from which he hired over 1000 men to invade Kansas
* Boasted of things like killing to spread slavery
* Was the first person known to give a speech about the rebel flag — which he said was red for the color of blood they would spill to spread slavery
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“FOR THE ENTIRE SOUTH”
Atchison, as you can read in his own speech, said it was the “joy” of his life to lead the Southern men he hired, into Kansas to spread slavery by force.
Here is that link to his speech again….
And they would spread slavery “for the entire South” to the Pacific.
He was not spreading slavery because the whites in Kansas wanted it –90 and 95% of the white males repeatedly voted against slavery, and eventually became officially a free state just before the start of the Civil War.
The whole point of sending the the over 1000 men to Kanas in the first place was because most people in Kansas were against slavery, and it was well known to everyone.
Atchison was keenly aware that the people of Kansas were against slavery — that is why he tried at first terror, later torture, and later killing, including paying men from Texas and South Carolina, when he could not find enough men to use violence to spread slavery in Missouri.
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WHY PASS KANSAS ACT?
To give the citizens of Kansas the “perfect right” to decide slavery themselves, said Atchison and Douglas.
Then Atchison rushed to Kansas, and did exactly the opposite.
As Lincoln (and many others) said at the time, the Kansas Act was passed for one reason — to fool the public into thinking Kansas Act to give citizens of Kansas “the perfect right” to decide slavery themselves.
Obviously it was the opposite intent, to force slavery into Kansas against state’s rights, against popular sovereignty.
Lincoln pointed that out time and time again, long before it became clear to everyone else, when the country learned more about what Atchison was doing.
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Atchison had proven Lincoln, and all others, correct on this point.
Atchison personally went to Kansas, immediately after pushing Kansas Act through. There Atchison hired paid killers, and there started his reign of terror.
At first he did not kill, just terrorized. He invaded, took over an election with well armed hired thugs, and put cannon in various places to make sure no one came in Kansas, by the ordinary means, unless he approved.
Bet no one told you that.
WHY WOULD ATCHISON HAVE USE TERROR IN THE ELECTION?
He would not have done any of this had most people in Kansas been in favor or slavery.
But it was common knowledge that most white men then in Kansas went there BECAUSE they did not want slavery in Kansas and the West.
Atchison tried his best to get Southern men, and families, to move to Kansas. That did not work. So Atchison hired — paid – men to come to Kansas ready for violence.
It almost worked. But there were so many anti-slavery men in Kansas, Atchison was about six months late. But it almost worked.
Atchison also ran out of money, when Jeff Davis was not Secretary of War any more. Many of them left, when they did not get paid.
Remember this — the only real support Atchison had was from paid men. He had drastically inferior numbers unless he hired men who would be violent on command.
He could not hire enough, long enough.
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Don’t believe me? See newspapers at the time, and Atchison’s own speech.
This one By those taken prisoner who heard Atchison speech has further details about Atchison speech, where he boasted about killing to spread slavery to his newly hired men. One of the authors tells how they were kept in prison nearby as Atchison gave his speech about the “red flag” that Atchison said was red for blood they would spill to spread slavery.
Atchison mentioned those prisoners, and said he did not give a damn if they heard.
Here, again, is Atchison speech
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DEMS FOOLED BY ATCHISON TURN AGAINST HIM
HELP ELECT LINCOLN
Furthermore, when other Democrats went to Kansas because they believed Atchison Kansas Act would allow Kansas citizens to “be perfectly free” to decide slavery, soon saw, in person, Atchison’s violence.
It’s important to know that many folks believed Douglas and Atchison when the sold the Kansas Act in Congress.
They believed it was — as stated- – to allow Kansas citizens to be “perfectly free” to accept or reject slavery. Then Atchison rushed to Kansas himself and personally made sure, with hired men, exactly the opposite.
Importantly, a number of those Democrats — remember, they went to Kansas believing Atchison about Kansas Act — not only switched sides, but they helped protect, nominate, and elect Lincoln.
Jay Monaghan did a fine job showing how several leading Democrats who went to Kansas supporting Atchison soon found out Atchison was doing exactly the opposite of what Atchison claimed he would do — and turned against him.
In fact the first three governors of Kansas -all who believed Atchison at first –saw what was going on and rejected Atchison’s treason (which is what it was) and worked against him.
Some of these Democrats (such as US Congressman Jim Lane) seeing Atchison’s violence first hand, changed sides, fought Atchison, went back to Illinois, Indiana, and Washington. There he gave speeches to thousands of people about what he saw. He also spoke on the same stage as Lincoln.
In fact, Kansas Dems who had switched to oppose Atchison invited Lincoln to Kansas!
Lincoln went to Kansas in 1859, met with those Democrats (and others) to hear more first hand accounts, although Lincoln already knew of them because of the intense coverage for years that the entire nation was aware of.
Lincoln went to Kansas to meet them.
These Democrats played a crucial role in helping Chicago get the site of the GOP convention, and helped Lincoln get the nomination and win the election – on of the most amazing and unreported stories I know.
Without these Democrats, likely Lincoln does not even win the nomination. Many of these men formed Lincoln’s guard — they physically protected Lincoln, a fascinating story.
Technically, when Lincoln went to Kansas, the laws by Atchison were still in place — it was still illegal to speak or publish newspapers against slavery.
Lincoln spoke against slavery there anyway — protected personally by Democrats, and others, like Lane.
Since most history teachers know nothing, or only a watered down meaningless version of what happened in Kansas, they sure can’t teach it. It’s not their fault.
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Democrat Congressmen Jim Lane.
Lane went to Kansas to HELP Atchison because he believed Atchison and Stephen A Douglas claim that Kansas Act would allow the citizens to be “perfectly free” to decide slavery themselves.
Then Lane, and hundreds of others, personally saw Atchison and his men do exactly the opposite. They switched sides– helped Lincoln get elected, personally protected Lincoln, and changed history.
Too bad your history teachers know almost nothing of this.
Lane became a Republican Senator –and a general in the US CIvil War.
Atchison ran away during the civil war — back home to Texas. Those men who stood up to him risked their lives. Atchison never did risk his life. Invariably Atchison would speak, pump up the hate — then run away for his own safety.
Not uncommon for hate and fear mongers, they rarely risk their lives, they often push others into fighting and dying.
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Remember this — Atchison was proud of passing the Kansas Act, claiming it would allow Kansas citizens to be “perfectly free” to decide slavery…….then Atchison was proud even more about leading the men into Kansas in repeated acts of terror, and eventually, killing and torture, to stop (yes stop) them from voting and even speaking publicly against slavery.
Let me repeat that –Atchison was proud of it. He was paid for it, and was awarded with status of being a General of Law and Order, and got the title of General in the Civil War. But he never got near actual battle — he rushed of to Texas for his safety.
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This Senator was beaten……. remember that. Your teacher probably mentioned Sumner beating, but rarely do they tell you what he was talking about -for hour after hour, for two days.
He was talking about David Rice Atchison and what his killers were doing in Kansas after he passed the Kansas Act
You would think teachers would know what Sumner was talking about for two days. They almost never do — they almost never know that Sumner told in amazing detail about Atchison passing Kansas Act, then rushing off to kill and torture in Kansas.
WHAT DID ATCHISON DO AFTER HE PASSED KANSAS ACT?
It is crucial that you know — after a two day speech about Atchison — how Atchison passed Kansas Act with Douglas, how Atchison then rushed to Kansas, and that Sumner’s speech was 100% about that.
Why on earth have questions on the test and bring up Crimes Against Kansas Act, if you don’t know this? The man who passed the Kansas Act, passes the legislation, then goes to Kansas and starts terrorizing, later killing, with hundreds of hired men.
That is what Sumner was talking about!
More important than the beating, of course, was the actual facts Sumner laid out for two days, reading as he did from newspaper accounts and eye witness accounts.
Sumner gave two days of details, hour after hour, of the killings and tortures — and how Atchison’s men boasted of the killings and tortures.
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ATCHISON SPEECH CAME SAME WEEK AS SUMNER
Atchison gave his speech, to his newly hired men the same week of Sumner’s Crimes Against Kansas Speech.
Atchison was boasting — boasting — of doing what Sumner had detailed for two days in the Crimes Against Kansas speech.
He — Atchison — did not deny it, he boasted of it. This was the same man who passed the Kansas Act. One of the most amazing coincidences in US history. And another reason we should know and teach both speeches.
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Why the hell didn’t your “history” teacher know this?
Because their textbooks didn’t mention it, and they are not (most of them) smart enough to know the details of both men’s speeches.
Sadly, history teachers can be stupid about history, and ignore almost everything that isn’t in their text book.
Blame the text books if you like, but this is not about blame now, it’s about what happened then.
And then — Southern leaders were killing to spread slavery and boasting of it, until they lost.
