Kansas Museum of History

Guided Theme Tours:
Bleeding Kansas and the Civil War

Grades 5 - 8

The series of events that occurred during the "Bleeding Kansas" era and those that followed during the Civil War will be chronicled in the tour through artifacts and hands on objects, historic photographs, and documents.

This tour addresses, yet does not fulfill, the following standards:

History: Grade 7, Benchmark 2,
Indicator 1: The student describes the concept of popular sovereignty under the Kansas-Nebraska Act and its impact on developing a state constitution.

Indicator 2: The student describes how the dispute over slavery shaped life in Kansas Territory (e.g., border ruffians, bushwhackers, jayhawkers, the Underground Railroad, free-staters, abolitionists).

Indicator 3: The student analyzes the importance of "Bleeding Kansas" to the rest of the United States in the years leading up to the Civil War (e.g., national media attention, caning of Senator Charles Sumner, Emigrant Aid Societies, Beecher Bible and Rifle Colony, poems of John Greenleaf Whittier, John Brown).

Indicator 4: The student describes the role of important individuals during the territorial period (e.g., Charles Robinson, James Lane, John Brown, Clarina Nichols, Samuel Jones, David Atchison, Andrew H. Reeder).

Indicator 5: The student analyzes the Wyandotte Constitution with respect to the civil rights of women and African Americans.

Indicator 6: The student describes important events in Kansas during the Civil War (e.g., Quantrill's Raid on Lawrence, the Battle of Mine Creek, recruitment of volunteer regiments).

History: Grade 8, Benchmark 2, Indicator 3: The student retraces events that led to sectionalism and secession prior to the Civil War (e.g., Missouri Compromise, Compromise of 1850, Kansas-Nebraska Act-Popular Sovereignty, Uncle Tom's Cabin).

Length of tour: approximately one hour, tours need to be staggered in half hour increments (e.g., beginning at 10 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11:00 a.m., etc.) Registration: Submit an online tour request; group rates are available with a minimum two weeks advanced registration For more information: contact 785-272-8681, ext. 414; education@kshs.org.