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85-654: Border ruffians were proslavery raiders who crossed into the Kansas Territory from Missouri during the mid-19th century to help ensure the territory entered the United States as a slave state . Their activities formed a major part of a series of violent civil confrontations known as " Bleeding Kansas ", which peaked from 1854 to 1858. Crimes committed by border ruffians included electoral fraud , intimidation , assault , property damage and murder ; many border ruffians took pride in their reputation as criminals. After

170-654: A Christian duty, and ultimately never endorsed slavery on any but pragmatic grounds, while contending that Jesus Christ had also died for the Negro slaves, and opposing their mistreatment by owners who resisted his evangelism to slaves. Slavery had been outlawed in Georgia, but it was legalised in 1751. Whitfield bought enslaved Africans and put them to work on his plantation as well as at the Bethesda Orphanage which he established. Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon , who played

255-999: A band of border ruffians, led by John W. Reid , sacked the village of Osawatomie, Kansas after the Battle of Osawatomie . T. W. Higginson , a minister, was instrumental in turning the Massachusetts State Kansas Committee , a former subsidiary of the New England Emigrant Aid Company , into a nationally known organization. It worked to recruit abolitionist settlers, raised funds for them to migrate to Kansas, and equipped them with rifles to use against border ruffians. In 1856 it acquired 200 Sharps rifles for $ 4,947.88 that were shipped to Kansas via Iowa and ended in John Brown's hands. In September 1858, it invested $ 3,800 in 190 Sharps rifles for Kansas. Abolitionist Henry W. Beecher pronounced that, Sharps rifle

340-468: A boom in the cotton trade, drew attention and criticism to the Southern states' continuation of slavery. Faced with this growing 'antislavery' movement, slaveholders and their sympathizers began to articulate an explicit defense of slavery. The famous Mudsill Speech (1858) of James Henry Hammond and John C. Calhoun 's Speech to the U.S. Senate (1837) articulated the proslavery political argument during

425-509: A cruel spirit." John Chrysostom wrote that "to discipline and punish ignorant slaves is a great accolade, and not a perchance commendation". Tertullian condemned the Marcionites for their advocacy of the liberation of slaves: "what is more unrighteous, more unjust, more dishonest, than to benefit a foreign slave in such a way as to take him away from his master, claim him who is someone else's property". Thomas Aquinas argued that slavery

510-555: A major role in financing and guiding early Methodism, inherited these slaves and kept them in bondage. In both Europe and the United States many Christians went further, arguing that slavery was actually justified by the words and doctrines of the Bible. [Slavery] was established by decree of Almighty God ... it is sanctioned in the Bible, in both Testaments, from Genesis to Revelation ... it has existed in all ages, has been found among

595-447: A new proslavery doctrine had emerged in the United States. Building on the concepts of paternalism forged on 18th century tobacco plantations, this notion held that slaves by their natures were unable to take care of themselves, and whites had been appointed by God to watch over their bodies and souls. Southern slave owners said that they were providing what the blacks required, oversight and protection. Proslavery apologists fought against

680-554: A pro-slavery territorial representative to Congress, John W. Whitfield . It was determined after a Congressional investigation that 60% of the votes were illegal. On March 30, 1855, border ruffians elected a pro-slavery Territorial Legislature, which introduced harsh penalties for speaking against slavery. It was called the Bogus Legislature by Free-Staters due to the fact that border ruffians arrived en masse and there were twice as many votes cast than there were eligible voters in

765-494: A treatise called "The Bible View of Slavery". Raphall and other pro-slavery rabbis such as Isaac Leeser and J. M. Michelbacher (both of Virginia), used the Tanakh (Jewish Bible) to support their arguments. Abolitionist rabbis, including Einhorn and Michael Heilprin , concerned that Raphall's position would be seen as the official policy of American Judaism, vigorously rebutted his arguments, and argued that slavery—as practiced in

850-475: A whole. These and other arguments fought for the rights of the propertied elite against what were perceived as threats from the abolitionists , lower classes, and non-whites to gain higher standards of living . The economic self-interest of slaveholders certainly played a role, as slaves represented a massive amount of wealth – at the time of the Civil War some historians estimate the over 20% of private wealth in