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When Senator Atchison and Jeff Davis spoke about “Southern RIghts” — they meant (and said) that was about their right to spread slavery against, yes against, states rights.
See Atchison speech.
90% of the citizens of Kansas — or higher percentage — were against Kansas and voted repeatedly to reject slavery.
Even after — remember this — after Kansas citizens repeatedly rejected slavery, even after Kansas became officially a free state, Davis boasted that he was sending troops North to enslave blacks in the North.
See Davis own official documents.
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Over and over, and over, stupid people quote Davis Orwellian claim that “we just want to be left alone”.
Left alone? Davis sent Atchison’s men to Kansas, paid Atchison, paid the men, and insisted Kansas nor any place else had a right to reject slavery because of Kansas Act and Dred Scott decision
It was not “the right to be left alone”. That was nonsense, repeated by stupid people (even teachers) as gospel, when actually, Davis was earlier bragging of sending the killers to Kansas, where 95% of the white males were against — against — slavery.
Davis often said things which were blatantly false, like saying he had tried for 20 years to avoid war. He had sent the killers to Kansas, he issued the War Ultimatums, he supported years of killing and torture …. before Lincoln even ran for Senate.
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Remember, long before Lincoln ran for Senate, long before the Lincoln Douglas debates, long before Lincoln even thought of running for President, Davis was sending killers to Kansas. Don’t forget that.
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Stupidly, many of our “historians” have let the excuses after the war be what they teach. Why not teach what Southern leaders actually DID? Not their excuses later.
At the time, they proudly, loudly, not only boasted of killing to spread slavery….. they actually did exactly that. Not sorta that, not kinda. not in a way.
- That is what they did.
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US Senator Charles Sumner, beaten almost to death on Senate floor, after his two day speech which detailed Atchison role in passing Kansas Act, then rushing to Kansas, and their killing and torturing — and boasting of it.
What I am telling you here is what Sumner was talking about in the speech he was beaten for.
I doubt your history teacher has a clue about that. Maybe they should read the damn speech?
By 1856 Atchison was in Kansas boasting of doing precisely what Sumner had accused him of. And Atchison’s killing sprees were about to become much worse — not better — after Sumner accused him of it.
The fact Atchison gave a speech boasting — in detail — about doing what Sumner accused him of is so amazing it should be that both speeches by both men are laid side by side, and taught. Because they were about exactly the same thing.
Southern leaders boasting of killing and torturing in Kansas.
While US Senator Sumner exposes their killings and tortures in Kansas.
Atchison did not deny what Sumner accused him of — Atchison BRAGGED he was doing it, and worse, Atchison was bragging to newly hired men, and with those men,
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ATCHISON….
US SENATOR FROM MISSOURI
✔ WORKED OFFICIALLY FOR JEFF DAVIS
✔ REPORTED TO JEFF DAVIS
✔ HIS MEN WERE PAID BY JEFF DAVIS
✔ LED HIS HIRED MEN ON THE FIRST KILLING SPREE INTO LAWRENCE
✔ DAVIS SAID EVERYTHING ATCHISON DID WAS “CONSTITUTIONALLY REQUIRED”
Jeff Davis named Atchison — officially- as “General of Law and Order in Kansas”.
Atchison speech is, in many ways, more important than any other relating to the US Civil War- – certainly more important for the information in it, than Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, because Atchison is boasting about killing to spread slavery — and spreading slavery against the will of the citizens of Kansas
In an informal survey of history teachers, I have yet to meet (in person) even ONE history teacher that knows Atchison passed Kansas Act with Stephen A Douglas.
That takes a special kind of stupid.
So, of course virtually no history teacher teaches that Atchison not only pushed Douglas to pass Kansas Act (and bragged about that) — then more importantly, Atchison personally rushed to Kansas and started his reign of terror, that turned into killing and torture.
And — he bragged about that, too. He did not admit it, he bragged about it. Out the ass brag.
How the hell have we let this commonly known amazing fact be whitewashed to where not even history teachers can tell you what this man did.
Instead, most “history teachers’ will, if they mention him Atchison at all, they tell the students Atchison was famous for being President for one day.
No, they don’t even have that right.
It’s a sorry state of US history text books, and this might be the most sorry part that’s missing — Southern leaders bragging they were killing to spread slavery, until they lost.
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SEE KANSAS IN HELL
Atchison had famously said he would see Kansas in hell before he let it be a free state.
Atchison claimed that a free state next to a slave state would make “nigger stealers” out of people in free state.
So it did not matter to Atchison that 90% of citizens in Kansas were against slavery.
It did not matter than just weeks before, Atchison had claimed Kansas was to allow the people of Kansas the “perfect freedom” to decide slavery themselves.
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ATCHISON’S” THREE ACT PLAY
KANSAS ACT — ACT ONE
Atchison’s first act: when he got to Kansas, after passing Kansas Act, was to physically make it impossible for citizens of Kansas to vote against slavery.
BOGUS LEGISLATURE — ACT TWO
Atchison’s second act, as you will see, was to create a “bogus legislature” that made it a crime to speak publically or to publish an anti-slavery newspaper.
ACT THREE
HIRED KILLERS FROM TEXAS AND SOUTH CAROLINA
Atchison’s two years of killing did not stop when Sumner exposed him on the floor of the Senate –that was the same week Atchison’s men arrived from Texas and South Carolina.
Atchison’s speech — we have the link above, too — was to those men from Texas and South Carolina. Here is the link to his speech, again.
The killings were about to get much much worse, right after the speech, with those new men from Texas and South Carolina.
Remember that.
NARRATIVES FOR DUMMIES
Your own history teacher is likely not aware of this narrative — but it was the narrative — the goal, the story, the reality — of what Southern leaders were doing and bragging about.
It is not our narrative — it is the one Southern leaders boasted of, till they lost.
Remember this, because it’s one of the most amazing periods in all of US history. The men killing and torturing to spread slavery were boasting of it, promising that, delivering that, and boasting of it, until they lost.
Yet we don’t even teach candidly what they did, much less what they bragged about.
Since they were so proud of it, till they lost, shouldn’t we at least MENTION what they did, and boasted of?
Without this basic information, you don’t know your ass from a banana about basic US history. It is that fundamental to slavery, the civil war, and to everyone involved in the civil war.
We teach some watered down bullshit about “Trouble in Kansas” as if it fell out of the sky, as no one did anything, no one killed anyone, no one tortured anyone or issued war ultimatums. It just “happened’ by magic, we often teach, and there “is plenty of blame”.
Plenty of blame my ass. One side just about ran away and let Southern killers and leaders spread slavery — the other side sent the killers to spread slavery and bragged of it, till they lost.
Yet we actually blame those who dared to fight back. Yes, we do. Stupidly, history text books and teachers show no difference between the two sides.
You can only show such bullshit if you omit what Southern leaders did, who they killed, and what they bragged of.
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HOW WOULD ATCHISON KNOW?
Of course plenty — hundreds of thousands (including Lincoln) knew exactly what was going on in Kansas, all this and more.
Atchison should know — Jeff Davis should know –they were doing it, actually doing it, more than any other national leaders. Yes, Stephen A Douglas passed Kansas Act with him
Yes, Jeff Davis paid him, paid his men, and named him officially “General of Law and Order”.
But Atchison is the guy who went to Kansas, hired the killers, led the killers, and boasted of all of this, So if you leave that out, you leave out what matters most — the killings for the “entire South,” the War Ultimatums of 1856 and 1861, and Jeff Davis own payments to, and defense of, Atchison and his men.
Yet the whole selling point Atchison used to pass Kansas Act — with Stephen A Douglas — that the Kansas Act would give the citizens of Kansas the “perfect right” to decide slavery themselves.
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Most high school teachers — even in Kansas, apparently –could not tell you which US Senator pushed Kansas Act through — much less what he did next….. he went to Kansas and started terrorizing, later killing, to spread slavery.
Even though Atchison boasted he had made Douglas work with him to pass Kansas Act, this is simply not discussed, usually not even mentioned, in high school or college history courses.
If it is mentioned somewhere, the teacher did not get the information from a text book, we have never found a US text book, high school or college level, that saw fit to mention this. Yet few things in US history are more important than who passed Kansas Act (Atchison) and why (to force slavery there).
Stunning,
Atchison promised to spread slavery to all of the Pacific, including California and Oregon, those two states were already free states. And he almost got the job done. If it were not for the actions of John Brown, who finally fought back in a way that caused many of Atchison’s men to actually leave Kansas, and go back to Texas or South Carolina.
Atchison had promised the men that citizens of Kansas were cowards, and would not fight back.
He was right, at first. Then came John Brown.
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Atchison sent reports to Davis on the progress of the killings.
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Southern leaders were so proud of this — Davis actually wrote he explained about spreading slavery into the North “by force of arms” in an official address to people of the North.
