Editing Lawrence, Kansas (section)

===Sacking===
{{Main|Sacking of Lawrence}}
To calm the increasingly belligerent settlers, the governor of the Kansas Territory, [[Wilson Shannon]], called on the Kansas militia to intervene. Shannon had intended for the militia to be composed of Kansans, but Jones mustered a small army of 1,200–1,500 proslavery men, all but about 50 of them from Missouri.<ref name=biennialreport /><ref>Litteer (1987), pp. 13{{en dash}}14.</ref><ref name=wakwarcyc1/><ref name=cordley54>Cordley (1895), p. 54.</ref> When the citizens of Lawrence learned of Jones's army, they raised up a defensive militia of 600–800 men armed with "[[Beecher's Bibles]]". Robinson was chosen to direct the city's military operations, the future state senator [[James H. Lane (politician)|James Lane]] was selected as his second-in-command, and a "committee of safety" was also created, which organized squads of about 20 men to keep watch over the city. Lawrence was additionally aided by John Brown and his four sons: John Jr., Oliver, Owen, and Watson. Five forts of earthwork or rifle pits were constructed, and a solid defense was prepared. While both sides were ready for a fight, an outright clash between the two militias was prevented at least in part by the harsh Kansas winter. On December 8, Shannon had had enough and ordered representatives from both sides to meet at the proslavery stronghold of Franklin to sign a peace treaty. Terms were agreed to, and eventually, after much persuading, the Missouri army reluctantly left the area.<ref name=biennialreport /><ref name=wakwarcyc>{{cite web|last1=Mullis|first1=Tony|title=Wakarusa War|url=http://www.civilwaronthewesternborder.org/content/wakarusa-war|website=Civil War on the Western Border: The Missouri-Kansas Conflict, 1854–1865|access-date=September 5, 2015|date=April 22, 2013}}</ref><ref name=wakwarcyc1>{{cite web|url=http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/archives/1912/w/wakarusa_war.html |title=Wakarusa War {{en dash}} KS-Cyclopedia {{en dash}} 1912 |publisher=Skyways.Lib.KS.us |access-date=May 21, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512061914/http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/archives/1912/w/wakarusa_war.html |archive-date=May 12, 2012 }}</ref><ref>Fitzgerald (1988), pp. 74{{en dash}}75.</ref> This conflict, despite its rather diminutive size and scale, would later be known as the "[[Wakarusa War]]".<ref name=wakwarcyc1 />

[[File:Sacking-lawrence.jpg|thumb|Ruins of [[The Eldridge Hotel|Free State Hotel]] after the 1856 [[Sacking of Lawrence]]]]

In the spring of 1856, the proslavery forces, hoping to diminish the power of the anti-slavery settlers, singled out the ''Kansas Free State'', the ''Herald of Freedom'', and the [[The Eldridge Hotel|Free State Hotel]] (the latter of which the NEEAC owned and operated) as "nuisances" that needed to be stopped.<ref name="Cutler Newspapers" /> On April 23, 1856 Sheriff Jones entered Lawrence and attempted to arrest about a dozen members of the extralegal [[Free-Stater (Kansas)|Free-State]] legislature (a [[Opposition (politics)|rogue governing body]] set up in opposition to the official proslavery territorial government). During the commotion, Jones was non-fatally shot by a [[sniper]] named Charles Lenhart, and Lawrence residents promptly drove the sheriff out of town.<ref name=biennialreport /><ref>Connelley (2018) [1900], p. 53.</ref><ref name=ball/> The people of Lawrence disavowed the act, and they offered a $500 bounty for the sniper's arrest.<ref name=cordley88>Cordley (1895), p. 88.</ref>