935-422: A whole. Thus, the greatest threat to democracy was seen as coming from class warfare that destabilized a nation's economy, society, government, and threatened the peaceful and harmonious implementation of laws. This theory supposes that there must be, and supposedly always has been, a lower class for the upper classes to rest upon: the metaphor of a mudsill theory being that the lowest threshold (mudsill) supports

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1020-496: A year's worth of supplies. A distribution depot was set up at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa , where immigrants were furnished not only with horses and wagons and other supplies, but also with arms; they were organized into companies and drilled. The National Kansas Committee spent in 1856–1857 around US$ 100,000 (equivalent to $ 3,390,000 in 2023) on the Free State cause. On August 2, 1858, the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution of 1857

1105-557: Is a singular fact that the most masterly expositions which have lately been made of the constitutional and the religious argument for slavery are from gentlemen of the Hebrew faith". After referring to the speech of Judah Benjamin , the "most unanswerable speech on the rights of the South ever made in the Senate", it refers to the lecture of Rabbi Raphall, "a discourse which stands like the tallest peak of

1190-538: Is all the more difficult to fathom inasmuch as in the Two Treatises he developed a general theory and justification of slavery for captives taken in a just war ... I hope to show that this theory is woefully inadequate as an account of Afro-American slavery and, further, that Locke knew this ... Locke's silence about the Afro-American slave practices that he helped forward remains profoundly unsettling and poses one of

1275-517: Is depicted in the movie The Outlaw Josey Wales . Proslavery thought Jewish views on slavery are varied both religiously and historically. Judaism 's ancient and medieval religious texts contain numerous laws governing the ownership and treatment of slaves . Texts that contain such regulations include the Hebrew Bible , the Talmud , the 12th-century Mishneh Torah by rabbi Maimonides , and

1360-472: Is primarily associated with the American South, a minority of Northerners, known as doughfaces , also supported it. Until the middle of the 18th century, slavery was practiced with little challenge anywhere in the world. For centuries philosophers as varied as Aristotle , Thomas Aquinas , and John Locke accepted slavery as part of a proper social system. However, across Europe through the last part of

1445-407: Is that the slavery issue reached a condition of intolerable tension and violence ... in an area where a majority of the inhabitants apparently did not care very much one way or the other about slavery." Frank W. Blackmar 's encyclopedia of Kansas history summarizes how the rank-and-file among border ruffians took pride in both how they were called and what they were doing: While the main objects of

1530-467: Is whether a free system will allow him to sell himself into slavery. I believe that it would." Commenting on Nozick's views, David Ellerman (writing under the pseudonym "J. Philmore") notes parallels with provisions in the Institutes of Justinian that permit individuals to sell themselves into slavery. Rousas Rushdoony , an adherent of theonomy , believed that Old Testament laws should be applied in

1615-753: The 7th Kansas Cavalry Regiment , which became known as the Jennison's Jayhawkers. In the fall and winter of 1861 and 1862, Jennison's Jayhawkers became infamous for looting and destroying the property of Missourians. Some of the jayhawkers joined a paramilitary group called the Red Legs. Wearing red gaiters and numbered around 100, Red Legs served as scouts during the punitive expedition of the Union troops in Missouri. Jayhawkers and Red Legs pillaged and burned multiple towns in 1861–1863 in Missouri. The destruction of Osceola, Missouri ,

1700-479: The Ancient Greeks and Romans in its defense, furthermore stating civilizations such as Ancient Egypt and Rome were made great through this institution. In the 1980s, Rabbi Meir Kahane introduced legislation into Israel's Knesset , which in part stated that "Non-Jews will be obliged to assume duties, taxes and slavery. If he does not agree to slavery and taxes, he will be forcibly deported". The legislation

1785-574: The British parliament after the abolition of the slave trade in 1807. However, other authors do not so clearly draw such a distinction and include what Dumas calls anti-abolitionism in the topic of proslavery. Dumas traces the beginning of organised British proslavery movement to 1787, when the London Society of West India Planters and Merchants formed a subcommittee to organise opposition to abolitionism. British proslavery thinkers defended slavery on

