Border Ruffians
Border Ruffians burn the town of Lawrence, Kansas
Who are Border Ruffians
Border Ruffians were pro-slavery activists from the slave state of Missouri. In 1854 to
1860 crossed the state border into Kansas, to force people to accept slavery there. The
name was applied by Free-State settlers in Kansas and abolitionists throughout the
North.
Why did they do this?
They did it to intimidate the public to have them vote Kansas in to the Union as a Slave
State. The border ruffians were a group of pro-slavery men who went into Kansas to
sway (intimidate) the public.