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The struggle between the North and the South over Kansas threw the territory into chaos. Two opposing governments and settlers" feuds over land claims escalated into violence. John Brown, a dedicated abolitionist, led the massacre at Pottawatomie Creek against proslaveryites as a reaction to the burning of the free-soil town of Lawrence. This massacre incited brutal retaliation from proslavery forces, sweeping Kansas with civil war. "Bleeding Kansas" foreshadowed the large-scale Civil War to come in 1861. In 1859, Brown also struck Harpers Ferry, seizing the federal arsenal in an attempt to arm and lead the Virginian slaves in revolt. Virginia convicted Brown of murder and treason, hanging him as a martyr of the abolitionist cause. Brown's actions perpetuated the South's stereotypes of northerners as fanatical abolitionists who were either madmen or served as financers of the madmen. The South questioned the rationale of remaining in the Union with violent subversives. .
Tensions were inflamed by Charles Sumner's speech, "The Crime Against Kansas." In this speech, Sumner condemned both slavery supporters and the state of South Carolina. He went as far to personally affront South Carolina's senator, Andrew Butler. Resentful of such attacks, Congressman Preston Brooks sought vengeance by beating Sumner nearly to death with his cane. The northerners aroused against Brooks defiantly reelected Sumner and left his seat empty as he received medical treatment in Europe. The southerners were outraged that Sumner's actions were being lauded in the North and offered their support to reelect Brooks, as well. The foolish actions of Sumner and Brooks manifest passion's triumph over reason in the sectional disputes. The North and the South's actions lack a rational basis; rather, they are even more greatly influenced by sectional sentiments. .
Chief Justice Taney played a paramount role in the dissolution of the Union.