How much more clear did he need to be. In that document, Davis explained that he wrote the address about spreading slavery North by force of arms, “so there would be no misunderstanding in the future” why on earth do our text books not even mention it?
Davis also made it clear elsewhere, in writing. Davis, in his own book “Rise and Fall of the Confederacy” that the resistance to the spread of slavery into Kansas was “the intolerable grievance”.
What is so amazing about Davis making it clear that the resistance to slavery in Kansas was “intolerable? Because Kansas was already a free state — by the time Davis and SOuthern leaders issued War Ultimatums about it. Remember that, Kansas was already a free state.
Furthermore, for years already, Davis had send killers- – led by Atchison– to force slavery into Kansas. The citizens of Kansas repeatedly voted 90 and 95% against slavery.
Davis insisted the will of the people in Kansas, nor their legislature, nor the US Congress, could stop the spread of slavery into Kansas specifically. He made that very very clear in documents and his his book, and most importantly, by sending the killers to Kansas in the first place.
Since Davis and Atchison were both so clear, emphatic and proud (as were other Southern leaders) about killing to spread slavery — and spread it against state’s rights, and even against the rights of the white public to decide slavery — why on earth is this not taught — whatsoever — in our schools?
Killing to spread slavery into Kansas — and beyond. Southern leaders actually bragged about it, and news of it, blazed across the United States, North and South, at the time.
To an astonishing extent, we have not taught this in a candid way, and certainly we never taught the many examples of Southern leaders bragging as loudly as they could — that they were killing, and they were at war — to SPREAD slavery.
How the hell have we let this happen?
The newspaper drawing in 1856 showing the killings and tortures in the back ground, and referring to the Southern leaders forcing slavery not just into Kansas (against states rights, no less) but to other countries.
This was not the only drawing, and news of the killings, news of the tortures, news of Southern leaders activities, were the focus of national attention then, and all the way up to and through the Civil War.
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Notice anything? Southern leaders boasted of spreading slavery against — against — let me repeat that — against state’s rights.
And spreading it by violence. By violence means specifically by killing, torture, and terror. Not by debating the merits or nature of slavery, though Southern leaders said plenty about slavery being “of GOD” and “pain necessary for their instruction”.
No one was trying to convince the people of Kansas and the rest of the West to accept slavery — there was no efforts other than violence to slavery.
And that was always the case — slavery, as you will see — always spread by violence. This was no exception.
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Southern headlines 1861 …….
Kansas MUST accept slavery.
Never mind that Kansas was already a free state by this time
Let me repeat that, most people just don’t get this. Kansas was a free state by the time Southern leaders issued War Ultimatums that Kansas must accept and respect slavery.
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WHY THE WAR ULTIMATUMS IN SOUTHERN PAPERS OF 1861 SURPRISED NO ONE
The 1861 War Ultimatums were no surprise… yet your history teacher never heard of them.
They were no surprise in 1861, because Southern leaders were already killing in Kansas, and already made it clear Kansas must accept slavery
So the 1861 Ultimatums were nothing new. South had already sent thousands of men to Kansas — and did so proudly, as you can see from their own newspapers at the time.
It would be a shock to everyone, especially in the South, if Davis and Southern leaders suddenly said “That’s okay, Kansas folks don’t want slavery, it’s all good”.
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WHAT WERE THE SOUTHERN RIGHTS IN KANSAS?
Southern rights, by definition to Southern leaders, meant, and they said so, that they had “equal rights” to have slavery in Kansas or anywhere.
Dred Scott decision had, according to Davis, made if very clear…. blacks were property, not human beings, and as property, the federal government must PROTECT that property, everywhere, including Kansas Territory, and after Kansas became a free state, he made the exact same demand — war ultimatum.
Here Davis explains that in his own book, written after the Civil War. Very clearly he explains how Dred Scott changed everything, and now the South can not be denied slavery in Kansas, no matter what the popular vote was, and no matter what their legislature said, and no matter what Congress said.
The state of Kansas, though they had voted 95% against slavery, must accept it.
Davis, of course, never bothered to mention Kansas citizens rejected slavery by 95%, and never bothered to explain how people on SCOTUS can dictate the millions of people in the US and more around the world, are “not human beings”.
Nor did Davis every explain why he sent Atchison and paid his 1000, then over 2000 men with US funds (yes, Davis paid Atchison’s men with money from the US Treasury). No one authorized him to do that, he just did it.
So Davis did explain, omitting basic facts, how he justified the killings and tortures in Kansas.
The US had resisted “Southern rights” per Dred Scott court orders by the Congress or by locals to keep slavery out.
It was not just wrong to keep slavery out of Kansas, though 95% of the people there were against it….. it was “intolerable grievance” and justified all Atchison and his men did.
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MORE EXPLANATIONS FROM DAVIS
In 1863, nine years after Davis sent Atchison to Kansas, Davis wrote in his official “Address to people of the free states” the Confederacy would “by force of arms” enslave blacks in the North.
Davis wrote that he explained this in writing– that he would use force of arms to enslave blacks in the NORTH… “so there would be no misunderstanding in the future.”
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It is hard to see a way Davis or Atchison could make it more clear than they did, because not only were their words clear, Atchison and Davis were the leaders actually in charge of their hired men.
By omitting all that our text books, and our teachers make it impossible (not just difficult) to understand what was going on.
Literally no one was surprised at Jeff Davis’s very clear official declaration that he would use “force of arms” to enslave in the North.
You may be surprised — no one was then.
Lincoln of course, knew it well. Lincoln had said, over and over — and over, and over — that the Kansas Act and Dred Scott decision were the “machinery” shaped by Southern leaders to spread slavery, and by the operation of that machinery, necessarily, slavery would be spread to all of the United States, or slavery would end.
By the Kansas Act, and Dred Scott machinery, either the United States ceases to be, or slavery ceases to be. One of them, in other words, could survive. Not both.
Kansas — the killings and tortures in Kansas, Jeff Davis sending Atchison to Kansas, paying over 2000 men from Texas, South Carolina, and Alabama – and how the South justified this by Kansas Act and Dred Scott decision, was something Lincoln knew very very well.
Your history teacher’s understanding? Not so much, in most cases.
It’s not their fault. No one explained to them, or even mentioned in text books, Southern War Ultimatums, boasts about killing sprees, and promises to keep killing until slavery was spread to the Pacific.
David Rice Atchison also said he was killing in Kansas “for the entire South”.
Another zinger, to his paid men just arrived- -Atchison said the rebel flag is red in color — the color of blood they would spill to spread slavery.
Remember this, never forget it. All this time, all the time South sent men to Kansas, all the time they were killing there, and boasting of it, that Kansas citizens was at the start, and remained the entire time, profoundly and overwhelmingly against slavery.
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Most high school history teachers have no clue about these topics. It’s no wonder that generations of school children have never once been made aware of Southern leaders paid killing sprees in Kansas, and their boasting of it.
Here is how the issue is endlessly watered down…
Many from the South, this web site says, “supported slavery” and “wanted Kansas counted among the states that favored slavery”.
You can not possibly get from that that Atchison was the guy who passed Kansas Act, nor that he personally immediately went to Kansas after he passed the Act, and immediately used terror, then later torture and killing, to force slavery there and beyond.
It’s not that such history books and web sites tell you lies exactly, it’s that you can not — it’s physically impossible — for you to know who did what from such watered down BS.
Pro slavery forces, the blurb says “wanted Kansas counted as those states who favored slavery”? Seriously?
Plus, by omission such drivel does not even mention that 95% of the white males in Kansas were against slavery. Does not even mention Atchison went there with HIRED men — hired because almost no one in Kansas had any interest in killing anyone to be for slavery — Atchison had no choice but to hire men, none, that we know, were even from Kansas.
Yet over and over, when you see things about “Kansas Act” you get the impression it really was to let people vote on slavery up or down. Oh hell no, that’s what Atchison and Douglas SAID — yes, they said that.
But quite the opposite happened. WHen people tried to vote against slavery they were terrorized, and some tortured and killed.
And Atchison — the man who personally passed Kansas Act, boasted of it. He didn’t admit it, he boasted of it.
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Ironically, Democrats in Kansas helped Lincoln get nominated, and elected. Many turned officially into Republicans — all because they personally saw what Atchison was doing in Kansas.
Democrats like Jim Lane, Congressmen from Indiana, went to Kansas because he supported Atchison and Douglas Kansas Act and was eager to see an election there. It was assumed — and Douglas said this repeatedly — that Kansas would reject slavery, because it was well known 19/20 people in Kansas were against slavery.
LINCOLN MEETS WITH DEMOCRATS
Lincoln met with Democrats in Kansas, including former Democrat Jim Lane from Indiana. Those Democrats went there because they believed Atchison.
These Democrats changed —-to fight Atchison and his men — after they saw for themselves what Atchison was doing.
Very basic. This is not complicated. It was extremely well known at the time. It is just taught is such watered down nonsense that people today, even history teachers, do not have a clue.