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1870-575: The Lecompton Constitution for the future state of Kansas. It tried to get the Lecompton Constitution adopted with additional fraud and violence, but by then there were too many Free-Staters there and the U.S. Congress refused to confirm it. Border ruffians also engaged in general violence against Free-State settlements. They burned farms and sometimes murdered Free-State men. Most notoriously, border ruffians twice attacked Lawrence ,

1955-847: The Methodist Episcopal Church split into Northern and Southern wings over the issue of slavery. In 1845, the Baptists in the South formed the Southern Baptist Convention due to disputes with Northern Baptists over slavery and missions. In the Civil War era, rabbis from the Southern states generally supported slavery, and those from the North generally opposed slavery. In 1861, the Charlotte Evening Bulletin noted: "It

2040-537: The Missouri Compromise of 1820 and allowed Kansans to vote on slavery, the opponents from both sides of the slavery debate started to recruit settlers to increase support of their causes. Proslavery immigrants aided by the Lafayette Emigration Society, and anti-slavery settlers, established their own territorial enclave (such as Atchison and Leavenworth ), and Free-State immigrants aided by

2125-442: The New England Emigrant Aid Company established theirs (such as Lawrence , Topeka ). This circumstance resulted in a deep partisan divide in regard to the slavery question among settlers and their civic and business leaders. Then extremists on both side resorted to arms. On the pro-slavery side violence was committed by the border ruffians and on the free-state side by the jayhawkers . On November 29, 1854, border ruffians elected

2210-497: The New England Emigrant Aid Company shipped Sharps rifles to the Kansas Territory , in crates said to have been labeled "Bibles". At that time, many Kansas settlers opposed slavery. However, slavery advocates were determined to have their way regardless. When elections were held, bands of armed border ruffians seized polling places, prevented Free-State men from voting, and cast votes illegally, falsely stating they were Kansas residents. Border ruffians operated from Missouri. It

2295-620: The 16th-century Shulchan Aruch by rabbi Yosef Karo . The original Israelite slavery laws found in the Hebrew Bible bear some resemblance to the 18th-century BCE slavery laws of Hammurabi . The regulations changed over time. The Hebrew Bible contained two sets of laws, one for Canaanite slaves, and a more lenient set of laws for Hebrew slaves. From the time of the Pentateuch, the laws designated for Canaanites were applied to all non-Hebrew slaves. The Talmud's slavery laws, which were established in

2380-707: The 18th century there were intellectual antislavery arguments based on Enlightenment thought, as well as moral arguments (notably among Quakers , in Great Britain and the United States) which questioned the legitimacy of slavery. Only in the American Revolutionary War era did slavery first become a significant social issue in North America. In the North, beginning during the Revolution and continuing through

2465-723: The African slave trade and an instrument of English colonial policy who proposed legislation [the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina ] to ensure that 'every freeman of Carolina shall have absolute power and authority over his negro slaves'". Farr argues that Locke's theoretical justifications of slavery were inadequate to justify his practical involvement in the slave trade. He sees this contradiction as ultimately unsolvable: Locke never addressed, much less resolved, this contradiction. On Afro-American slavery, silence seems to have been his principal bequest to posterity. Locke's silence

2550-602: The Border Ruffian chiefs were the overthrow and destruction of free-state men and the establishment of slavery in Kansas, the ruffian border bands delighted in raiding towns, ransacking houses, stealing horses, and doing whatever they could that was annoying, exciting, and rough. The towns and country along the eastern tier of counties were raided with uncomfortable frequency. Free-state men holding claims were driven from them, elections were molested and crimes of violence committed. When

2635-798: The Free-State capital of the Kansas Territory. On December 1, 1855, a small army of border ruffians laid siege to Lawrence, but were driven off. This became the nearly bloodless climax to the " Wakarusa War ". On May 21, 1856, an even larger force of border ruffians and pro-slavery Kansans captured Lawrence, which they sacked . Free-State settlers struck back. Anti-slavery Kansan irregulars, led by Charles R. Jennison , James Montgomery , and James H. Lane , among others, and known as jayhawkers , attacked proslavery settlers and suspected border ruffian sympathizers. Most notoriously, abolitionist John Brown killed five proslavery men at Pottawatomie . In revenge,

