Sons of the South

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SONS OF THE SOUTH

SONS OF THE SOUTH, sometimes called Blue Lodges, Social Bands, and Friends Society, was a secret society formed in 1854 and devoted to making Kansas a slave state. Its members, most of whom came from Missouri and organized in paramilitary bands, encouraged southern emigration to Kansas. They also protected pro-slavery settlers in Kansas and in numerous other ways tried to counteract the efforts of northern emigrant aid societies to make Kansas a free state. The violent and illegal tactics employed by the Sons of the South outraged northerners and intensified antislavery sentiment in the North.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Rawley, James A. Race and Politics: "Bleeding Kansas" and the Coming of the Civil War. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1969.

Henry T.Shanks/a. g.

See alsoAlabama Platform ; House Divided ; Montgomery Convention ; Peculiar Institution ; Topeka Constitution .