Although, as the Southern leaders realized, the free States had flanked them by the admission of California with an anti-slavery constitution, the Southern acquisition of Kansas would pierce the very centre of the army of freedom, and would enable the South thenceforth to dictate terms to the North.
Blaine highlights the strategic significance of Kansas for the Southern states in the broader conflict over slavery.
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Many Northern Democrats had indeed given the assurance that if any attempt at coercion should be made by the Republican National Administration, they would themselves meet it with force, and that, if war should come, it would be in the…
An avenging God cannot sleep while such things find countenance.
In all the revolted states, upon the testimony of your ablest generals, there is no safety to the property or lives of loyal men.
The feeling in many portions of the country toward the emancipated slaves, especially among the ignorant and uneducated, is one of vindictive and malicious hatred.
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