Border ruffians were proslavery raiders, crossing from the slave state of Missouri into the Kansas Territory, to help ensure Kansas entered the Union as a slave state. They were a key part of the violent period called Bleeding Kansas, that peaked from 1854 to 1858. Their crimes included fraudulent voting (falsely saying they were residents of Kansas), interference with elections, and raiding, intimidating, and destroying property of "Free-State" (anti-slavery) settlers. Some took pride in their criminal reputation. Many became pro-Confederate guerrillas, or bushwhackers. Origin The 1913 edition of Webster's Dictionary reflects the 19th century understanding of the word wikt:ruffian as a "scoundrel, rascal, or unprincipled, deceitful, brutal and unreliable person". Among the first to use the term border ruffian in connection with the slavery issue in Kansas was the Herald of Freedom, a newspaper published in Lawrence, Kansas. On October 8, 1857, it reported the following: Armed with revolvers and Bowie knives, border ruffians forcefully interfered in the Kansas row over slavery. A correspondent for the London Times while visiting Kansas in 1856 reported many occurrences of the so-called bowie-knife voting in Kansas when voters were heckled and harassed by border ruffians. In response, the New England Emigrant Aid Company shipped Sharps rifles to the Kansas Territory, in crates said to have been labeled "Bibles". At that time, many Kansas settlers opposed slavery. However, slavery advocates were determined to have their way regardless. When elections were held, bands of armed border ruffians seized polling places, prevented Free-State men from voting, and cast votes illegally, falsely stating they were Kansas residents. Border ruffians operated from Missouri. It was said that they voted and shot in Kansas, but slept in Missouri. They not only interfered in territorial elections, but also committed outrages on Free-State settlers and destroyed their property. This violence gave the origin of the phrase "Bleeding Kansas". However, political killings and violence were exercised by both warring sides. The federal government did not interfere to stop the violence. Hence, such ignominious episodes as the sacking of Lawrence, Kansas, in May 1856 became possible. U.S. Senator David Rice Atchison (D-Missouri) personally incited the assembling mob: Border ruffians contributed to the increasingly violent sectional tensions, culminating in the American Civil War. Leaders and followers Border ruffians did not constitute an organized group. They never had meetings, had no designated leaders, and no one ever directed any message to them as a body.