Part 634

"The attention of the whole country had now been turned to the struggle provoked by the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, and the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. The fertile soil of Kansas had been offered as a prize to be contended for by Free and Slave States, and both had accepted the contest. The Slave State settlers were first in the field. The slave-holders of Western Missouri, which shut off Kansas from the Free States, had crossed the border, preempted lands, and warned Free State immigrants not to pass through Missouri. {1937} The first election of a delegate to Congress took place November 29th, 1854, and was carried by organized bands of Missourians, who moved over the border on election day, voted, and returned at once to Missouri. The spring election of 1855, for a Territorial Legislature, was carried in the same fashion. In July, 1855, the Legislature, all Pro-Slavery, met at Pawnee, and adopted a State Constitution. To save trouble it adopted the laws of the State of Missouri entire, with a series of original statutes denouncing the penalty of death for nearly fifty offenses against Slavery. All through the spring and summer of 1855 Kansas was the scene of almost continuous conflict, the Border Ruffians of Missouri endeavoring to drive out the Free State settlers by murder and arson, and the Free State settlers retaliating. The cry of 'bleeding Kansas' went through the North. Emigration societies were formed in the Free States to aid, arm, equip, and protect intending settlers. These, prevented from passing through Missouri, took a more Northern route through Iowa and Nebraska, and moved into Kansas like an invading army. The Southern states also sent parties of intending settlers. But these were not generally slave-holders, but young men anxious for excitement. They did not go to Kansas, as their opponents did, to plow, sow, gather crops, and build up homes. Therefore, though their first rapid and violent movements were successful, their subsequent increase of resources and numbers was not equal to that of the Free State settlers. The Territory soon became practically divided into a Pro-Slavery district, and a Free State district. Leavenworth in the former, and Topeka and Lawrence in the latter, were the chief towns. September 5th, 1855, a Free State Convention at Topeka repudiated the Territorial Legislature and all its works, as the acts and deeds of Missourians alone. It also resolved to order a separate election for delegate to Congress, so as to force that body to decide the question, and to form a State government. January 15th, 1856, the Free State settlers [having applied to Congress for admission as a State] elected State officers under the Topeka Free State Constitution. The Federal Executive now entered the field. January 24th, 1856, the President [Franklin Pierce], in a Special Message to Congress, endorsed the Pro-Slavery Legislature, and pronounced the attempt to form a Free State government, without the approval of the Federal authorities in the Territory, to be an act of rebellion. He then issued a proclamation, warning all persons engaged in disturbing the peace of Kansas to retire to their homes, and placed United States troops at the orders of Governor Shannon to enforce the (Pro-Slavery) laws of the Territory. The population of Kansas was now so large that very considerable armies were mustered on both sides, and a desultory civil war was kept up until nearly the end of the year. During its progress two Free State towns, Lawrence and Ossawattomie, were sacked. July 4th, 1856, the Free State Legislature attempted to assemble at Topeka, but was at once dispersed by a body of United States troops, under orders from Washington. September 9th, a new Governor, Geary, of Pennsylvania, arrived and succeeded in keeping the peace to some extent by a mixture of temporizing and decided measures. By the end, of the year he even claimed to have established order in the Territory. … January 6th, 1857, the Free State Legislature again attempted to meet at Topeka, and was again dispersed by Federal interference. Its presiding officer and many of its members were arrested by a United States deputy marshal. The Territorial, or Pro-Slavery, Legislature quarreled with Governor Geary, who resigned, and Robert J. Walker, of Mississippi, was appointed in his stead. A resolution was passed by the House [in Congress] declaring the Acts of the Territorial Legislature cruel, oppressive, illegal, and void. It was tabled by the Senate." A new Congress met December 7th, 1857, "with a Democratic majority in both branches. In the House, James L. Orr, of South Carolina, a Democrat, was chosen Speaker. The debates of this Session were mainly upon the last scene in the Kansas struggle. Governor Walker had succeeded in persuading the Free State settlers to recognize the Territorial Legislature so far as to take part in the election which it had ordered. The result gave them control of the Legislature. But a previously elected Pro-Slavery Convention, sitting at Lecompton, went on to form a State Constitution. This was to be submitted to the people, but only votes 'For the Constitution with Slavery,' or 'For the Constitution without Slavery,' were to be received. Not being allowed in either event to vote against the Constitution, the Free State settlers refused to vote at all, and the Lecompton Constitution with Slavery received 6,000 majority. The new Territorial Legislature, however, ordered an election at which the people could vote for or against the Lecompton Constitution, and a majority of 10,000 was cast against it. … The President's Message argued in favor of receiving Kansas as a State under the Lecompton Constitution with Slavery, on the ground that the delegates had been chosen to form a State Constitution, and were not obligated to submit it to the people at all. This view was supported by the Southern members of Congress, and opposed by the Republicans and by a part of the Democrats, headed by Senator Douglas, of Illinois. The Senate passed a bill admitting Kansas as a State, under the Lecompton Constitution. The House passed the bill, with the proviso that the Constitution should again be submitted to a popular vote. The Senate rejected the proviso. A conference committee recommended that the bill of the House should be adopted, with an additional proviso making large grants of public lands to the new State, if the people of Kansas should vote to adopt the Lecompton Constitution. In this form the bill was passed by both Houses, and became a law. … The proffered inducement of public lands was a failure, and in August the Lecompton Constitution was rejected by 10,000 majority. Kansas, therefore, still remained a Territory. In 1859, at an election called by the Territorial Legislature, the people decided in favor of another Convention to form a State Constitution. This body met at Wyandot, in July, 1859, and adopted a State Constitution prohibiting Slavery. The Wyandot Constitution was submitted to the people and received a majority of 4,000 in its favor;" but Congress refused the admission to Kansas under this Constitution, the Senate rejecting, though the House approved.

