Douglas had brought in the bill to make himself popular. But he made a great mistake. All over the North he was hated and cursed because of it. In town after town he was hanged in effigy, and then burned with every mark of scorn. He was reviled as a Judas, and some women living in a little Northern village sent him thirty pieces of silver.
In spite of this bill the Northerners were determined that slavery should not be extended. So even before the President had signed it men were hurring westward into Kansas. Claims were staked out, trees were felled, and huts built as if by magic. Settlers streamed in by hundreds every day. Some came of themselves, others were sent by societies got up to help settlers, and by the end of the year, two or three towns were founded.
But the slave holders were just as determined to make Kansas a slave state. So from Missouri, which was a slave state and bordered upon the Kansas Territory, thousands of slave owners came over the border and settled in Kansas.
They too found several towns, and there began a fierce struggle for the upper hand.
March 30th, 1855 was appointed by the Governor for the election of a council and House of Representatives for the Territory.
The "Free Staters" were already to vote in force. But the election was a farce. For when the day came, five thousand Missourians marched across the border. They were a wild, sunburned, picturesque mob. They had guns on their shoulders, revolvers stuck in their belts and bowie knives in their big top boots.
They took possession of the polling booths, and if the judges would not do as they wished, they were turned out.
"Do you live in Kansas?" asked a Judge
"Yes, I do," replied the Missourian, without a moment's hesitation.
"Does your family live in Kansas?" asked the judge, who knew the man was not speaking the truth.