Why did Kansas become known as bloody Kansas?

Answer 1

The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 called for "popular sovereignty." The decision about slavery was to be made by the settlers in Kansas rather than by outsiders. The decision as to whether Kansas would become a free state or a slave state would be decided by the votes of people in Kansas. Whichever side had more votes counted by officials would decide if Kansas would become a free state or a slave state. Kansas became a hotbed of violence and chaos as free state and slave state forces collided.

Answer 2

Prior to Kansas joining the Union, the Kansas Territory was a hotbed of violence and chaos between anti-slavery and pro-slavery settlers. Kansas was known as Bleeding Kansas as these forces collided over the issue of slavery in the United States. The term "Bleeding Kansas" was coined by Republican Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune.

Answer 3

When Kansas was going to be admitted to the United States, it was decided that whether it would be admitted as a free or slave state was to be determined by popular sovereignty ... in other words, the people living in Kansas at the time would get to vote whether they wanted to allow slavery or not (more specifically, they would vote to elect a legislature, who would in turn vote on the slavery question itself ... but candidates for office made their position on the slavery issue a central plank in their campaign platforms, so it amounted to much the same thing).

Both sides attempted to swing the vote both by moving in and settling in Kansas to establish residency (and this be able to vote), and by frankly illegal actions such as having non-residents vote. The conflict didn't stay purely academic for long, and a number of phrases, including "Border War", "Bloody Kansas" and "Bleeding Kansas" were used to describe the situation.

Answer 4

cause all the violence that happen there