Beecher's Bibles
"Beecher's Bibles" was the name given to the breech-loading Sharps rifle that were supplied to and used by the anti-slavery settlers and combatants in Kansas, during the Bleeding Kansas period (1854–1860).[1]
Background
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For decades, there had been conflict between pro-slavery and anti-slavery activists in America, particularly when a territory was admitted into the Union as a new state. Would it be a free state, or a slave state? When in 1820 Missouri was admitted into the Union the controversy was settled with the Missouri Compromise, which said all future states south of Missouri could be admitted as slave states. During the 1854 formation of two new states, Kansas and Nebraska, Congress repealed the Missouri Compromise and initiated the Kansas–Nebraska Act, saying rather the citizens within each territory could decide by popular vote. Settlers streamed into Kansas to stack the vote, many pro-slavers coming from neighboring Missouri. Violence was rife in Kansas between the two sides. It was during this conflict that Minister Henry Ward Beecher raised funds to buy rifles for the anti-slavery "free-staters".[2] Beecher believed that such weapons were "a greater moral urgency among border ruffians than the scriptures".[3]
History
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The name "Beecher's Bibles" is in reference to Sharps rifles and carbines, associated with the New England minister and abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher,[4] of the New England Emigrant Aid Society. Beecher was an outspoken abolitionist and he raised funds to buy weapons for Kansas' free state (anti-slavery) settlers. Some newspapers began calling Beecher's church the "Bible and Rifle Company". The guns he and his congregation purchased and sent to Kansas came to be known as Beecher’s Bibles.[5]
The Sharps Carbines were modern in design, incorporating a breech loading mechanism.[3] The rifles were the Sharps Model 1853.[6] The Federal and state authorities had forbidden sending arms to the territory but that did not stop abolitionists from donating funds for firearm purchases. Doctor Samuel Cabot donated $12,500 USD for the purchase of Sharps Carbines. Also according to Amos A. Lawrence, the treasurer for the New England Emigrant Aid Society, the society purchased 100 rifles for the cause. There were approximately 900 Beecher's Bibles which were used in the Kansas conflict.[7] W. H. Isley wrote of the Sharps rifle in 1907, saying, "The very name 'Sharps rifle' was to become a term to sober the border ruffian and give him serious pause. This breech-loading rifle was a new invention and extremely effective in comparison, the Missourian was poorly armed, carrying either a squirrel-knife, a heavy buffalo-gun, or a clumsy army musket. This difference in armament probably explains why the free-state bands, though usually outnumbered, were invariably victorious in all open fighting.”[8]
There are a number of origin stories for the name "Beecher's Bibles". As traditionally told, it involves concealment. The carbines were shipped at the bottom of wooden crates covered in bibles.[3] The crates were marked with "Books and Bibles", to not raise suspicion with pro-slavers.[7][6] Similar stories of guns in an unlabeled box with bibles in a separate box. However, according to the journal Kansas History, there is nothing in the literature to support the concealment narrative.[9] Rather, Beecher and his New York congregation sent a check for $625 to the Sharpes rifle company along with 25-bibles and a letter meant for publication. Beecher requested the rifles be sent to Kansas. Sharpes published the letter, and in this way Beecher, Guns and Bibles became associated in the public's mind. Newspaper headlines proclaimed "Bibles and Rifles for Kansas" and "Beecher Bible and Rifle Colony."[10][8] According to a letter written by Beecher himself years later:
- The letter that accompanied the check and the Bibles [sent to the president of Sharpes Rifle company] was widely reprinted in newspapers across the country under the headline, BIBLES AND RIFLES FOR KANSAS and BIBLES AND RIFLES IN KANZAS. It was from these events that the company began to be referred to as the “Beecher Bible and Rifle Colony” and the Sharps rifle took on the nickname “Beecher’s Bible.[10]
References
[edit]- ^ Isley, W. H. (April 1907). "The Sharps Rifle Episode in Kansas History" (PDF). The American Historical Review. 12 (3): 546–566. doi:10.2307/1832405. hdl:10057/12535. JSTOR 1832405.
- ^ Strand, Michael (2 April 2004). "Bleeding Kansas Played Important Role". Salina Journal. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
- ^ a b c Carter, Gregg Lee (2002). Guns in American society : an encyclopedia of history, politics, culture, and the law. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. p. 58. ISBN 978-1576072684. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
- ^ "Beecher Bibles". www.kshs.org. Kansas Historical Society. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
- ^ Grant, Steve (6 August 2022). "The little-known history of the Connecticut Kansas Colony and its role in ending slavery". Hartford Courant. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
- ^ a b Rosa, Joseph G. (1995). Age of the gunfighter : men and weapons on the frontier, 1840-1900. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0806127613. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
- ^ a b Sellers, Frank (1988). Sharps Firearms (3rd ed.). Hollywood California: Benfield Publishing Inc. pp. 92–93.
- ^ a b "At The Museum: The "Beecher Bible" Sharps Model 1852 Carbine". Wabaunsee County Historical Society and Museum. 2016-12-23. Retrieved 2025-02-02.
- ^ Watts, Dale E. (1998). "Plows and Bibles, Rifles and Revolvers: Guns in Kansas Territory". Kansas History. 21 (1): 34.
- ^ a b "Beecher Bible and Rifle Colony". Mount Mitchell Heritage Prairie Park. Retrieved 2025-02-02.
Bibliography
[edit]- Marcot, Roy; Marron, Edward; Paxton, Ron (2019). Sharps Firearms: The Percussion Era 1848–1865. Northwood Heritage Press.