Remember, Atchison and Davis paid killers in Kansas, long before Lincoln even got there.
Lincoln went to Kansas in 1859.
Atchison had been there since 1854. Atchison had been boasting of killing to spread slavery since 1856.
Atchison and Davis had to pay men to invade Kansas, because there was hardly anyone in Kansas, much less enough of them, to spread slavery there by any vote.
Atchison rushed to Kansas and hired men precisely because he knew the Kansas citizens were against slavery.
Remember that when you read nonsense about Kansas Act being about “popular sovereignty” because it was exactly the opposite. And it was planned that way.
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Southern leaders, for almost five years already, had demanded the spread of slavery into Kansas.
In fact, Southern leaders sent over 2000 killers to Kansas to force the residents there not only to have slavery — but Southern leaders made it a crime in Kansas to publish anti-slavery newspapers, or to speak publicly against slavery.
Not sorta. Not kinda. Southern leaders were proud of this as it happened. They did not hide their demands or their actions. Why on earth we do not teach what Southern leaders did, and boasted of doing, is an example of the nonsense we fed our children as “history”.
Remember, Southern leaders were PROUD of this until they lost. IF the South had won, they would teach these killers as heroes, as we teach our revolutionary war fighters as heroes.
Instead, we do not even mention these paid killers, sent to Kansas and paid by Jeff Davis, led by US Senator David Rice Atchison, who passed the Kansas Act.
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It was very logical for the Confederate leaders stop free speech in Kansas, as they had already in Southern states, regarding slavery. Slavery could not exist side by side with free speech, free religion, free newspapers showing the horrors of slavery.
It was illegal even to preach against slavery in the South, illegal to own books against slavery. Slave owners did not want to be shamed, jeered at, rejected in public, or called out from the pulpit. From the 1840’s on, therefore, Slave power made it a crime to publically speak against slavery under the excuse that such speech would “dissatisfy a slave”.
That’s right — speaking publicly against slavery, allowing books and sermons and pamphlets against slavery, would “dissatisfy” a slave!
That’s Orwellian double speak, of course, they did not care if slaves were “dissatisfied”. The truth is, they did not want slave owners to be shamed in public.
So they passed the “anti-incendiary” laws. Atchison and his bogus legislatures quickly passed and tried to enforce those type of laws.
You may be surprised at Southern War Ultimatums, from 1856 and 1861, but they were logical,and exactly what Southern leaders had demanded– by violence — for years already.
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Southern Ultimatums of 1856 and 1861…
THEY WERE NOT SUGGESTIONS.
THEY WERE NOT BLUFFS.
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Southern war ultimatums were not suggestions…. in fact, in both cases, Southern already started the killings, and they already boasted of that.
Say what you will about Southern leaders — they did not issue idle threats.
These were WAR ULTIMATUMS.
Jefferson Davis war ultimatums were absurd on their face — the federal government must — must — protect slavery in Kansas, and that was after Kansas became a free state. That was after Kansas had voted over 90% against slavery. And it was AFTER Kansas citizens had fought Jeff Davis’s men, led by David Rice Atchison, in Kansas.
Yet Davis and Southern leaders in Montgomery demanded the federal government force Kansas to accept and respect slavery. That is about as absurd as you can dream up.
No one at the time thought Southern leaders were kidding….. nor were they kidding…. Southern leaders had sent killers to Kansas, and boasted about that, for at least five years.
Just because you don’t know that Southern leaders had sent thousands of killers to Kansas 1855 on, does not mean the US public, North and South was not aware.
Let me repeat — Southern WAR Ultimatums first point was that Kansas citizens MUST accept slavery. The federal government, according to Jeff Davis himself, was bound by the Dred Scott decision to protect slavery — no matter what the Kansas people voted — in Kansas.
This was not debatable. And Davis made this perfectly clear in his own book, just in case you don’t understand it.
Intolerable. Not unfortunate, not a bad choice. It was intolerable. Of all the grievances — this was the worst, one that justified Davis sending Atchison and paid killers to Kansas in the first place.
As Davis said of Atchison and his men in Kansas — “everything they did was constitutionally required”.
Davis never cared what the people of Kansas wanted or voted.
Southern killers were already in Kansas, and already had been in Kansas, for years, though many had gone home after Davis money to Atchison ran out in 1856.
Remember that there were virtually NO Kansas residents who wanted slavery, and probably no Kansas residents that wanted or sought war to spread slavery there. The men doing Atchison’s biddings were outside men, paid to go to Kansas. Remember that.
Kansas citizens rejected slavery repeatedly, overwhelmingly. No one — not even Davis or Atchison — pretended otherwise.
You may assume (stupidly, people do) that many people in Kansas must have wanted slavery in Kansas for there to be all the violence in Kansas about it.
Nope.
In fact Stephen A Douglas repeatedly assured folks that most people in Kansas were against slavery — 19 out of 20 he said! And that as very accurate, 19 out of 20 did not want slavery there.
So when your “history teacher” says anything about state’s rights or popular sovereignty, and tries to tell you that Southern leaders or Stephen A Douglas, cared about popular sovereignty, frankly they are stupid about the basic facts
Yet that is often taught in our schools, that South fought for, or cared about, states rights. And that Stephen A Douglas was for popular sovereignty.
Lincoln and all others who exposed Kansas Act as a vile fraud were of course, exactly right. Not sort of right. Over and over, and over, hundreds of times, in great detail, Lincoln exposed the fraud of Kansas Act.
Yet stupidly we do not teach the basic and obvious facts — Kansas Act was a vile fraud, deliberately concocted to spread slavery into Kansas by force.
Lincoln’s “House Divided” speech was 100% — every word — about the vile fraud of Kansas Act and the next part of the fraud — Dred Scott decision — to spread slavery into Kansas and by that logic, if Kansas Act and Dred Scott were not rescinded, would necessarily spread slavery to all of the United States, North as well as South.
MAJORITY DOES NOT RULE – AT ALL
Remember that Kansas citizens were always and overwhelmingly against slavery, early on in 1854, in 1856, in 1858, and in 1861. In fact the percentages were pretty constant — 10 to 1 against, even 20 to one against.
Stephen A Douglas admitted several times that “19/20ths” of people in Kansas were against slavery — but he and Atchison just wanted those folks to have “the perfect right” for them to vote.
Then we knew what happened after Kansas Act passed, Atchison rushes to Kansas and starts to terrorize, later kill, so that Kansas citizens can not reject slavery, unless and until Kansas citizens fought back and won — which they did.
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Many folks read Davis “majority rule” quote, and have no idea what it means. They don’t grasp that this was Davis logic, too, that it did not matter what the people of Kansas wanted.
Current events (he meant Kansas) nor history show that majority rules. In other words — f you Kansas voters.
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Davis did not mind others fighting and dying — he was one of the biggest cowards in US history, and he was not going to fight or die — others were. (Atchison too, had a way of pumping up the hired men, then vanishing, and deserted in the Civil War until that was over. ) If you don’t believe that, learn about Jeff Davis wife’s letter and book which reveal just that….
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Davis did not just say this, and things like it, he bragged about it, and even more, Davis sent Atchison to Kansas, officially, and supported his terror, and killings, there.
Kansas went on — by defeating Atchison’s paid killers –to become a free state.
Yet notice something no history teacher you know likely teaches this- – even after Kansas became a free state, Davis and Southern leaders issued war ultimatums that Kansas must accept and respect slavery.
Of course if Davis ever gave a rat’s ass about state’s rights, he would not have sent Atchison and paid killers to go there in the first place. And once Kansas citizens were able to defeat Atchison, a sane Jeff Davis would have said “you know, they don’t want slavery, let’s let it go”.
That is not what Davis did. He kept sending killers to Kansas, and issued War Ultimatums that Kansas must accept slavery, even after Kansas became a free state.
DID PEOPLE IN KANSAS WANT SLAVERY?
There was virtually no “organic” support for slavery in Kansas. Nor did Davis or Atchison pretend otherwise. Over and over, in every honest election about slavery, Kansas citizens rejected it overwhelmingly, by 90 and 95%.
Certainly there was no local support in Kansas to kill to spread slavery — the few that voted to accept slavery were not the ones killing to spread slavery there.
Those in Kansas, as you will see, killing to spread slavery were not from Kansas.…that excitement was the brainchild, and plan, of a few men, one of them Jefferson Davis, as you will see.
These men were led — officially, by US Senator David Rice Atchison.
Remember that too.
Davis official “address to people of the free states” in 1863
“So there will be no misunderstanding in the future.”
We will cover Davis killing sprees in the North later, and his boast about enslaving all blacks in the North, later. Right now, back to 1856…
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Did you know that Southern leaders sent over 1000 killers to Kansas in 1856, under the leadership of US Senator David Rice Atchison?
