| The "Free-state" cause greatly injured by Brown's deeds. The passage of the bill for the admission of Kansas by the House. |
The Pottawattomie murders, and the robberies succeeding them, had, however, greatly damaged the "Free-state" cause. The great advantage which had accrued to it through the sacking of Lawrence and the outrage upon Senator Sumner was now largely lost again. Still, emigration from the Northern Commonwealths to Kansas continued in great activity, and the House of Representatives at Washington was steadily advancing toward the passage of the resolution for the admission of "Free-state" Kansas into the Union, although the flight of its committee of investigation from the Territory, in consequence of the excitement following the murders on the Pottawattomie, and the two reports which its members made of the situation in Kansas, exercised an unfavorable influence on the movement. The House passed the bill, however, on July 3rd, by a majority of two votes, but it would admit neither of the claimants to a seat in the House.
| Dispersal of the "Free-state" legislature by Colonel Sumner. |
On the other hand, Colonel Sumner, while personally in sympathy with the "Free-state" cause, felt it to be his official duty to disperse the "Free-state" legislature which assembled at Topeka on July 4th. The President and the Secretary of War, Mr. Jefferson Davis, subsequently disapproved of this act, and denied that the authority for it was either expressed or implied in any of their instructions to Colonel Sumner. The Colonel thought the contrary, and felt that the unpopularity of the procedure throughout the North had caused the President and the Secretary to disavow a responsibility for it which was rightfully their own. A careful reading of the dispatches leads to the conclusion that the Colonel did exceed his powers. He was, doubtless, led to do so unconsciously by the violent deeds of men professing connection with the "Free-state" party. The misunderstanding led finally to the retirement of Colonel Sumner from the command of the United States forces in Kansas, and the assignment of General P. F. Smith to that duty.
| The "Free-state" Directory. |
After the dispersion of the "Free-state" legislature, the "Free-state" men, who were gathered in Lawrence, held a convention, and elected a committee, whose duty it should be to look after the interests of the people. This committee selected from among its members a sub-committee of five, and transferred all of its powers and duties to this sub-committee. The "Free-state" government had now become a directorial board of five persons, chief among whom were William Hutchinson and James Blood. The seat of this Directory was Lawrence.
| The organization of the "Free-state" military. |