_A. Johnston, History of American Politics, chapters 18-19._

ALSO IN: _D. W. Wilder, Annals of Kansas (containing the text of the several Constitutions, etc.)._

_E. E. Hale, Kansas and Nebraska, chapters 8-9._

_S. T. L. Robinson, Kansas_

_J. H. Gihon, Governor Geary's Administration in Kansas._

_F. B. Sanborn, Life and Letters of John Brown, chapters 7-11._

_Reports of Select Committee, (34th Congress, 1st Session, H. R. Report 200)._

_J. F. Rhodes, History of the United States from 1850, chapters 7-9 (volume 2)._

_C. Robinson, The Kansas Conflict._

See, also, JAYHAWKERS.

{1938}

KANSAS: A. D. 1861. Admission to the Union under the Wyandot Constitution.

"As soon as a sufficient number of Southern members of Congress [from the seceding States] had withdrawn to give the Republicans a majority in both Houses, Kansas was admitted as a State [January 29, 1861] under the Wyandot Free State Constitution."

_A. Johnston, History of American Politics, 2d edition, page 185._

KANSAS: A. D. 1863. Quantrell's guerrilla raid. The sacking of Lawrence.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1863 (AUGUST: MISSOURI-KANSAS).

KANSAS: End----------

KANSAS, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: SIOUAN FAMILY.

KAPOHN, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: CARIBS AND THEIR KINDRED.

KAPOLNA, Battle of (1849).

See AUSTRIA: A. D. 1848-1849.

KAPPEL, Battle of (1531). The Kappeler Milchsuppe.

See SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1528-1531.

KARA GEORG, The career of.

See BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: 14-19TH CENTURIES (SERVIA).

KARAISM. KARAITES.

The Jewish sect of the Karaites originated in the teaching of one Anan ben David, in the 8th century, whose radical doctrine was the rejection of the Talmud and a return to the Bible "for the ordering of religious life." Hence "the system of religion which Anan founded received the name of the Religion of the Text, or Karaism,"

_H. Graetz, History of the Jews, volume 3, chapter 5._

ALSO IN: _H. H. Milman, History of the Jews, book 23._

KARAKORUM.

The early capital of the Mongol empire of Jingis Khan and his successors was at Karakorum, believed to have been situated near the river Orkhon, or Orgon. Ogotai built a great palace there, in 1235, called Ordu Balik, or the city of the Ordu.