This was huge news at the time, well known, well documented. A Congressional committee, the Howard Committee, actually travelled to Kansas and took testimony about the killings and tortures by Atchison’s men. On this committee was the brother of William T Sherman.
Atchison made it clear — the Southern attacks, violent attacks in 1856, were not just about Kansas. It was about slavery into the Pacific. And even beyond that.
As a result, Sherman was keenly aware of what the South was doing, who was killing who, and who started the Civil War. And he knew it started long before 1861.
When you hear that the Civil War was not about Lincoln trying to end slavery — that’s true. First Lincoln had to stop the bastards from further killing to spread slavery, which was their actions, their war ultimatums, and their pride.
Southern LEADERS — like Atchison — said it was their pride- “the most joyous day” he told his men, was the day they would invade Lawrence Kansas and kill anyone who got in the way. Atchison hired the men to come to Kansas because almost all men in Kansas were against slavery, and Atchison knew it.
In their grandiose amazing speeches, where crowds cheered, Southern leaders told the audiences that they were spreading slavery for GOD and white survival.
They would spread slavery — the very special kind of Southern slavery of punishment to black race for biblical sins – to the entire white world.
Remember, these were not the nuts — these were the very top Southern leaders, including Jeff Davis, Alexander Stephens, and David Rice Atchison.
And at the time, they were not coy, or timid, or ashamed of killing to spread slavery by force. It was their duty to man, to the white man, and to GOD.
They bragged of this over and over. In context, at length.
More, they did what they bragged about. They did not just say they were invading and killing and torturing — they did that.
We do not teach this as fundamental to the Civil War. If we mention it at all in our text books, its as if this kind of pumping up fear and religious extremism was interesting but rare.
Nothing was more important than the actions and boasting by Southern leaders.
We should therefore teach what they did, and what they bragged about, until they lost.
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Senator Atchison helped that documentation by boasting (out the ass, repeatedly) that he was in Kansas to spread slavery.
Atchison was blunt — but so were others. Jeff Davis was blunt at times, including his official address to people of the “free states” as he called them.
Davis insisted Kansas could not keep slavery out — no matter what the vote — because of the Dred Scott decision. He made this very clear in his speeches and his own book.
The resistance to slavery into Kansas was “intolerable” Davis said. Davis already had Atchison in Kansas killing and terrorizing before Dred Scott decision, but “details” like that never bothered the man much.
Yes, Jeff Davis was well aware, and never said otherwise, that the overwhelming percentage of citizens in Kansas were against slavery.
Davis did not speak about state’s rights during this time — though he did before and much later. State’s rights was always an excuse.
In fact, at no time did any slave state have an honest election about slavery. At Hinton Helper said, if they had allowed an honest vote about slavery, even the South would reject it.
Slavery was very much a violent enterprise imposed by men in concert to do so. Nothing shows that more clearly than Kansas, where Davis paid for Atchison’s killers, and repeatedly sent killers to Kansas for force slavery there.
It is bizarre myth — repeated almost endlessly now — that Southern leaders had a concern for state’s rights. Regarding slavery, the top leaders actually killed to STOP states rights. And they bragged about it, until they lost.
Remember this — don’t buy into the meme that South cared about state’s rights. Nonsense. As you will see, Southern leaders killed to STOP states rights, and boasted about it. But more than boasting, they actually sent killers, and paid the killers to force slavery into Kansas, and beyond.
Davis was well aware Kansas citizens were against slavery…. that is why he sent killers there.
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WHAT HAPPENED IN 1856?
“perfect right”
Atchison and Stephen A Douglas had passed Kansas Act in 1854, supposedly so the citizens there could decide slavery for themselves. What could be more honest than that.
But Atchison, immediately after passing Kansas Act, shows up in Kansas with hired men and arms to stop people in Kansas from voting against slavery. In fact, Atchison quickly created, by paid and armed hired men, a “bogus legislature”.
The bogus legislature (made up of Atchison’s men) makes it a crime to publish anti-slavery newspapers.
Atchison takes arms from federal supplies, lines cannon on the main entry ways into Kansas, and for as long as he could stops anyone from entering Kansas that won’t sign a pledge to support slavery.
Kansas folks simply created several more paths into Kansas, so Atchison’s cannons and road blocks was not as effective as he and hoped.
So much for that “perfect right” to be free to decide slavery themselves. Never forget — Atchison and Stephen A Douglas sold the Kansas Act as the remedy for “slavery question” by giving folks in Kansas “the perfect right” to choose slavery or not by voting.
Then –as you will see — after Atchison passed Kansas Act, he personally rushes to Kansas, and there makes sure people in Kansas have no rights at all to rejected slavery. Not only no right to vote against it, but no right to enter the state if he can help it, and no right to speak against slavery.
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By 1856, Atchison had already been in Kansas since 1854, and boasting of spreading slavery in Kansas. Atchison said he “would see Kansas in hell” before he let it become a free state.
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Kansas citizen had already voted against slavery by a 90 and 95% vote — Stephen Douglas responded that did not matter, they did not have enough population yet.
But Kansas would grow — despite Atchison’s cannons at strategic points, and the white males would vote that was again and again, against slavery, always by the overwhelming ratios of 10 and 20 to 1.
There simply was very little local support for slavery. Indeed, almost every killer Atchison hired, were from elsewhere. Some were from Missouri, but the bulk were from Texas, Alabama, and South Carolina.
If Atchison had more money or men, he likely would have succeeded.
Atchison and his hired killers failed, so Kansas eventually becoming a free state in 1861, despite Atchison’s violence.
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Atchison’s amazing speech in 1856 (see below) was to his newly hired men from Texas, Alabama, and South Carolina. The 1856 speech and invasion was the first of three invasions of Lawrence Kansas, the last invasion, during what we call the “Civil War” was horrific –the attackers killed women and children, and burned the entire city to the ground.
It’s important to notice –your history teacher probably won’t know or mention it — Southern leaders boasted about it. Officially, clearly, repeatedly, Southern leaders did boast about killing to spread slavery — not just into Kansas, but into all of the West, and even (in case of Jeff Davis) into the North.
Yes, into the NORTH.
They boasted as loudly and proudly as they knew how, until they lost.
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MUCH WORSE
Things would get much, much worse, instantly. Atchison speech was to the new hires from Texas, South Carolina and Alabama — wherein Atchison made them promise to kill, told them in grandiouse terms that they were killing to spread slavery, and they were spreading slavery “for the entire South”.
Atchison even explained — bragged — that their flag was red in color for the color of blood they would spill to spread slavery.
Atchison’s speech was as stunning as Sumners — but only stunning if you are stupid about what was going on in Kansas, only if you did not know that factually this is what was going on. Killings and tortures by a US Senator sent to Kansas, the same Senator that passed the Kansas Act.
Remember, Atchison and DOuglas had sold Kansas Act on the “violent fraud” that they passed Kansas Act to let the citizens of Kansas be “perfectly free” to decide slavery themselves.
Instead — as many any suspected because they knew the South, they knew Stephen A Douglas, and they knew Atchison — that KS Act was the set up to instead force slavery into Kansas by violence.
Sumner listed, in great detail, the killings and tortures by Atchison’s men in Kansas.
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HOW IS THIS TOLD IN OUR SCHOOLS ?
Amazingly, we give Jeff Davis personal excuse for Sumners beating, as fact. See the US Senate’s explanation in their own web site to this day, of the beating of Charles Sumner beating.
Senate misleading page about Crimes Against Kansas
Not one candid word (seriously, not one word) of the topic of Sumner’s speech — the killings and tortures by Atchison and his men, the paid men.
No mention whatsoever of Atchison, so no mention that he (Atchison) was in Kansas that very moment killing and torturing.
No mention that Atchison and Douglas had sold Kansas Act as the remedy — “perfect freedom” for the people of Kansas citizens to decide slavery themselves, then Atchison raced to Kansas and started his reign of terror there, that was, by the time Sumner gave his speech, long past the point of terror– but now the killings and tortures, which were about to get much worse.
Yet Atchison and his men were the entire subject of Sumners speech, how Atchison and Stephen A Douglas had passed Kansas Act, then Atchison went to Kansas and there boasted of killing to spread slavery.
No mention that Douglas told Sumner just before this that he should be “beat like a dog”.
No mention that Douglas stood by laughing as Sumner was beaten.
See the US Senate’s page of Atchison. Not one word of his speech, the same week of Sumners, in Kansas boasting to his men about killing to spread slavery there.
See the problem yet?
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MANIFESTLY KNOWN
Survivors, witnesses, and even widows of those killed actually come back from Kansas and told these stories of torture and killing — by Atchison’s men.
Great crowds gathered to hear stories of Atchison’s men killing and torturing.
So Sumner’s speech was just one of many public announcements of Atchison’s killing sprees. Lincoln gave several famous speeches at this time, about what was going on in Kansas. In fact, Lincoln went to Kansas and met the people involved, as we cover elsewhere.
