This interference was accepted by the Missourians as a signal for battle.The rescuers must be arrested and punished.A large force of infuriated Missourians and pro-slavery settlers assembled for a raid upon the town of Lawrence.In the meantime the Lawrence militia planned and executed a systematic defense of the town.
When the two armies came within speaking distance, a parley ensued in which the Governor took a leading part in settling the affair without a hostile shot.This is known in Kansas history as the "Wakarusa War."The progress of affairs in Kansas was followed with intense interest in all parts of the country.North and South vied with each other in the encouragement of emigration to Kansas.Colonel Buford of Alabama sold a large number of slaves and devoted the proceeds to meeting the expense of conducting a troop of three hundred men to Kansas in the winter of 1856.They went armed with "the sword of the spirit," and all provided with Bibles supplied by the leading churches.Arrived in the territory, they were duly furnished with more worldly weapons and were drilled for action.
About the same time a parallel incident is said to have occurred in New Haven, Connecticut.A deacon in one of the churches had enlisted a company of seventy bound for Kansas.A meeting was held in the church to raise money to defray expenses.The leader of the company declared that they also needed rifles for self-defense.Forthwith Professor Silliman, of the University, subscribed one Sharp's rifle, and others followed with like pledges.Finally Henry Ward Beecher, who was the speaker of the occasion, rose and promised that, if twenty-five rifles were pledged on the spot, Plymouth Church in Brooklyn would be responsible for the remaining twenty-five that were needed.He had already said in a previous address that for the slaveholders of Kansas, Sharp's rifles were a greater moral agency than the Bible.This led to the designation of the weapons as "Beecher's Bibles." Such was the spirit which prevailed in the two sections of the country.
President Pierce had now become intensely hostile towards the free-state inhabitants of Kansas.Having recognized the Legislature elected on March 30, 1855, as the legitimate Government, he sent a special message to Congress on January 24, 1856, in which he characterized as revolutionary the movement of the free-state men to organize a separate Government in Kansas.
>From the President's point of view, the emissaries of the New England Emigrant Aid Association were unlawful invaders.In this position he not only had the support of the South, but was powerfully seconded by Stephen A.Douglas and other Northern Democrats.
The attitude of the Administration at Washington was a source of great encouragement to Sheriff Jones and his associates, who were anxious to wreak their vengeance on the city of Lawrence for the outcome of the Wakarusa War.Jones came to Lawrence apparently for the express purpose of picking a quarrel, for he revived the old dispute about the rescuing party of the previous fall.As a consequence one enraged opponent slapped him in the face, and at last an unknown assassin entered the sheriff's tent by night and inflicted a revolver wound in his back.Though the citizens of Lawrence were greatly chagrined at this event and offered a reward for the discovery of the assailant, the attack upon the sheriff was made the signal for drastic procedure against the town of Lawrence.A grand jury found indictments for treason against Reeder, Robinson, and other leading citizens of the town.
The United States marshal gave notice that he expected resistance in making arrests and called upon all law-abiding citizens of the Territory to aid in executing the law.It was a welcome summons to the pro-slavery forces.Not only local militia companies responded but also Buford's company and various companies from Missouri, in all more than seven hundred men, with two cannon.It had always been the set purpose of the free-state men not to resist federal authority by force, unless as a last resort, and they had no intention of opposing the marshal in making arrests.
He performed his duty without hindrance and then placed the armed troops under the command of Sheriff Jones, who proceeded first to destroy the printing-press of the town of Lawrence.Then, against the protest of the marshal and Colonel Buford, the vindictive sheriff trained his guns upon the new hotel which was the pride of the city; the ruin of the building was made complete by fire, while a drunken mob pillaged the town.
