In this article, Nicole provides his study of the violent struggle between proslavery and antislavery forces over Kansas during the mid-1850s. He agrees that the key issue at play was freedom for white settlers. During the Civil War many Kansans fighting for the admission of their state under an antislavery constitution applauded emancipation. However, Nicole persuasively argues that:
“Bleeding Kansas began as a struggle to secure the political liberties of whites.”
He argues that, racist pioneers from both sections battled to ensure that the plains would remain a haven for white freedom, disagreeing primarily over slavery's compatibility with that goal. His arguments show that antislavery politics in the early national period, spearheaded
“Bleeding Kansas began as a struggle to secure the political liberties of whites.”
He argues that, racist pioneers from both sections battled to ensure that the plains would remain a haven for white freedom, disagreeing primarily over slavery's compatibility with that goal. His arguments show that antislavery politics in the early national period, spearheaded