_H. H. Howorth, History of the Mongols, volume 1. pages 155 and 182._

See, also, MONGOLS: A. D. 1153-1227.

KARANKAWAN FAMILY, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: KARANKAWAN FAMILY.

KARIGAUM, Defense of (1817).

See INDIA: A. D. 1816-1819.

KARKAR, Battle of.

Fought B. C. 854, by Shalmaneser of Assyria, with the confederate, kings of Damascus, Israel and their Syrian neighbors; the latter defeated.

KARL.

See ETHEL.—ETHELING.

KARLINGS, OR CARLINGS.

See FRANKS: A. D. 768-814.

KARLOWITZ, OR CARLOWITZ, Peace of.

See HUNGARY: A. D. 1683-1699.

KARLSBAD, OR CARLSBAD, Congress of.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1814-1820.

KARMATHIANS, The.

See CARMATHIANS.

KARNATTAH.

The Moorish name of Granada, signifying "the cream of the West."

See SPAIN: A. D. 1238-1273.

KAROKS, OR CAHROCS, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: MODOCS, &c.

KAROLINGIA AND KAROLINGIANS.

See CAROLINGIA; and FRANKS: A. D. 768-814.

KARS: Start--------

KARS: A. D. 1854-1856. Siege and capture by the Russians. Restoration to Turkey.

See RUSSIA: A. D. 1854-1855 and 1854-1856.

KARS: A. D. 1877. Siege and capture by the Russians.

See TURKS: A. D. 1877-1878.

KARS: A. D. 1878. Cession to Russia.

See TURKS: A. D. 1878 THE TREATIES.

KARS: End--------

KASDIM, OR CASDIM.

See BABYLONIA, PRIMITIVE.

KASHMERE: Start--------

KASHMERE: A. D. 1819-1820. Conquest by Runjet Singh.

See SIKHS.

KASHMERE: A. D. 1846.

Taken from the Sikhs by the English and given as a kingdom to Gholab Singh.

See INDIA: A. D. 1845-1849.

KASHMERE: Start--------

KASKASKIA: Start--------

KASKASKIA, French settlement of.

See ILLINOIS: A. D. 1751.

KASKASKIA: A. D. 1778. Taken by the Virginian General Clark.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1778-1779 CLARK'S CONQUEST.

KASKASKIA: End----------

KASKASKIAS, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: ALGONQUIAN FAMILY.

KASSOPIANS.

See EPIRUS.

KATABA, OR CATAWBAS, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: TIMUQUANAN FAMILY, and, SIOUAN FAMILY.

KATANA, Naval Battle of.

See SYRACUSE: B. C. 397-396.

KATZBACH, Battle of.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1813 (AUGUST).

KAUS, OR KWOKWOOS, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: KUSAN FAMILY.

KAWS, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: SIOUAN FAMILY.

KAZAN, The Khanate of.

See MONGOLS: A. D. 1238-1391.

KEARNEYITES.

See CALIFORNIA: A. D. 1877-1880.

KEARNEY'S EXPEDITION AND CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO.

See NEW MEXICO: A. D. 1846.

KEDAR, Tribe of.

"The Arabs of the tribe of Kedar are often mentioned in the Bible, especially with reference to the trade with Phœnicia. They furnished the caravans across the desert of Dahna, to convey the merchandise of Hadramaut, Marah, and Oman to Syria. They inhabited the southern portion of Yemama, on the borders of the desert."

_F. Lenormant, Manual of the Ancient History of the East, book 7, chapter 1, section 7 (volume 2)._

KEECHIES, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: PAWNEE (CADDOAN) FAMILY.

KEEHEETSAS, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: SIOUAN FAMILY.

KEEWATIN, District of.

"In 1876 an act was passed by the Dominion Parliament [Canada] erecting into a separate government under the name of the District of Keewatin the portion of the North-West Territory lying to the north of Manitoba. The district contains about 395,000 acres, and is principally occupied by Icelandic colonists. The Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba is ex-officio Lieutenant-Governor of Keewatin."