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2720-476: The Himmalohs [sic]—immovable and incomparable". The most notable debate was between Rabbi Morris Jacob Raphall , who defended slavery as it was practiced in the South because slavery was endorsed by the Bible, and rabbi David Einhorn , who opposed its current form. However, there were not many Jews in the South, and Jews accounted for only 1.25% of all Southern slave owners. In 1861, Raphall published his views in

2805-484: The House of Commons of 16 March 1824 opposing abolition, in which he compared emancipated slaves to Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein . John Locke discusses slavery in his Second Treatise of Government . He rejects the idea that a person could voluntarily consent to enslavement, saying "a man, not having the power of his own life, cannot , by compact or by his own consent, enslave himself to any one, nor put himself under

2890-623: The Massachusetts State Kansas Committee and the New England Emigrant Aid Company initiated the establishment of the Kansas National Aid Committee headquartered in Chicago. Thaddeus Hyatt , head of the national committee, began collecting money, arms, provisions, clothing, and agricultural supplies to aid the Free-State cause in Kansas. The goal was to transport five thousand settlers to Kansas Territory giving them

2975-507: The Missouri-Kansas state line were looted and burned. Suspected guerrillas were killed; in retaliation, bushwhackers murdered Union sympathizers and suspected informers. Confederate guerrilla leaders, such as "Bloody Bill" Anderson and William Quantrill , were feared in Kansas during the war. Many of the Union troops fighting bushwackers were former jayhawkers who held deep grudges against border ruffians. Charles R. Jennison recruited

3060-401: The Negro as suited for hot environments. He also believed Georgia's failure to flourish economically was due to a lack of Negroes as were held in other colonies such as The Carolinas. Thus, Whitfield had altered his position, and partially joined the ranks of the slave owners who he had denounced in his earlier years. However, Whitfield still maintained humane treatment was a moral obligation, and

3145-683: The South—was immoral and not endorsed by Judaism. Ken Yellis, writing in The Forward , has suggested that "the majority of American Jews were mute on the subject, perhaps because they dreaded its tremendous corrosive power. Prior to 1861, there are virtually no instances of rabbinical sermons on slavery, probably due to fear that the controversy would trigger a sectional conflict in which Jewish families would be arrayed on opposite sides. ... America's largest Jewish community, New York's Jews, were overwhelmingly pro-southern, pro-slavery, and anti-Lincoln in

3230-487: The Territory. Failure to ensure fair elections led to establishment of two territorial governments in Kansas, one pro-slavery and another Free State, each claiming to be the only legitimate government of the entire Territory. Despite all border ruffians' attempts to push anti-slavery settlers out of the Territory, far more Free-State immigrants moved to Kansas than pro-slavery. In 1857, the pro-slavery faction in Kansas proposed

3315-562: The US was slaves. They saw the abolition of slavery as a threat to their powerful Southern economy: an economy that revolved almost entirely around the plantation system and was supported by the use of black slaves. Passages in the Bible which mention the institution of slavery have been used as a justification for the keeping of slaves throughout history, and they have also been used as a source of guidance on how it should be done. Therefore, when abolition

3400-557: The abolition of the slave trade – from when the campaign for its abolition first began in 1783 until 1807, when it was abolished – and then opposed the abolition of slavery itself in British colonies until that was legislated in 1833. Most of the British defenders of slavery were absentee owners of plantations in the British West Indies who economically benefited from the continuation of the institution. Paula E. Dumas, in her study of

3485-399: The abolitionists with their own promotion, which invariably stressed their view that slaves were both well treated and happy, and included illustrations which were designed to prove their points. A writer in 1835 asserted that American slavery is the best slavery there ever was: [W]e... deny that slavery is sinful or inexpedient. We deny that it is wrong in the abstract. We assert that it is

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3570-465: The absolute, arbitrary power of another" (emphasis in original). However, he goes on to argue that enslavement of those who are guilty of capital offences is permissible. He also defends the enslavement of those captured in war: "This is the perfect condition of slavery , which is nothing else, but the state of war continued, between a lawful conqueror and a captive " (emphasis in original). James Farr describes John Locke as "a merchant adventurer in

