Editing Lawrence, Kansas (section)

===Kansas statehood and the American Civil War===
[[File:Battle of Lawrence.png|thumb|Lawrence during the [[Lawrence Massacre]], as illustrated in ''[[Harper's Weekly]]'']]
{{See also|Lawrence massacre|Lawrence blockhouses}}
[[File:Sherman Enderton Quantrill Raid sketch.jpg|thumb|Eyewitness Sherman Enderton's sketch of Quantrill's attack on Lawrence]]
[[File:Lawrence massacre ruins.jpg|thumb|Lawrence in ruins, following the Lawrence Massacre, as illustrated in ''Harper's Weekly''. The ruins of the Eldridge House are in the foreground.]]

On October 4, 1859, the [[Wyandotte Constitution]] was approved in a referendum by a vote of 10,421 to 5,530, and after its approval by the U.S. Congress, Kansas was admitted as a free state on January 29, 1861.<ref name="Adoption">{{cite web|url=http://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/kansas-constitutions/16532|title=Kansas Constitutions|website=KSHS.org|publisher=Kansas Historical Society|access-date=July 6, 2018}}</ref> By the time the Wyandotte Constitution was framed in 1859, it was clear the proslavery forces had lost in their bid to control Kansas. But while Kansas's entrance into the Union as a free state arguably ended the Bleeding Kansas period, it coincided with the outbreak of the [[American Civil War]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Wyandotte Constitution|url=https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/wyandotte-constitution/13884|website=Kansapedia|publisher=[[Kansas State Historical Society]]|access-date=April 27, 2018|date=April 2010}}</ref> Kansas's admission as a free state immediately followed the departure of the seceding states' pro-slavery congressmen, who until then had blocked it.

During the war, Lawrence became a stronghold for [[Jayhawker]] guerilla units (also known as "Red Legs"), led by James Lane, [[James Montgomery (colonel)|James Montgomery]], and [[Charles R. Jennison|"Doc" Jennison]], among others. These groups raided parts of western Missouri, stealing goods and burning down farms; it was a common belief by Southerners that the goods snatched by these Jayhawkers were stored in Lawrence.<ref>Drago (1998), pp. 4{{en dash}}5.</ref> On August 21, 1863, Lawrence was [[Lawrence Massacre|attacked and destroyed]] by [[William Quantrill]] and hundreds of his [[Irregular military|irregular]] [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] [[Quantrill's Raiders|raiders]]. Most houses and businesses in Lawrence were burned and between 150 and 200 men and boys were murdered,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kancoll.org/books/cordley_massacre/quantrel.raid.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021025065731/http://www.kancoll.org/books/cordley_massacre/quantrel.raid.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 25, 2002 |title=The Lawrence Massacre, Part One |publisher=Kancoll.org |date=June 30, 1994 |access-date= May 21, 2012}}</ref><ref>Andreas (1883), pp. 321{{en dash}}23.</ref> leaving 80 widows and 250 orphans.<ref name=biennialreport /> About $2,000,000 worth of property ({{inflation|US|2000000|1863|fmt=eq}}) was destroyed.<ref name=biennialreport /> The [[Plymouth Congregational Church (Lawrence, Kansas)|Plymouth Congregational Church]] in Lawrence survived the attack, but a number of its members were killed and its records were destroyed.<ref name="Plymouth-History">{{cite web|last=Sellen|first=Al|url=http://www.plymouthlawrence.com/who/history/|title=A Brief Outline of Plymouth's History|publisher=Plymouth Congregational Church|access-date=September 27, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528051934/http://www.plymouthlawrence.com/who/history/|archive-date=May 28, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Following the Lawrence Massacre, the survivors and their Unionist allies began to clean up the damage and restore their settlement.<ref>Cordley (1895), pp. 251{{en dash}}56.</ref> After a very bitter winter that forced the citizens to temporarily put their work on hold, rebuilding continued into 1864,<ref>Cordley (1895), pp. 253{{en dash}}54, 256.</ref> and was completed with a zeal that Richard Cordley described as akin to "a religious obligation".<ref>Cordley (1895), p. 251.</ref> Given the trauma of 1863, the citizens of Lawrence were on edge during this period of rebuilding; Cordley notes, "Rumors [of guerrilla attacks] were thick and the people [of Lawrence] were particularly sensitive to them."<ref>Cordley (1895), p. 254.</ref> Consequently, Lawrence citizens organized themselves into [[Company (military unit)|companies]] to protect the city.<ref>Cordley (1895), p. 255.</ref> Around this time, the federal government also erected several [[Mount Oread Civil War posts|military posts on Mount Oread]] (among them Camp Ewing, Camp Lookout, and Fort Ulysses) to keep guard over the city. However, no further attacks were made on Lawrence, and these installations were eventually abandoned and dismantled after the war.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Pollard|first1=William C. Jr.|title=Kansas Forts During the Civil War|url=http://www.vlib.us/old_west/forts1865.html|website=Kansas History|access-date=May 29, 2018|year=1992}}</ref><ref>Bisel and Martin (2013).</ref>