page_title: Border Ruffian
hierarchical_section_title: Border Ruffian
caption_attribution_description: Liberty, the fair maid of Kansas in the hands of the border ruffians, ca1856.This cartoon "portrays the Democratic leaders as jovial and unscrupulous marauders. Robbery, murder and abduction (common occurrences during the struggle between free-soil and pro-slavery advocates in the new states) are laid to Pierce, Buchanan, Cass, Marcy and Douglas. The cheefulness with which these men supported measures leading to such crimes are forcibly emphasized by the cartoonist in depicting them as actual outlaws." Massachusetts Digital Commonwealth
context_page_description: In Kansas, Border Ruffians was the name applied to pro-slavery settlers from the slave state of Missouri, who from 1854 to 1860 crossed the state border into Kansas Territory to force the acceptance of slavery there.
  Armed Ruffians interfered in territorial elections, and attacked Free-State settlements. This violence was the origin of the phrase "Bleeding Kansas". The Ruffians contributed to the growing sectional tensions, and helped bring on the American Civil War. The Ruffians were driven by the rhetoric of leaders such as U.S. Senator David Rice Atchison who called Northerners "negro thieves" and "abolitionist tyrants". He encouraged Missourians to defend their institution "with the bayonet and with blood" and, if necessary, "to kill every God-damned abolitionist in the district." Notably, only a few of the Border Ruffians actually owned slaves; most were too poor. What motivated them was hatred of Yankees and abolitionists, and fear of free blacks living nearby.
  The presence of bands of both Kansan and Missourian combatants in the area made it difficult for families on the border to remain neutral.
context_section_description: In Kansas, Border Ruffians was the name applied to pro-slavery settlers from the slave state of Missouri, who from 1854 to 1860 crossed the state border into Kansas Territory to force the acceptance of slavery there. 
  Armed Ruffians interfered in territorial elections, and attacked Free-State settlements. This violence was the origin of the phrase "Bleeding Kansas". The Ruffians contributed to the growing sectional tensions, and helped bring on the American Civil War. The Ruffians were driven by the rhetoric of leaders such as U.S. Senator David Rice Atchison (D-Missouri) who called Northerners "negro thieves" and "abolitionist tyrants".  He encouraged Missourians to defend their institution "with the bayonet and with blood" and, if necessary, "to kill every God-damned abolitionist in the district." Notably, only a few of the Border Ruffians actually owned slaves; most were too poor. What motivated them was hatred of Yankees and abolitionists, and fear of free blacks living nearby. 
  The presence of bands of both Kansan and Missourian combatants in the area made it difficult for families on the border to remain neutral.
caption: Liberty, the fair maid of Kansas-in the hands of the "border ruffians", c1856
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