3655-639: The assassin of Martin Luther King Jr. , is famous for saying "Somebody needs to say a good word for slavery ." Robert Creel, who served as Grand Dragon of Alabama for the United Klans of America from March 1964 to January 1966 and notoriously supported Goldwater , once stated that "I got news for you niggers. We're on the move too. I don't believe in segregation . I believe in slavery." Representative Howard W. Smith (D-VA) had been described by contemporaries as an apologist for slavery who invoked

3740-411: The basis of the Bible largely disappeared following the abolition of the slave trade in 1807, but its defenders still drew on religious arguments, such that the institution of slavery (allegedly) benefited slaves by encouraging them to convert to Christianity. After the abolition of the slave trade, British defenders of slavery drew a distinction between slavery itself and the slave trade, acknowledging

3825-509: The basis of the Bible. Politician Isaac Gascoyne gave a speech to the House of Commons on 10 June 1806 in which he argued that slavery was authorised by Leviticus 25:44-46. Similarly, on 23 February 1807, George Hibbert gave a speech to the House of Commons defending slavery on the basis of the Old Testament and the Epistle to Philemon. Dumas notes that attempts to directly defend slavery on

3910-587: The bayonet and with blood" and, if necessary, "to kill every God-damned abolitionist in the district". Few of the ordinary border ruffians actually owned slaves because most were too poor. Their motivation was hatred of Yankees and abolitionists , and fear of free Blacks living nearby. Kansas slavery was small-scale and operated mainly at the household level. Most of the Kansans, according to historian David M. Potter , were concerned primarily about land titles. He pointed out that, "the great anomaly of 'Bleeding Kansas'

3995-572: The continued existence of slavery in the United States , which consisted of the racialized chattel slavery of African Americans . Newspapers founded by these émigrés , such as the New York City -based Nation and the Boston -based American Celt "were united in their opposition to the abolition of slavery". In the United States, proslavery sentiment arose in the Antebellum South as a reaction to

4080-413: The country as a whole was more prevalent than philosophical and moral arguments against slavery. In Virginia, as the economy shifted away from tobacco towards less labor-intensive wheat crops, more slaves were freed between 1783 and 1812 than any time until 1865. There was the potential, in many Southern minds, for a relatively short transition away from slavery. However this perspective rapidly changed as

4165-495: The crash came between north and south many of these men became bushwhackers or guerrillas. The presence of violent bands of both Kansan and Missourian combatants made it difficult for settlers on the Kansas–Missouri border to remain neutral. The history of border ruffians is woven into the historical context of Bleeding Kansas , or the border war, a series of violent civil confrontations in Kansas in 1854–1859. Kansas Territory

4250-501: The early years of the war." However, as the war progressed, "and the North's military victories mounted, feelings began to shift toward[s] ... the Union and eventually, emancipation." In the 20th century, the American philosopher Robert Nozick defended the notion of voluntary slavery , whereby persons voluntarily sell themselves into slavery. In Anarchy, State and Utopia , Nozick writes, "The comparable question about an individual

4335-466: The extent of perceiving it, but does not have it. Plato supported slavery in his Laws . Among the Church Fathers , the majority opinion was in favour of the moral permissibility of slavery. According to Augustine , God approved of the flogging of disobedient slaves: "You must use the whip, use it! God allows it. Rather, he is angered if you do not lash the slave. But do it in a loving and not

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4420-440: The first decade of the next century, state by state emancipation was achieved by legislation or lawsuit although in the larger slaveholding states such as New York and Pennsylvania emancipation was gradual. By 1810, 75% of Northern slaves had been freed and virtually all were freed within the next generation. In the United States, the antislavery contention that slavery was both economically inefficient and socially detrimental to

4505-549: The foundation for a building. This theory was used by its composer, Senator and Governor James Henry Hammond, a wealthy Southern plantation owner, to justify what he saw as the willingness of the non-whites to perform menial work which enabled the higher classes to move civilization forward. With this in mind, any efforts for class or racial equality that ran counter to the theory would inevitably run counter to civilization itself. Southern proslavery theorists asserted that slavery eliminated this problem by elevating all free people to