Yet we hardly teach whatsoever what Sumner’s speech was about — it was about Atchison passing Kansas Act, then rushing to Kansas and starting his reign of terror there.
The excuse the beating was that Sumner insulted someone’s wife. That’s not true. If you want to twist Sumners words to justify the beating – you can — but only if you ignore the actions of what went on in Kansas.
Stephen A Douglas had already told SUmner he should be beaten “like a dog” before he gave the speech, yet that too is virtually unreported today.
In fact, you won’t find any text book publishers that bothers to mention (because they were not told) that Sumner had been speaking of Atchison by name, that Atchison was the one who passed Kansas Act.
The main thing Sumner impressed upon the Senate in that speech, other than the past killings and tortures — were that the killings were still going on. This was not a history lesson, but a report on current events.
You would think that every high school and college text book would not only point this out, the facts themselves, and show both speeches.
Almost no “major” historian even bothered to notice. or write clearly, that the Senator who passed Kansas Act then rushed to Kansas to kill and terrorize to spread slavery. Yet the Crimes Against Kansas Act was about that very thing.
Only one historian (that we found) bothered to mention that Atchison gave his speech about killing and invading Lawrence, the same week Sumner spoke for two days about Atchison and his men in Kansas.
How on earth does that happen?
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IMPORTANT TO KNOW
Atchison and Stephen Douglas….
Atchison and Stephen A Douglas passed the Kansas Act, a fact everyone at the time knew, and that Sumner explained in his speech. Atchison boasted he had forced Douglas to help him push Kansas Act through.
Guess who told Sumner he should “be beaten like a dog” before he was beaten like a dog? Stephen A Douglas told that to Sumner.
Guess who stood by, laughing, as elderly Sumner was beaten with a cane repeatedly, breaking his skull?
Stephen A Douglas stood by laughing, as reported in newspapers at the time.
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Stephen A Douglas shown laughing at Sumner as Sumner was beaten .Douglas and Atchison had passed Kansas Act together. |
And Atchison boasted of it….
Atchison speech to his paid men
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One of the most amazing acts of violence leading to US Civil War we do not teach, or even mention, in a candid way. Of course it’s not just one speech by the man doing it, there is much much more.
Jefferson Davis himself, as you will see, publically and proudly declared he was sending Confederate troops North to enslave blacks — in the NORTH
It’s a near certainty that your history teacher — be they a PhD or a BA, do not know either of those basic facts. If they know, it’s only because they found it outside US text books, outside the normal places to learn history of that period.
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Not all authors are stupid about who killed who, and why, in Kansas
Another book which in the 1960’s hit this “right between the eyes” because it covers who killed who, and why, is thiss
So this is not unknown….and the facts are even in your text books, in a very watered down way.
The war ultimatums, the speeches, the boasting of killing to spread slavery for GOD, sending over 1000 killers to Kansas in 1856, on and on, are not stated in any candid way in our text books, and our national consciousness.
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CIVIL WAR
A WAR TO SPREAD SLAVERY
According to the men who actually started the killing….
The Civil War was actually a war started by the South in 1856, officially. Yes, officially, as boasted of at the time by US Senator David Rice Atchison, who was in Kansas, being paid by, Secretary of War Jeff Davis.
Atchison could not be more clear. He was there, he hired the men to be there, in order to SPREAD slavery. And that was in 1856. Lincoln’s election did not start the Civil War
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When Lincoln said over, and over, and over, and over that Kansas Act and Dred Scott were the mechanism to spread slavery to the entire USA, we stupidly think he was using hyperbole.
The more you find out about the killings and tortures at the time — if anything, Lincoln saved his most clear discussion of the killings in Kansas for personal letters and conversations.
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The “state’s right” excuse came mostly AFTER the Civil War, when Southern apologist put out endless excuses and double speak, that are largely the basis of most US text books, and most US education on the topic — probably a result of South school boards and their effect on text book publishing
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STATES RIGHTS WAS THE EXCUSE BEFORE 1856
AND WAS ALWAYS A LIE
Yes before 1856, South leaders at times claimed state’s rights. Not nearly as much as they used this excuse later, after the lost. But they did say here and there state’s rights.
But that all changed when Kansas citizens were cleary against slavery. In fact, according to Southern writers then, it was not just proper to kill abolitionist who lived in Kansas — it was the duty of Southern men to eradicate those living in Kansas who were against slavery.
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Kill them ALL. Let me repeat, kill them all.
Kill who? Abolitionists. And remember, anyone who was not for the spread of slavery, in Southern leaders eyes, was an abolitionist. No difference whatsoever.
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Davis Address to People of the North
That address, official address by Davis personally, to the people of the free states, would be bizarre news to 95% of high school and maybe some college “history teachers”. It should not be odd or treated as trivia.
it’s basic as hell.
Davis official proclamation of enslaving in the NORTH by force of arms? Surely he was drunk, right?
Kidding, right? He was kidding?
Hell no, he had made it clear ALREADY, by sending Atchison to Kansas, 8 years before that, and by paying the killers Atchison hired. Did you think Davis was joking in 1854?
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Southern leaders had already been killing to spread slavery.
In fact, slavery had never spread any other way.
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THE LOGIC
the “logic” of South leaders justification for killing torturing and using paid killers in Kansas (which they sure did) was the Kansas Act and Dred Scott decision.
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If many high school teachers don’t even know that, and no history text books make it clear, no wonder most Americans don’t know, in any clear way, how hatred of “Niggers” being with “white women” were a central feature of the Lincoln Douglas debates.
Not a side issue. A central issue — and Douglas personally made it the central, emotional issues.
Wisely so — otherwise Douglas would have lost.
He won.
Let me be clear — Southern leaders bragged — bragged — they started the Civil War, did you know that? And they bragged — bragged — they were killing to spread slavery.
FOR WHITE SURVIVAL
FOR WHITE SURVIVAL
To survive — for the white race to survive (remember this, it was screamed about repeatedly in speeches to cheering crowds, at the time — the South must expand slavery.
In order to survive.
So state’s right’s did not matter where survival of the white race (per the hate mongering) was at stake.
White survival was at stake.
Go listen to 20 lectures on youtube by “experts” in Dred Scott. They use euphamisms, like “blacks can not be citizens”.
Almost none get down and clear — blacks are so inferior they are not human beings.
Remember, this is how down and dirty Jeff Davis himself got with Dred Scott, as the reason to justify the killings and killers in Kansas
The Taney court literally ordered the federal government to protect slavery. They ordered that blacks not be seen as human beings.
And these orders — according to Jeff Davis himself — made the resistance to slavery into Kansas “intolerable”.
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One tiny problem. Your teacher will not likely tell you that this Dred Scott was Davis justification for the violence in Kanass –so of course they can’t possibly notice this or teach this –
Dred Scott decision didn’t even come out until AFTER — AFTER — remember this too, AFTER the killing sprees, after the cannon, the tortures, after the invasions of Kansas, after the fraud of Kansas Act.
Davis, who sounds so smooth and right in his books, simply used Dred Scott decision to justify his killers (he sent them, he paid them) in Kansas – killers from South Carolina, from Alabama from Texas, not from Kansas.
FIRST
THEN SECOND
THEN WAR
Davis claimed — again, as falsely as any of his claims – that he tried to avoid war for 20 years.
Bluntly put, Davis tried to spread slavery for 20 years by other means — not by Civil War but by the fraud of Kansas Act, then Dred Scott.
Both those frauds were Jeff Davis step children.
Southnen leaders did Kansas Act first –Jeff Davis personally took it to President Pierce, with his partners Stephen A Douglas and David Rice Atchison, to sign.
Then Davis paid for the hired killers in Kansas, named Atchison as General of Law and Order in Kansas, and justified everything Atchison did — including the killings and tortures.
Davis even ran interference when Democrats from Kansas came to Washington to report on Atchison’s killing sprees.
SO Davis was central to the Kansas Act fraud.
It almost worked, as you will see. But people fought back, Atchison and Davis did not expect that. When Kansas Act failed to bring about slavery in all of the West, Davis added the Dred Scott decision.
Now you know more than 95% of US history teachers, regarding that, which is odd, because this was not only self evident at the time, a man named Abraham Lincoln explained this in more diplomatic terms, over, and over, and over.
And over.
And over.
Google him. You may find information about him and his speeches about Kansas Act and Dred Scott. One of them is called “A House Divided Can Not Stand”.
But he gave at least 100 speeches explaining it. Even your history teacher should be able to understand Lincoln’s very polite, but very thorough, public speeches explaining the frauds of Kansas Act and Dred Scott.
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LONG HISTORY OF KILLING TO SPREAD SLAVERY
Slave power always spread by killing and violence, but here, Jeff Davis sought to justify the killings on a “legal basis”. The legal basis ” was the Kansas Act And Dred Scott.
