Changes

The Border Ruffians also stirred up violence between themselves and the Free-Staters in a bloody affair since known as "[[Bleeding Kansas]]", beginning with the burning of a hotel and printing press in [[Lawrence, Kansas|Lawrence]] on May 21, 1856.  Several days later an anti-slavery religious fanatic named [[John Brown]] and a few followers retaliated against five pro-slavery men, hacking them to death with [[broadsword]]s.  By August thousands of men had formed into pro-slavery armies and marched into Kansas, expecting to force the territory to accept slavery. That same month a small, pitched battle occurred near the city of [[Osawatomie]]; 300 pro-slavery soldiers under the command of John W. Reid fought against Brown and 40 men.  Brown lost the battle and Osawatomie was looted and burned.  A fragile peace led by a new territorial governor would commence only when Brown and his men left the territory.<ref>http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/kansas.html</ref>

The Border Ruffians also stirred up violence between themselves and the Free-Staters in a bloody affair since known as "[[Bleeding Kansas]]", beginning with the burning of a hotel and printing press in [[Lawrence, Kansas|Lawrence]] on May 21, 1856.  Several days later an anti-slavery religious fanatic named [[John Brown]] and a few followers retaliated against five pro-slavery men, hacking them to death with [[broadsword]]s.  By August thousands of men had formed into pro-slavery armies and marched into Kansas, expecting to force the territory to accept slavery. That same month a small, pitched battle occurred near the city of [[Osawatomie]]; 300 pro-slavery soldiers under the command of John W. Reid fought against Brown and 40 men.  Brown lost the battle and Osawatomie was looted and burned.  A fragile peace led by a new territorial governor would commence only when Brown and his men left the territory.<ref>http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/kansas.html</ref>

The day after the hotel in Lawrence was burned, a [[South Carolina]] congressman named [[Preston Brooks]], incensed over an anti-slavery speech given by Massachusetts Senator [[Charles Sumner]], walked onto the senate floor and beat him with a cane so severely that Sumner took three years to recover.<ref>Bowman, pg 38</ref>

The day after the hotel in Lawrence was burned, a [[South Carolina]] Democrat congressman named [[Preston Brooks]], incensed over an anti-slavery speech given by Massachusetts Senator [[Charles Sumner]], walked onto the Senate floor and viciously beat him with a cane so severely that Sumner took three years to recover, while Brooks' fellow Democrat [[Laurence M. Keitt]] used a pistol to keep other politicians at bay to prevent them from stopping the attack.<ref>Bowman, pg 38</ref> A subsequent attempt to expel Brooks from Congress for his criminal actions failed and he received only a $300 fine and was not imprisoned after being found guilty in a later trial, but Brooks was later publicly humiliated when he no-showed a duel he challenged congressman Anson Burlingame to (which Burlingame goaded Brooks into making in retaliation for the assault on Sumner with a blistering speech in Congress that denounced Brooks as a coward for the attack) and attempted to make flimsy excuses for why he refused to face Burlingame, an expert marksman.

===Dred Scott decision===

===Dred Scott decision===