4590-524: The greatest problems for understanding Locke as a theorist and political actor. While Locke criticised slavery as "so vile and miserable an estate of man", Farr argues that this statement was meant primarily as a condemnation of the "enslavement" of the English (which Locke accused advocates of absolute monarchy as effectively proposing), not necessarily as a judgement of the Atlantic slave trade. Young Ireland

4675-442: The growing anti-slavery movement in the United States in the late 18th century and early 19th century. Zephaniah Kingsley is the author of the most popular proslavery tract , self-published in 1828 and reprinted three times. In 1846, Matthew Estes published A defence of Negro slavery, as it exists in the United States . A collection of the most important American proslavery articles is The Pro-slavery argument: as maintained by

4760-468: The heart's blood of all those d--d dogs, that dare defend that d--d breathing hole of hell. Border ruffians contributed to the increasingly violent sectional tensions, culminating in the American Civil War . Border ruffians did not constitute an organized group. They never had meetings, had no designated leaders, and no one ever directed any message to them as a body. Border ruffians were driven by

4845-479: The history of the British proslavery movement, draws a distinction between anti-abolitionist and proslavery positions: "Anti-abolition arguments in this period focused on defects in the abolitionist platform, emphasising the illegal, illogical, inhumane, or pro-French nature of their aims. Proslavery arguments, on the other hand, positively promoted slavery and the slave trade". Dumas notes that proslavery (as opposed to anti-abolitionist) positions largely disappeared from

4930-496: The invaders as "Border Ruffians", and said they were led by their chiefs, David R. Atchison and B. F. Stringfellow. Armed with revolvers and Bowie knives , border ruffians forcefully interfered in the Kansas row over slavery. A correspondent for the London Times while visiting Kansas in 1856 reported many occurrences of the so-called bowie-knife voting in Kansas when voters were heckled and harassed by border ruffians. In response,

5015-471: The latter to be prohibited by the Bible (in particular, Exodus 21:6, Deut 24:7, 1 Tim 1:9-10), but arguing that the Bible permitted the former. The American proslavery movement drew at times on the British proslavery movement as support. For example, Thomas Roderick Dew , in an essay published in September 1832, quoted approvingly British Foreign Secretary (and later Prime Minister) George Canning 's speech to

5100-630: The matter. Islam traditionally permits slavery, but moderates it. However, most contemporary Islamic authorities argue that slavery is inapplicable in the modern world. Nonetheless, a minority of contemporary Islamic jurists defend slavery by arguing that it is still relevant and permissible today, and it is actively practiced by Islamist extremist groups, such as Boko Haram in northern Nigeria and Islamic State in parts of Syria and Iraq. Al-Farabi , early Islamic philosopher and jurist, wrote in support of slavery, arguing that some people are slaves by nature. The British proslavery movement opposed

5185-491: The medical department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1845. Soon after, he relocated to Carrollton, Missouri , where he married Ophelia J. Simmons, niece of Missouri Governor John C. Edwards . During the cholera epidemic of 1849, when every boat coming up the river unloaded cholera patients, he converted a large warehouse into a hospital and devoted three months to caring for them. In 1852 he removed to Platte City . Upon

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5270-495: The most distinguished writers of the southern states: Containing the several essays on the subject, of Chancellor Harper, Governor Hammond, Dr. Simms, and Professor Dew (1853). The authors are William Harper , a South Carolina jurist and politician, James Henry Hammond , South Carolina governor and then senator, J. Marion Sims , an Alabama physician, and Thomas Roderick Dew , president of the College of William & Mary . By 1820,

5355-499: The natural condition of man; that there ever has been, and there ever will be slavery; and we not only claim for ourselves the right to determine for ourselves the relations between master and slave, but we insist that the slavery of the Southern States is the best regulation of slavery, whether we take into consideration the interests of the master or of the slave, that has ever been devised. While antebellum proslavery thought

