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Primary sourceSpeech24 January 1856

Special Message to Congress on Kansas

Franklin Pierce · 24 January 1856

Pierce's January 1856 message recognizing the proslavery Kansas legislature and branding the rival free-state government revolutionary.

Pierce wrote this message himself, taking the proslavery side in the Kansas conflict and rejecting the free-state government.

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Title page of a pamphlet titled 'The Kansas Question,' containing an act organizing the territorial government of Kansas, extracts from President Pierce's message on slavery, and a special message on Kansas affairs. Printed at the Union Office, Washington, 1856.
Franklin Pierce, Special Message to Congress on Kansas, 24 January 1856.

About this source

What it is

This is a special message President Franklin Pierce sent to Congress on 24 January 1856, during the violent conflict known as Bleeding Kansas. In it, Pierce refused to recognize the Free-State legislature in Topeka and declared it revolutionary, while recognizing the proslavery territorial legislature instead. The document survives in a pamphlet called 'The Kansas Question,' printed in Washington in 1856.

Why it matters

Pierce's message took a clear side in the Kansas conflict, backing the proslavery government against free-state settlers. It shows how the president used his authority to shape the outcome of the struggle over slavery in Kansas, deepening the crisis and further alienating Northern opinion against his administration.

Look closer

  • Why would Pierce call one Kansas government legitimate and the other revolutionary?
  • What effect might this message have had on settlers and politicians already in conflict in Kansas?
  • What does the title 'The Kansas Question' suggest about how the conflict was viewed at the time?

This speech is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Franklin Pierce on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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