So Davis and others were not trying to keep it a secret. They insisted they were right, slavery was a protected right. And the right to free speech (they made it illegal to preach or publish newspapers against slavery) had to take back seat to this “right” of slavery.
They were bragging out the ass about it.
Spread slavery against (yes, against) state’s rights. Because of Kansas Act and Dred Scott.
This might sound bizzare to people educated by US text books, or teachers who use them. Absent from any US text books are such basic things as Southern War Ultimatums, of 1861 and 1865.
CANNONS ON THE BORDER …
Southern leaders actually invaded Kansas, set up cannons on the few places you could travel into Kansas by wagon, and tried to keep anyone out who did not take an oath to support slavery.
These were not citizens of Kansas doing this. These were men hired by Southern leaders, financed by Jeff Davis, and led by the man who passed the Kansas Act — US Senator David Rice Atchison.
These cannons on the border set off shock waves back east, in Chicago and elsewhere. People were livid, correctly and passionately upset, that the very people who sold them “Kansas Act” as a way to let people of Kansas decide the issue themselves, were now hiring and leading the killers in Kansas. Davis Atchison was that Senator, and he bragged out the ass, as did others, about what he was doing and why.
How the hell can we miss this?
Newspapers were full of the story — for months. First hand accounts came in — horrific.
A US senator spoke on the floor of the Senate for two days, detailing the tortures, the killings — and he named Atchison and Stephen A Douglas as being behind this. After the speech he was beaten almost to death on the Senate floor, with Stephen A Douglas standing by laughing.
If that were not enough, Atchison and his men, and his newspaper, were PROUD of this. They felt totally justified and in the right. They were spreading slavery — for GOD, they said, and for White Survival.
So Lincoln’s trip to Kansas was monumentally important — yet virtually ignored by all teachers and most “historians”.
In Kansas – Lincoln spoke against slavery where Atchison had made it illegal to do so. Try to grasp that, though by then Atchison had fled Kansas.
But far more important, Lincoln met with the men (Democrats!) who the Republican party, and arguably won the nomination for Lincoln to run for President.
These men — former Democrats — went to Kansas assuming their friend Jeff Davis and Davis Rice Atchison had told them the truth. When they got to Kansas, they saw the killings and tortures, and they flipped to be very anti – Atchison, anti -Davis, anti- Stephen A Douglas.
They were very impressed by Lincoln, and backed him for Presidents. Some of them — remember this — were Democrats.
There is not 1 in 1000 US history teachers that know any of this, how Democrats in Kansas very likely caused Lincoln to win the nomination,
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WAS LINCOLN TOO POLITE IN PUBLIC?
Almost every time Lincoln spoke, and he explained it at length, though as politely in public as he could. He explained the Kansas Act as the first step, and Dred Scott as second steop in an attempt to cover the violence with some legal foppery.
To summarize, the South used violence came first, when that did not work, men like Douglas and Jeff Davis then tried to justify spread of slavery by the fraud of Kansas Act.
When that did not work, Atchison and Davis tried increasing number of killing sprees and tortures.
When that did not work, they justified more killings by Dred Scott.
When that did not work, they created their own country and STILL tried first to kill to spread slavery into KANSAS.
VIOLENT FRAUD ALL PUSHED BY VIOLENCE
The “Kansas Act” as part of a violent, contrived, fraud. And the man who passed Kansas Act, in Washington DC, not only proved that by personally rushing to Kansas to lead the invasion of it, but Atchison would BOAST he was killing to spread slavery “for the entire South”.
Charles Sumner speech — Crimes Against Kansas — was about Atchison, how he passed Kansas Act, then went to Kansas and started his “rein of terror” that lasted until the Civil War was over, and cultivated in the slaughter, by Southern paid men, of women and children in Lawrence, which they invaded three separate times, the last time essentially doing mass killings.
If our history text books were not so full of bullshit, every child in our schools would know the most important person during this time was David Rice Atchison, and his partnership with two others, Stephen A Douglas, and Jefferson Davis.
To tell anyone, ever, in any manner, that the South “cared about state’s rights” is to show profound stupidity of what actually happened.
How the hell did we as a nation stupidly accept — which we did — Jeff Davis own excuses after the war, as fact?
We do literally teach, fundamentally, Jeff Davis double speak, and we can only do that if teachers and text books simply don’t tell who was killing who, and why, 1845-1861.
So much of what happened is ignored — stupidly, and essentially fraudulently — in US text books. No information about Southern invasions of Kansas 1854 on. No information about Southern leaders killing sprees in Kansas. No information about the connons.
No information that Jeff Davis sent these killers to Kansas, led by David Rice Atchison, who was bragging about it.
No information about Southern War Ultimatums of 1856 or 1861.
What the F?
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HONEST DEMOCRATS FOUGHT BACK…
Another totally ignored story is how honest Democrats, who went to Kansas first, and believed the fraud that Kansas Act was “to give people of Kansas the perfect right” to decide slavery themselves.
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MORE BASICS
MISSED IN OUR TEXT BOOKS
Honest Democrats –like Jim Lane, Reeder, Geary, the first three governors of Kansas, actually were supporters of Jeff Davis, Atchison, and Stephen A Douglas, until they got to Kansas and saw the killing sprees by Atchison’s men to not only spread slavery by force, but to stop people from even speaking against, or publishing newspapers against, slavery.
How the hell do you miss that? These men — remember, Democrats who believed Davis Atchison and Douglas at first, actually helped start the Republican Party, as a direct result of the killing, tortures, and War ULtimatums that you never heard of.
Absent too are the speeches and declarations given at the time — Southern leaders gave the speeches and issued the declarations — boasting of spreading the slavery BY KILLING into places and states that were not only against slavery, but were already free states.
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Southern leaders explained it, before the Civil War, and even during the Civil War — why they were at war.
Jefferson Davis even wrote official declarations “To the People of the Free States” so that “there would be no misunderstanding in the future”.
With multiple Southern leaders — top leaders — officially and unofficially, loud and proud, clear and distinct, explaining it, why on earth have we not taught that?
Not just their words –the boasting was less important than what they were doing. And what they were doing (and bragging of) was killing to spread slavery.
CANNON ON THE BORDER
STOPPING ANYONE AGAINST SLAVERY
TORTURE AND ARREST FOR PUBLISHING NEWSPAPERS AGAINST SLAVERY
For example, Southern leaders from Missouri, using paid men, had cannon set up in at key points on the border of Kansas and Missouri, to stop anyone against slavery from even entering Kansas.
HOW THE HELL is that overlooked?
It was not overlooked then, it changed everything. When word got back to Chicago and the East that Southern leaders were actually blocking access to KS, killing and torturing folks who refused to agree to be proslavery, there was outrage, and dramatic speeches by Democrats who had been to Kansas, saw first hand what was going on, and not only helped start the Republican party because of it, but from that point on were dedicated to fight back against the killers sent by SOuthern leaders.
Lincoln’s amazing “Lost Speech” came about precisely because of the information from these DEMOCRATS who reported on the violence led by Southern leaders. Men like Jim Lane, for one.
I doubt there are four “history professors” in the US that can even tell you the reaction to those Southern leaders using canon in Kansas to stop anyone against slavery from even getting into Kansas.
So “history professors” don’t know what actually led to the creation of Republican party — aided by DEMOCRATS who had been to Kansas and saw what was going on.
How the hell can our country know our history if the “history teachers” don’t?
The leader of those men was David Rice Atchison, US Senator, who passed Kansas Act in Senate, then personally rushed to Kansas to terrorize, and later kill, to spread slavery not just into Kansas, but into all of the West, including into states that were already free states.
Let’s be very clear. They were not killing to KEEP slavery. Not killing to maintain slavery. Or to have slavery where it was “wanted”. They were killing to SPREAD, SPREAD slavery.
This is not hard. It is not mysterious. Southern leaders themselves bragged out the ass about it, until they lost.
So stop already — if you are a history teacher — from ever telling anyone that Southern leaders cared about state’s rights, because factually, and proudly, Southern leaders were killing to STOP states rights.
And the “legal basis” for these killing sprees, according to them as the time, was Kansas Act and Dred Scott.
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Atchison sent reports to Jeff Davis on the progress of his killings in Kansas.
Atchison burned almost all of his papers during the Civil War, but some remain, like his ads in Southern papers offering money for men to come to Kansas to violently spread slavery.
They, blacks, were property,. not persons, not human beings.
And because of that decision, wrote Jeff Davis himself, Kansas citizens must accept slavery, 90% vote against it, accepted as a free state or not, did not matter, per Davis.
So Davis justified sending the killers to Kansas — I can’t help it that you did not even know he sent killers to KS in 1856, but he did. I can’t help it that your teacher doesn’t know. This is what Southern leaders themselves were boasting of then.