5440-573: The organization of Kansas Territory in 1854 he crossed the Missouri River , selected a claim , and in connection with some friends formed a town company which laid out the town of Atchison. In 1854 he brought his family and lived in Atchison until 1858. He was the founder and editor of the pro-slavery Squatter Sovereign , the first newspaper in Atchison, and was commissioned colonel of the Third regiment of

5525-482: The outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, many border ruffians fought on the side of the Confederate States of America as irregular bushwhackers . The 1913 edition of Webster's Dictionary reflects the 19th century understanding of the word ruffian as a "scoundrel, rascal, or unprincipled, deceitful, brutal and unreliable person". Among the first to use the term border ruffian in connection with

5610-511: The people of the highest civilization, and in nations of the highest proficiency in the arts. ... the right of holding slaves is clearly established in the Holy Scriptures, both by precept and example. In 1837, Southerners in the Presbyterian denomination joined forces with conservative Northerners in order to drive the antislavery New School Presbyterians out of the denomination. In 1844,

5695-436: The period at which the ideology was at its most mature (late 1830s – early 1860s). These proslavery theorists championed a class-sensitive view of American antebellum society. They felt that the bane of many past societies was the existence of the class of the landless poor. Southern proslavery theorists felt that this class of landless poor was inherently transient and easily manipulated, and as such often destabilized society as

5780-504: The practice of slavery. Greek philosopher Aristotle claimed that some people were slaves by nature , and as a result of this belief, he argued that their enslavement was the only way to serve their best interests. However, what Aristotle meant by the word "slavery" is regarded by some political philosophers today to be a subject of controversy. He wrote in book I of the Politics : Accordingly, those who are as different [from other men] as

5865-423: The present day, including those laws that permitted slavery. Unlike Nozick, who believed that slavery should be limited to those who voluntarily agreed to it, Rushdoony supported the forcible enslavement of all who rejected Christianity. Rushdoony also asserted that even though antebellum American slavery was un-Biblical, it was still a positive good. Jack Kershaw , who served as an attorney for James Earl Ray ,

5950-700: The pro-slavery Bogus Legislature . He was born in Culpeper County, Virginia , son of Robert Stringfellow, a farmer, veteran of the War of 1812 , merchant at Raccoon Ford on the Rapidan River , and Mary Plunkett, daughter of an early industrialist in Orange County, Virginia . Benjamin Franklin Stringfellow was his younger brother. He was educated at Caroline Academy, Va., Columbia University, and graduated from

6035-566: The rhetoric of politicians such as David Rice Atchison , Benjamin Franklin Stringfellow , John H. Stringfellow , editor of the pro-slavery newspaper Squatter Sovereign ( Atchison, Kansas ), and Speaker of the House in the First Kansas Territorial Legislature, the so-called Bogus Legislature . and Rev. Thomas Johnson, a Methodist preacher. Samuel J. Jones , and Daniel Woodson , a proslavery newspaper editor. In particular, Atchison called Northerners "negro thieves" and "abolitionist tyrants". He encouraged Missourians to defend their institution "with

6120-547: The sacking of Lawrence, Kansas , in May 1856 became possible. U.S. Senator David Rice Atchison (D-Missouri) personally incited the assembling mob: Gentlemen, Officers & Soldiers! This is the most glorious day of my life! This is the day I am a border ruffian! ... Spring like your bloodhounds at home upon that d--d accursed abolition hole; break through every thing that may oppose your never flinching courage! Yess, ruffians, draw your revolvers & bowie knives, & cool them in

6205-423: The second through the fifth centuries CE, contain a single set of rules for all slaves, although there are a few exceptions where Hebrew slaves are treated differently from non-Hebrew slaves. The laws include punishment for slave owners that mistreat their slaves. In the modern era, when the abolitionist movement sought to outlaw slavery, some supporters of slavery used the laws to provide religious justification for

6290-509: The slavery issue in Kansas was the Herald of Freedom , a newspaper published in Lawrence, Kansas . On October 8, 1857, it reported the following: Gov. Reeder soon after March 30 visited Washington, hoping to induce Pres. Pierce to disregard the election. On his way there he stopped at his old home, Easton, Pa., and told the story of Kansas' wrongs, in a speech to his old neighbors. In this he designated

