<P> Bleeding Kansas , Bloody Kansas or the Border War was a series of violent political confrontations in the United States between 1854 and 1861 involving anti-slavery `` Free - Staters '' and pro-slavery `` Border Ruffian '' , or `` southern '' elements in Kansas . At the heart of the conflict was the question of whether Kansas would allow or outlaw slavery , and thus enter the Union as a slave state or a free state . The Kansas -- Nebraska Act of 1854 called for `` popular sovereignty '' -- that is , the decision about slavery was to be made by the settlers ( rather than outsiders ) . It would be decided by votes -- or more exactly which side had more votes counted by officials . Pro-slavery forces said every settler had the right to bring his own property , including slaves , into the territory . Anti-slavery `` free soil '' forces said the rich slaveholders would buy up all the good farmland and work it with black slaves , leaving little or no opportunity for non-slaveholders . As such , Bleeding Kansas was a conflict between anti-slavery forces in the North and pro-slavery forces from the South over the issue of slavery in the United States , and its violence indicated that compromise was unlikely , and thus it presaged the Civil War . </P>
<P> Bleeding Kansas , Bloody Kansas or the Border War was a series of violent political confrontations in the United States between 1854 and 1861 involving anti-slavery `` Free - Staters '' and pro-slavery `` Border Ruffian '' , or `` southern '' elements in Kansas . At the heart of the conflict was the question of whether Kansas would allow or outlaw slavery , and thus enter the Union as a slave state or a free state . The Kansas -- Nebraska Act of 1854 called for `` popular sovereignty '' -- that is , the decision about slavery was to be made by the settlers ( rather than outsiders ) . It would be decided by votes -- or more exactly which side had more votes counted by officials . Pro-slavery forces said every settler had the right to bring his own property , including slaves , into the territory . Anti-slavery `` free soil '' forces said the rich slaveholders would buy up all the good farmland and work it with black slaves , leaving little or no opportunity for non-slaveholders . As such , Bleeding Kansas was a conflict between anti-slavery forces in the North and pro-slavery forces from the South over the issue of slavery in the United States , and its violence indicated that compromise was unlikely , and thus it presaged the Civil War . </P>
who was the conflict between in the strife of bleeding kansas
who was the conflict between in the strife of bleeding kansas
anti-slavery `` Free - Staters '' and pro-slavery `` Border Ruffian '' , or `` southern '' elements
anti-slavery `` Free - Staters '' and pro-slavery `` Border Ruffian '' , or `` southern '' elements