_J. E. C. Munro, The Constitution of Canada, page 35._

{1939}

KEFT.

The ancient Egyptian name of Phœnicia.

KEHL: Start--------

KEHL: A. D. 1703. Taken by the French.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1702-1704.

KEHL: A. D. 1733. Taken by the French.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1733-1735.

KEHL: End--------

KEITH, George, The schism and the controversies of.

See PENNSYLVANIA: A. D. 1692-1696.

KELLY'S FORD, Battle of.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1863 (JULY-NOVEMBER: VIRGINIA).

KELTS, The.

See CELTS, THE.

KEM, OR KAMI, OR KHEMI.

See EGYPT: ITS NAMES.

KENAI, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: BLACKFEET, and ATHAPASCAN FAMILY.

KENDALL, Amos, in the "Kitchen Cabinet" of President Jackson.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1829.

KENESAW MOUNTAIN, Battle of.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1864 (MAY-SEPTEMBER: GEORGIA).

KENITES, The.

See AMALEKITES, THE.

KENT, Kingdom of.

Formed by the Jutes in the southeast corner of Britain. The only other settlement of the Jutes in England was in the Isle of Wight and on the neighboring coast of Hampshire.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 449-473.

KENT, Weald of.

See ANDERIDA.

KENT'S HOLE.

One of the most noted of the caves which have been carefully explored for relics of early man, coeval with extinct animals. It is in Devonshire, England, near Torquay.

_W. B. Dawkins, Cave Hunting._

KENTUCKY: Start----------

KENTUCKY: A. D. 1748. First English exploration from Virginia.

See OHIO (VALLEY): A. D. 1748-1754.

KENTUCKY: A. D. 1765-1778. Absence of Indian inhabitants. Early exploration and settlement by the whites. The colony of Transylvania.

In the wars that were waged between the Indian tribes of the South, before the advent of white settlers, Kentucky became "a sort of border-land such as separated the Scots and English in their days of combat. … The Chickasaws alone held their ground, being the most northern of the sedentary Southern Indians. Their strongholds on the bluffs of the Mississippi and the inaccessibility of this country on account of its deep, sluggish, mud-bordered streams, seem to have given them a sufficient measure of protection against their enemies, but elsewhere in the State the Indians were rooted out by their wars. The last tenants of the State, east of the Tennessee River, were the Shawnees,—that combative folk who ravaged this country with their ceaseless wars from the head-waters of the Tennessee to the Mississippi, and from the Lakes to Alabama. It was no small advantage to the early settlers of Kentucky that they found this region without a resident Indian population, for, bitter as was the struggle with the claimants of the soil, it never had the danger that would have come from a contest with the natives in closer proximity to their homes. … As Kentucky was unoccupied by the Indians, it was neglected by the French. … Thus the first settlers found themselves, in the main, free from these dangers due to the savages and their Gallic allies. The land lay more open to their occupancy than any other part of this country ever did to its first European comers. … In 1765 Colonel George Croghan, who had previously visited the Ohio with Gist, made a surveying journey down that stream from Pittsburg to the Mississippi. … In 1766 a party of five persons, including a mulatto slave, under the command of Captain James Smith, explored a large part of what is now Tennessee, and probably extended their journey through Southern Kentucky. Journeys to Kentucky now became frequent. Every year sent one or more parties of pioneers to one part or another of the country. In 1769 Daniel Boone and five companions, all from the Yadkin settlements in North Carolina, came to Eastern Kentucky. One of the party was killed, but Boone remained, while his companions returned to their homes. Thus it will be seen that Boone's first visit was relatively late in the history of Kentucky explorations. Almost every part of its surface had been traversed by other explorers before this man, who passes in history as the typical pioneer, set foot upon its ground. In the time between 1770 and 1772 George Washington, then a land-surveyor, made two surveys in the region which is now the northeast corner of Kentucky. … The first distinct effort to found a colony was made by James Harrod and about forty companions, who found their way down the Ohio near to where Louisville now stands, and thence by land to what is now Mercer County, in Central Kentucky, where they established, on June 16, 1774, a village which they called, in honor of their leader, Harrodsburg. Earlier attempts at settlement were made at Louisville, but the fear of Indians caused the speedy abandonment of this post. … In 1775 other and stronger footholds were gained. Boone built a fort in what is now Madison County, and Logan another at St. Asaphs, in Lincoln County. The settlement of Kentucky was greatly favored by the decisive victory gained by Lord Dunmore's troops over the Indians from the north of the Ohio, at the mouth of the Kanawha.