6375-445: The soul from the body or man from beast—and they are in this state if their work is the use of the body, and if this is the best that can come from them—are slaves by nature. For them it is better to be ruled in accordance with this sort of rule, if such is the case for the other things mentioned. For he is a slave by nature who is capable of belonging to another–which is also why he belongs to another–and who participates in reason only to

6460-429: The status of "citizen", and removing the landless poor (the "mudsill") from the political process entirely by means of enslavement. Thus, those who would most threaten economic stability and political harmony were not allowed to undermine a democratic society, because they were not allowed to participate in it. So, in the mindset of proslavery men, slavery was for protecting the common good of slaves, masters, and society as

6545-473: The worldwide demand for sugar and cotton from America increased and the Louisiana Purchase opened up vast new territories ideally suited for a plantation economy. Only in the early 19th century did abolitionist movements gather momentum, and many countries abolished slavery in the first half of the 19th century. The increasing rarity of slavery, combined with an increase in the number of slaves caused by

6630-586: Was a mid-19th century movement in Ireland which espoused Irish nationalism in opposition to British rule . Following the suppression of the movement by the Dublin Castle administration , many of the movement's leading figures went into exile in North America . There, many Young Ireland émigrés such as John Mitchel and Thomas D'Arcy McGee continued to support Irish self-determination while expressing support for

6715-625: Was a truly moral agency, and that there was more moral power in one of those instruments, so far as the slaveholders of Kansas were concerned, than in a hundred Bibles. You might just as well ... read the Bible to Buffaloes as those fellows who follow Atchison and Stringfellow; but they have a supreme respect for the logic that is embodied in Sharps rifles. It was documented that in 1855–1856 various aid organizations from free states spent at least $ 43,074.26 on rifles, muskets, revolvers, and ammunition, including one cannon, destined for Kansas. On July 9, 1856,

6800-598: Was created by the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854. The Act repealed the previous Federal prohibition on slavery in that area. Instead, the locally elected territorial legislature was to decide on the slavery issue. The first territorial census, taken in January–February 1855, counted 8601 people; 2905 were deemed eligible to vote; there were 192 enslaved in the Territory. After the Kansas–Nebraska Act repealed

6885-473: Was not part of natural law , but nonetheless he defended it as a consequence of human sinfulness and necessary for the good of society. He viewed the natural state of humanity as that which had existed prior to the fall of man , in which slavery was non-existent; on those grounds, many commentators see him as rejecting Aristotle's claim that some people were naturally slaves, although it is a matter of controversy as to whether he fully rejected Aristotle's views on

6970-594: Was proposed, many Christians spoke vociferously against it, citing the Bible's acceptance of slavery as 'proof' that it was part of the normal condition. George Whitefield , who is famed for his sparking of the Great Awakening of American evangelicalism, supported as necessary due to the climate in the Province of Georgia , for the legalisation of slavery. He believed, as was common at the time, that each race had been conditioned by nature to suit its environment, and viewed

7055-690: Was rejected at the polls, signifying the defeat of border ruffians' cause. On January 29, 1861, President James Buchanan signed the bill that approved the Wyandotte Constitution and Kansas came to the Union as a Free State. During the American Civil War , the violence on the Kansas-Missouri border not only continued, but escalated tremendously. Many of the former border ruffians became pro- Confederate guerrillas, or bushwhackers . They operated in western Missouri, sometimes raiding into Kansas, and Union forces campaigned to suppress them. Farms on

7140-560: Was rejected, with one MK comparing it to Nazi Germany's infamous Nuremberg Laws . Rabbi Avigdor Miller claimed that the Emancipation Proclamation had come too soon to "civilize" the African Americans. John H. Stringfellow John H. Stringfellow (November 14, 1819 – July 24, 1905) was an early physician of Kansas, one of the founders of Atchison , and speaker of the house in the first territorial legislature,

7225-447: Was said that they voted and shot in Kansas, but slept in Missouri. They not only interfered in territorial elections, but also committed outrages on Free-State settlers and destroyed their property. This violence gave the origin of the phrase " Bleeding Kansas ". However, political killings and violence were exercised by both warring sides. The federal government did not interfere to stop the violence. Hence, such ignominious episodes as

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