A few weeks later, on May 11, Federal Marshal Israel B. Donaldson proclaimed the act had interfered with the legal execution of warrants against select antislavery settlers.<ref name="ball">Ball (2001), p. 174.</ref> This proclamation was bolstered by a Kansas grand jury's [[wiktionary:presentment|presentment]] that "the building known as the 'Free State' Hotel' {{sic}} in Lawrence had been constructed with a view to military occupation and defence, regularly parapetted and port holed, for the use of cannon and small arms, thereby endangering the public safety, and encouraging rebellion and sedition in this country".<ref>Griffin (1968), pp. 409{{en dash}}26.</ref> Donaldson, Jones, and Missouri senator [[David Rice Atchison]] consequently raised another army of around 800 [[Southern United States|Southerner]]s.<ref>Ball (2001), p. 175.</ref><ref>Monaghan (1984), pp. 55{{en dash}}58.</ref> Ostensibly this army's purpose was to enforce the legal arrest warrants, but the group was also motivated by a desire to stamp out the Free-Stater nest that was Lawrence.<ref name="money_book">Whitfield (2014), p. 14.</ref>

On May 21, Donaldson and Jones rode into town and arrested those who had evaded them. While the citizens of Lawrence hoped the officers would leave peacefully, this did not come to pass.<ref name="money_book" /> Donaldson dismissed his men, who Jomes immediately [[Deputy sheriff|deputized]]. The sheriff was then joined by more followers and together they began to [[Sacking of Lawrence|sack the city]]. After seizing the house of Charles Robinson (who had recently been arrested in Missouri, and was held in prison near Lecompton on grounds of treason)<ref name="biennialreport" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Charles Robinson Arrested in Lexington, Missouri |url=http://www.civilwaronthewesternborder.org/timeline/charles-robinson-arrested-lexington-missouri |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011120126/http://www.civilwaronthewesternborder.org/timeline/charles-robinson-arrested-lexington-missouri |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 October 2018 |access-date=February 21, 2019|year=2014|website=Civil War on the Western Border|publisher=[[Kansas City Public Library]]}}</ref> to serve as his headquarters, Jones and his men attacked the offices of the antislavery newspapers. The attackers smashed the presses, tossed the [[Sort (typesetting)|type]] into the nearby Kansas River, and threw printed copies of the newspapers into the wind. Afterward, the proslavery mob shot the Free State Hotel with a cannon and burnt it down. Jones and his men then pillaged $30,000 worth of valuables. When Jones left the city, he and his men lit Robinson's house on fire for good measure.<ref name="money_book" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/lawrencesack.htm |title=The Sack of Lawrence, Kansas, 1856 |website=EyeWitnessToHistory.com |access-date=May 21, 2012}}</ref>

Although the city was thoroughly ransacked, the human cost of the attack was low: only one person{{em dash}}a member of Jones's posses{{em dash}}died during the attack when he was struck by a piece of falling masonry.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-law-that-ripped-america-in-two-99723670/ |author=Drake, Ross|title=The Law That Ripped America in Two|journal=[[Smithsonian Institution|Smithsonian Magazine]]|date=May 1, 2004|access-date=October 2, 2017}}</ref> In late September 1856, another sack seemed nigh when, according to the Kansas State Board of Agriculture 1878 Biennial Report, "2,700 proslavery men appeared in sight of Lawrence, and the city was temporarily defended by Free-State men, under the command of Maj. J. B. Abbott".<ref name="biennialreport" /><ref name="KSGenWeb Douglas1" /> However, this threat was neutralized when the recently-installed territorial governor [[John W. Geary]] realized what was about to happen and called for federal reinforcements to defend the city.<ref name="biennialreport">[[#Board|Kansas State Board of Agriculture]] (1878), pp. 187–191.</ref><ref name="KSGenWeb Douglas1">{{cite web|url=http://www.ksgenweb.org/archives/1878/douglas.html|title=First Biennial Report, 1878, Douglas County, Kansas|access-date=May 23, 2019|publisher=KSGenWeb}} Kansas State Board of Agriculture 1878 Biennial Report.</ref>