Bleeding Kansas, Bleeding Missouri: The Long Civil War on the Border

by Jonathan Earle (Editor), Diane Mutti Burke (Editor)

Long before the first shot of the Civil War was fired at Fort Sumter, violence had already erupted along the Missouri-Kansas border--a recurring cycle of robbery, arson, torture, murder, and revenge. This multifaceted study brings together fifteen scholars to expand our understanding of this vitally important region, the violence that besieged it, and its overall impact on the Civil War.

Bleeding Kansas, Bleeding Missouri blends political, military, social, and intellectual history to explain why the region's divisiveness was so bitter and persisted for so long. Providing a more nuanced understanding of the conflict, it defines both what united and divided the men and women who lived there and how various political disagreements ultimately disintegrated into violence. By focusing on contested definitions of liberty, citizenship, and freedom, it also explores how civil societies break down and how they are reconstructed when the conflict ends.

The contributors examine this key chapter in American history in all of its complexity. Essays on "Slavery and Politics of Law and Order along the Border" examine how the border region was transformed by the conflict over the status of slavery in Kansas Territory and how the emerging conflict on the Kansas-Missouri border took on a larger national significance. Other essays focus on the transition to total warfare and examine the wartime experiences of the diverse people who populated the region in "Making the Border Bleed." Final articles on "The Border Reconstructed and Remembered" explore the ways in which border residents rebuilt their society after the war and how they remembered it decades later.

As this penetrating collection shows, only when Missourians and Kansans embraced a common vision for America--one based on shared agricultural practices, ideas about economic development, and racial equality--could citizens on both sides of the border reconcile.

Genres: History, Civil War, Nonfiction

360 pages, Paperback

First published August 20, 2013

Reviews

[Shannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mostly dreadful, boring essays about things that have little to nothing to do with the stated topic. Ugh.

[Keith P · Rating 2 out of 5]

The anthology's chapter by Neely on the Quantrill Men Reunions provided a new, insightful, and interesting contribution to the historiography of the Border War. Not all chapters met that standard. The chapter by KU history professor Weber on the Border War's legacy in the athletic rivalry between the University of Kansas and University of Missouri was interesting, but of questionable accuracy. The chapter's premise is that the notion of the rivalry being rooted in Civil War era animosities is a myth of relatively recent invention. There is plenty of evidence (none of it cited by Weber) to the contrary, going back to early decades of the athletic rivalry. Weber's chapter left me wondering if some of the other chapters in the book may also have been products of superficial research and/or inadequate peer review.

[Cindy Leighton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like most anthologies this is an uneven collection of essays. Some of the essays provided what was to me fascinating new information like the Guerilla Shirts and the annual reunions of Quantrill men. One essay about the use of the Border Wars by the marketing depts of KU and MU to add a fictitious "depth" to their sports rivalry was also very interesting. Some good information about Quindaro and about the first use of armed African American troops at Island Mound. But overall a lot of repetitive info, and some essays really lacking.

[Don Heiman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I learned so much about Lawrence Kansas history -- a city I know and love for the past 37 years.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starts slow, and some of the writers are better than others, but a very good indepth discussion about the border conflicts before, during, and after the Civil War.

[Tim Shepard · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting collect of essays about the Bleeding Kansas era. Many forget that the blood spilled on both sides of the border. Well organized and thought out.

[Gary McCallister · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating, if you have a need to know. Uneven as usual for books with multiple authors doing different chapters.