Sacking of Lawrence

E391705

The Sacking of Lawrence was an 1856 pro-slavery attack on the anti-slavery stronghold of Lawrence, Kansas, that escalated sectional tensions in the lead-up to the American Civil War.

All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
Sack of Lawrence 4
Sacking of Lawrence canonical 4

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf event in Bleeding Kansas
pro-slavery raid
violent attack
attacker Douglas County Sheriff’s posse
pro-slavery militia from Missouri
belligerent Free-State settlers in Lawrence
pro-slavery forces
cause dispute over whether Kansas would enter the Union as a free or slave state
pro-slavery opposition to the Free-State movement in Kansas Territory
tensions created by the Kansas–Nebraska Act
commander David Rice Atchison
Sheriff Samuel J. Jones
conflictType civil conflict
mob violence
country United States of America
surface form: United States
date 1856-05-21
followedBy Pottawatomie massacre
further guerrilla warfare in Kansas Territory
historicalPeriod Antebellum period
surface form: Antebellum United States

Bleeding Kansas crisis
surface form: Bleeding Kansas era
ideologyOfAttackers pro-slavery
ideologyOfDefenders Free-State movement
anti-slavery
location Kansas Territory
Lawrence, Kansas
notableAction destruction of anti-slavery printing presses
destruction of the Free-State Hotel
looting of homes and businesses
partOf Bleeding Kansas crisis
surface form: Bleeding Kansas

sectional conflict over slavery in the United States
precededBy fraudulent pro-slavery territorial elections in Kansas
propertyDamage significant
relatedEvent American Civil War
Kansas–Nebraska Act
Pottawatomie massacre
Battle of Osawatomie
surface form: Sack of Osawatomie
result contributed to John Brown’s decision to carry out the Pottawatomie massacre
destruction of property in Lawrence
escalation of sectional tensions before the American Civil War
increased national attention to violence in Kansas Territory
radicalization of some anti-slavery activists
significance contributed to the breakdown of compromise over slavery
helped inflame Northern public opinion against the Slave Power
symbol of pro-slavery aggression against Free-State settlers
target Downtown Lawrence
surface form: Free-State Hotel in Lawrence

anti-slavery presses in Lawrence
newspaper offices in Lawrence
year 1856

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (8)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Bleeding Kansas crisis hasPart Sacking of Lawrence
Lawrence, Kansas siteOf Sacking of Lawrence
this entity surface form: Sack of Lawrence
Lawrence hasHistoricEvent Sacking of Lawrence
subject surface form: Lawrence, Kansas
Kansas Territory significantEvent Sacking of Lawrence
this entity surface form: Sack of Lawrence
Pottawatomie massacre precededBy Sacking of Lawrence
Battle of Osawatomie precededBy Sacking of Lawrence
this entity surface form: Sack of Lawrence
Battle of Osawatomie relatedEvent Sacking of Lawrence
this entity surface form: Sack of Lawrence
Wakarusa War relatedTo Sacking of Lawrence