Free-Stater (Kansas) facts for kids

Free-Staters were a group of settlers who lived in Kansas Territory during a tough time in the 1850s called Bleeding Kansas. These settlers were against the idea of slavery spreading into Kansas. Their name came from the term "free state," which meant a U.S. state where slavery was not allowed.

Many Free-Staters came from places like New England, Ohio, Iowa, and other midwestern states. While some were abolitionists (people who wanted to end slavery everywhere), most Free-Staters at first didn't call themselves abolitionists. Instead, their main goal was to keep all Black people, whether enslaved or free, out of Kansas. They didn't own slaves themselves, but many believed that Kansas should be a place mainly for white settlers. They wanted "free soil" for white people only.

What Free-Staters Believed

Pro-slavery people in Kansas Territory often said that all Free-Staters were abolitionists. They did this to get more support against them. However, leaders like Eli Thayer from the New England Company, who helped Free-Staters move to Kansas, said they weren't trying to end slavery everywhere. They just didn't want it in Kansas.

Early Plans for Kansas

In 1855, the Free-Staters wrote a plan for Kansas called the Topeka Constitution. This plan would have stopped any Black person from settling in Kansas, whether they were enslaved or free. This shows a big difference between Free-Staters and true abolitionists. Abolitionists wanted equal rights for all Black people and to end unfair treatment against them.

Changes Over Time

As the violence of Bleeding Kansas grew worse, the Free-State movement and abolitionists started to work more closely. By 1858, the Free-Staters suggested a second plan, the Leavenworth Constitution. This plan would have banned slavery and also given Black men the right to vote. However, this plan also failed because the two sides couldn't agree.

Kansas finally became a state in 1861. This happened after the fourth and final plan, the Wyandotte Constitution, was accepted. A town in Kansas, Holton, Kansas, was named after a Free-Stater from Milwaukee, Wisconsin named Edward Dwight Holton.

Images for kids

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  An 1855 Free-State poster from Kansas Territory. It calls for action against slavery supporters and their laws.