See OHIO VALLEY: A. D. 1774.

… That the process of possessing the land was going on with speed may be seen from the fact that Henderson and Company, land-agents at Boonesborough, issued from their office in the new-built fort entry certificates of surveys for 560,000 acres of land. The process of survey was of the rudest kind, but it served the purpose of momentary definition of the areas, made it possible to deal with the land as a commodity, and left the tribulations concerning boundaries to the next generation. These land deeds were given as of the 'colony of Transylvania,' which was in fact the first appellation of Kentucky, a name by which it was known for several years before it received its present appellation. At this time, the last year that the work of settling Kentucky was done under the authority of his majesty King George III., there were probably about 150 men who had placed themselves in settlements that were intended to be permanent within the bounds of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky. There may have been as many more doing the endless exploring work which preceded the choice of a site for their future homes. The men at Boone's Station claimed, and seem to have been awarded, a sort of hegemony among the settlements. {1940} On the 23d of May, at the call of Colonel Henderson, the land-agent of the proprietors, delegates from these settlements met at Boonesborough, and drew up a brief code of nine laws for the government of the young Commonwealth. … The Boonesborough parliament adjourned to meet in September, but it never reassembled. The venture which led to its institution fell altogether to ruin, and the name of Transylvania has been almost entirely forgotten. … The colony of Transylvania rested on a purchase of about 17,000,000 acres, or about one half the present area of Kentucky, which was made by some people of North Carolina from the Overhill Cherokee Indians, a part of the great tribe that dwelt on the Holston River. For this land the unfortunate adventurers paid the sum of £10,000 of English money. … Immediately after the Boonesborough parliament the position of the Transylvania company became very insecure; its own people began to doubt the validity of the titles they had obtained from the company, because, after a time, they learned from various sources that the lands of this region of Kentucky had been previously ceded to the English government by the Six Nations, and were included in the Virginia charter. In the latter part of 1775, eighty men of the Transylvania settlement signed a memorial asking to be taken under the protection of Virginia; or, if that colony thought it best, that their petition might be referred to the General Congress. … The proprietors of the colony made their answer to this rebellion by sending a delegate to the Federal Congress at Philadelphia, who was to request that the colony of Transylvania be added to the number of the American colonies. … Nothing came of this protest. Congress refused to seat their delegate, Patrick Henry and Jefferson, then representing Virginia, opposing the efforts of the proprietors. The Governor of North Carolina issued a proclamation declaring their purchase illegal. The colony gradually fell to pieces, though the State of Virginia took no decided action with reference to it until, in 1778, that Commonwealth declared the acts of the company void, but, in a generous spirit, offered compensation to Colonel Henderson and the other adventurers. The Transylvania company received 200,000 acres of valuable lands, and their sales to actual settlers were confirmed by an act of the Virginia Assembly. Thus the strongest, though not the first, colony of Kentucky, was a misadventure and quickly fell to pieces."

_N. S. Shaler, Kentucky, chapters 5-7._

ALSO IN; _T. Roosevelt, The Winning of the West, volume 1, chapters 6 and 8-12._

KENTUCKY: A. D. 1768. The Treaty with the Six Nations at Fort Stanwix. Pretended cession of the country south of the Ohio.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1765-1768.

KENTUCKY: A. D. 1774. The western Territorial claims of Virginia. Lord Dunmore's war with the Indians.

See OHIO (VALLEY): A. D. 1774.

KENTUCKY: A. D. 1775-1784. A county of Virginia. Indian warfare of the Revolution. Aspirations towards State independence.