er and served
one term in Congress. The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act aroused
his indignation as nothing had ever aroused it before. He denied that
any man had the right to govern another man, be he white or be he black,
without that man's consent. He thought that blood would surely be shed
before the slavery question would be settled in Kansas, and the first
shedding of blood would be the beginning of the end of the Union.

[Sidenote: Seward's challenge to the Southerners. _McMaster_, 347-351.]

[Sidenote: The Sons of the South.]

[Sidenote: Fraudulent election. _Source-Book_, 287-289.]

353. Settlement of Kansas.--In the debate on the Kansas-Nebraska
bill Senator Seward of New York said to the Southerners: "Come on,
then.... We will engage in competition for the soil of Kansas, and God
give the victory to the side that is strong in numbers as it is in
right." Seward spoke truly. The victory came to those opposed to the
extension of slavery. But it was a long time in coming. As soon as the
act was passed, armed "Sons of the South" crossed the frontier of
Missouri and founded the town of Atchison. Then came large bands of
armed settlers from the North and the East. They founded the towns of
Lawrence and Topeka. An election was held. Hundreds of men poured over
the boundary of Missouri, outvoted the free-soil settlers in Kansas, and
then went home. The territorial legislature, chosen in this way, adopted
the laws of Missouri, slave code and all, as the laws of Kansas. It
seemed as if Kansas were lost to freedom.

[Sidenote: Free-state constitution.]

[Sidenote: The Senate refuses to admit Kansas.]

354. The Topeka Convention.--The free-state voters now held a
convention at Topeka. They drew up a constitution and applied to
Congress for admission to the Union as the free state of Kansas. The
free-state men and the slave-state men each elected a Delegate to
Congress. The House of Representatives now took the matter up and
appointed a committee of investigation. The committee reported in favor
of the free-state men, and the House voted to admit Kansas as a free
state. But the Senate would not consent to anything of the kind. The
contest in Kansas went on and became more bitter every month.

[Sidenote: Origin of the Republican party. _McMaster_, 352-355.]

[Sidenote: Anti-Nebraska men.]

355. The Republican Party.--The most important result of the
Kansas-Nebraska fight was the formation of the Republican part