MOSANA (THE UNION) - PART XV
EPISODE 15 It was the year 1858. I had been at the MacGregors for a little over two years. Bored with mere slavery work, I wondered why none of the MacGregor slaves didn’t try to escape. As I pondered the question, the answer came. The quickest way out of Missouri was through Kansas. Going through any other border would lead you deeper into the South. The territory of Kansas had once been part of Missouri until it was carved out into its own state. The new Kansas was also a slave state, and home to some of the most brutal anti-slavery versus pro-slavery fights in the South, which spilled over into Missouri. To escape from Missouri, you had to go through Kansas and risk getting caught. If you were caught, you wouldn’t be brought back to your master, you would be hanged. And there were worse ways to die. The fights in Missouri/Kansas began as far back as 1855, when a pro-slavery settler shot and killed a Free-Stater in Douglas County. Then instead of the murderer to be arrested, the coun