Lawrence, Sacking of

The Sacking of Lawrence occurred on May 21, 1856, when pro-slavery activists, led by Douglas County Sheriff Samuel J. Jones, attack and ransack Lawrence, Kansas, a town which had been founded by anti-slavery settlers from Massachusetts who are hoping to make Kansas a "free state".

The incident fuels the irregular conflict in Kansas Territory that later becomes known as "Bleeding Kansas".

The human cost of the attack is low: only one person—a member of the pro-slavery gang—is killed, and his death is accidental.

However, Jones and his men halt production of the free-state newspapers the Kansas Free State and the Herald of Freedom (with the former ceasing publication altogether and the latter taking months to once again start up).

The pro-slavery men also destroy the Free State Hotel and Charles L. Robinson's house.