1856

On January 27, 1856, Margaret Garner, having escaped slavery in Kentucky with her family, kills her two-year-old daughter Mary rather than allow her to be re-enslaved when slave catchers surround the family in Cincinnati. She wounds three other children. Ohio tries to charge her with murder — a case that would have implied legal personhood — but federal courts return her to slavery.

On January 27, 1856, Margaret Garner, having escaped Kentucky slavery with her family, kills her two-year-old daughter Mary rather than allow her to be re-enslaved when slave catchers surround the family in Cincinnati. Ohio tries to charge her with murder — which would imply legal personhood — but federal courts return her to slavery.

Armed conflict erupts in Kansas Territory throughout 1856 between pro-slavery "Border Ruffians" from Missouri and free-soil settlers. Pro-slavery men sack Lawrence on May 21. John Brown retaliates with the Pottawatomie massacre May 24-25. Over 200 people are killed in guerrilla fighting. The violence demonstrates that slavery cannot expand peacefully — the nation is heading toward war.

On May 21, 1856, a pro-slavery posse of 800 men sacked the free-state town of Lawrence, Kansas, burning the hotel, destroying newspaper presses, and looting homes. Three days later, John Brown and followers killed five pro-slavery settlers at Pottawatomie Creek in retaliation. The violence escalated through summer: pro-slavery forces burned towns, free-state militias fought back. Over 200 people were killed in Kansas between 1854 and 1861. The conflict was directly over whether slavery would expand westward and demonstrated that the question could not be resolved by legislation. Congress seated the fraudulently-elected pro-slavery territorial legislature despite evidence of ballot fraud.

A pro-slavery posse of 800 men calling themselves "law and order" forces rode into Lawrence, Kansas — the center of the free-state movement — and sacked the town. They destroyed two newspaper offices, looted homes, and burned the Free State Hotel. No settlers were killed, but the attack shocked the North. The Territory of Kansas had already seen over 200 men killed in guerrilla violence since 1854.

Three days after the sack of Lawrence, John Brown and seven followers — including four of his sons — dragged five pro-slavery settlers from their homes along Pottawatomie Creek and hacked them to death with broadswords. Brown believed he was doing God's will. The killings intensified guerrilla warfare in "Bleeding Kansas" and made Brown both a hero to radical abolitionists and a symbol of dangerous fanaticism.

Pro-slavery Missouri Border Ruffians attacked the free-state settlement of Osawatomie, Kansas, where John Brown's forces were outnumbered four to one. Brown's son Frederick was killed at the outset. Brown and 40 defenders held off 300 attackers for a time before retreating as the town burned. Brown emerged as a national figure. The battle epitomized the sustained guerrilla war that left over 200 dead across Kansas.

Cornered by slave catchers after crossing the frozen Ohio River, Margaret Garner kills her own daughter rather than see her re-enslaved — an act that haunted the nation.