may 22, 1856 - "Bleeding Kansas" (Charles Sumner Attacked)
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"Bleeding Kansas" refers to the fighting between proslavery and antislavery populations in Kansas. This fighting was a result of Missourians going to Kansas to tip the scale in favor of slavery regarding the decision of Kansas to be a free state or a slave state. The New England Emigrant Aid Company was established to help tip the scales in the North's favor by paying people to move to Kansas and vote against slavery. The tensions that arose in Kansas followed suit in Congress when Charles Sumner verbally attacked the Democratic party and Andrew Butler. Andrew Butler's nephew retaliated by striking Sumner with a cane.
"Bleeding Kansas" (Charles Sumner Attacked) is significant because it demonstrated the lengths each side was willing to go to to get their way. Physical brawls were starting to become more frequent between citizens and officials, thus increasing tensions and sectionalism between the North and the South.
"Taking a mistress, who though ugly to others is always lovely to him, though polluted in the sight of the world is chased in his sight. I mean the harlot, slavery."
-Description of what Charles Sumner said on the Senate Floor
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