Remember, I did not make this up, these were the words and actions and boasting of Southern leaders THEN. Later, yes, later they made up some bullshit. But at the time, they boasted the states had no rights to reject slavery, not in Kansas, and Jeff Davis himself, officially promised, and sent Lee North during the Civil War, to enslave in the North.
Again, not my fault you were never told. Here is Jeff Davis official declaration to that effect. Not my fault you teacher did not know.
It was AFTER the war, after they lost, that they had to come up with this nonsense Orwellian double speak. They were killing to STOP — to STOP — states rights regarding slavery. Not kinda. Not sorta. Not in away.
Your teacher probably told you something about “blacks could not be citizens” which while true, is a euphemism, an Orwellian double speak. Blacks could not be HUMAN BEINGS — per Jeff Davis. NOT HUMAN BEINGS. NOT PERSONS BUT PROPERTY.
By Davis logic — the logic he used to send killers to Kansas in 1856 was this: blacks are not human beings = the government must (must) protect that property = sending killers and causing the Civil War was justified.
Justified 1856 killing sprees, by 1857 ruling.
One absurdity in Jeff Davis book is his excuse that Dred Scott justified sending killers to KS in 1856
The Dred Scott decision did not even come out until 1857.
But Davis never cared what the facts were, though he knew them well. He made sure his readers did not know. You better know your stuff when you read Davis. Few people in US history have been as clever and smooth as he at making torture and killing seem like “Southern rights” — all by “forgetting” to mention all the facts.
But how many people are smart enough to spot that? Surprisingly not many.
The point is not what year Dred Scott came out, the point is Southern leaders were killing to spread slavery and bragged about it.
States rights? Southern leaders hated states rights when that got in their way to spread slavery — even when 90 or 95% of the citizens rejected slavery, that did not matter.
It was not because slave owners urged killers go to Kansas.
There was not a public sentiment in the South to send killers or send anyone to Kansas. This was entirely the machinations of remarkably few men, mainly three. David Atchison, Jefferson Davis, and Stephen A Douglas, each for their own reasons.
Remember this — they sent killers to Kansas BECAUSE they knew very well that 90% and 95% of whites there were against slavery. They did not send people to negotiate. They did not send people to convince, or to run for office.
They sent killers.
Don’t get this confused. Stephen A Douglas over and over and over, sold this as “popular sovereignty” to the point he said that so often and at such great length that he is now known, absurdly, as the great champion of popular sovereignty.
But when you learn all he did — it’s very clear, Douglas was not just in on the ruse to invade Kansas to quickly and violently push slavery into the West, but that he personally wrote and changed the legislation several times to bring that to pass.
And, as Lincoln himself pointed out (how do “historians” miss this?) it was clear by what Douglas did, he and the others had two parts to this fraud, from the outset. Kansas Act and Dred Scott.
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Who killed who in Kansas, and why, and who paid those killers, is not generally a basic point in the lectures I heard, or the narratives by historians like Eric Foner, James McPherson, Bruce Catton, Shelby Foote.
Some of course get it exactly right, and they tell you who did what, who killed who, and what they bragged of.
Michael Burlingame is one. Here are pictures of three books which cover, in detail when necessary, what was going on, who was killing who, and why.
But your best source is still Southern leaders own words at the time, typically in their own publications boasting about it — until they lost.
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” DO YOU WANT YOUR DAUGHTER TO SLEEP WITH NIGGERS”
Those boasting of killing to spread slavery were NOT the common man of the South.
They were almost always the political leaders of the South, who actually had to out do the others to win those top political positions. Stunningly, if you were not pro “spread slavery” enough in the South, you could be called an abolitionist.
We will be exterminated — the white race will literally be exterminated — said such speakers as Robert Toombs, the first Secretary of State for the Confederacy — unless we spread slavery.
Not keep slavery — unless we SPREAD slavery.
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WHY WE FEAR AND HATE LINCOLN
“Burning slowly to death”
Other Southern leaders made it clear — we do NOT fear Lincoln ending slavery here in the South.
We fear our children being “burned to death slowly” by equality of the races if we can not SPREAD slavery.
That fate — death — “certainly await’s our children”.
It is important to understand, this is the kind of rhetoric common in Southern political speeches, and nearing the Civil War, such speech, and the ability to get crowds to cheer, you had to lay this on more emphatically than the others.
It was a crime — prohibited by law- – to preach or speak or even own books against slavery. Mail was searched, ships where searched, for books or pamplets against slavery.
Even preachers could be arrested — and whipped — for owning the wrong book.
We simply do not teach the social reality, and the pervasive urging of violence, to anyway who got in the way of “Southern honor” which literally meant our rights to spread slavery.
Anyone not hateful enough did not do well politically. Crowds cheered those who could and would pump up the calls for “Southern honor” and implant graphic pictures in the minds of men that unless we spread slavery, black men will take our daughters.
You can easily go through college, and major in history, and depending on where you are taught, not know that the basic emotional issue of the South, and even North, politics of the 1850’s was freed black men taking white women.
It’s an ugly issue, and it was ugly and violent then.
Stephen A Douglas was the the partner — business and politics- of US Senator David Rice Atchison.
Atchison is the Senator who forced Douglas to front, and be the spokesman for the Kansas Act.
Atchison is also the Senator that, immediately after he, and Douglas, went personally with Jefferson Davis to get Kansas Act passed, went to Kansas, and there terrorized, later killed and boasted of it, to spread slavery in Kansas— against states rights, and against the clear and overwhelming sentiment of the citizens of Kansas.
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Ninety five percent of Kansas citizens, as you will see, were against slavery. But there Atchison and his men where violently pushing slavery into Kansas, not by discussion or speeches or logic, but by brute, and often, horrible force, including tortures which they themselves boasted of.
Jefferson Davis, for his part, actually paid Atchison and his men, first Missouri men, but when those men where not enough, Atchison hired men from Texas, South Carolina, and Alabama — and these men came specifically to kill, not to just terrorize.
HOW DO WE TEACH THE CIVIL WAR
Most US history teachers can wax on for hours about how the Civil War was a “clash of ideas” about economic issues and “states rights”. The South, the history teacher will claim, was deeply concerned about state’s rights.
There was, our history teachers tell the students, who can not know any better, at least five “factors” that led to the Civil War.
It all sounds sophisticated, and the teacher, the text book, that must be correct. The “economic” clash of agricultural vs industrial and manufacturing, We teach the cotton gin, John Brown, and state’s rights, the difference in climate, on and on. There are prize winning books about the various “causes” of the Civil War. So millions of children have gone to school named after some of these noble men who cared about “state’s rights”.
Many are told, by teachers and documentaries and movies, that Southern leaders did not fight for slavery, much less that they fought for the violent spread of slavery.
In fact, these men were often anti-slavery, even kind to their servants who they treated like family. Over all, the civil war was a war of “ideas” where one side were for small government, states rights, and the freedom for the (white) public to choose.
UNFORTUNATE
It was “unfortunate” our historians like Foner and others tell us, that “they didn’t compromise, after all our nation’s genius was compromise, but they failed to do that.”
We make our children repeat it back the supposed causes of the civil war to the teacher on tests, the standard bit of nonsense — that South cared about state’s rights, that the “economic” clash of industrial and agriculture caused contributed tot he war, or the arrival of the cotton gin, or that crazy John Brown’s killing sprees, did it, or even Lincoln caused it.
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IF YOU DON’T KNOW THE FACTS
BULLSHIT SOUNDS CONVINCING
They may all sound good — to stupid people. The facts show — and Southern leaders boasted of this – that they were killing to spread slavery for God, for white survival, and for Southern honor.
That kind of hype worked to get men to do the killing, if you also paid them money.
There may have been men that went to Kansas, to kill and terrorize, because they “believed” in slavery. But in all cases we know of, they went because they were paid — including Atchison. He did not do this for free. He got paid, and was set to be very, very rich, if the South won, or even if slavery spread at all.
Men did not go from South Carolina to Kansas to kill, or rom Texas, or from Alabama, because of some stupid cotton gin, or even for slavery. They went because they were offered money and rah rah speeches helped pump them up.
It was always about money and power.
Do not forget that. They quit getting paid — and when men started fighting back — they left. Unless you know the facts of who Atchison hired, who paid those men, where they came from, and what Atchison told them, any bullshit will convince you of anything, depending largely on the self confidence of the person giving you the bullshit.
It does not matter one iota if the person telling you is stupid, or just learned bullshit themselves. The same dynamics are in play. You will believe them — at very least you will tend to believe them, unless you know better, unless you know the facts, depending on their communication style and their self confidence.
If you understand who killed who, and why, you won’t fall for the bullshit in so many of our history books, not only about the Civil War, but about any history, of any country, of any time.
WHO KILLED WHO AND WHY
Jefferson Davis -- Wearing a Dress? 