Bleeding Kansas and the Civil War
Guided tour — Kansas Museum of History, Topeka
Grades — 5th-8th
This tour introduces students to the action in Kansas during the Territorial Era (1854-1861) and the roles that Kansans played during the Civil War. A museum docent leads students through the Territorial Kansas and Civil War sections of the permanent gallery, providing stories and insight about the people who lived in Kansas during these turbulent years and the objects on display. Students then go to the museum classroom to inspect reproduction artifacts and determine which Kansas residents of the time period would have used them.
Kansas History, Government and Social Studies Standards
Standard #3: Societies are shaped by beliefs, ideas, and diversity
- 3.1: The student will recognize and evaluate significant beliefs, contributions, and ideas of the many diverse peoples and groups and their impact on individuals, communities, states, and nations.
Kansas College and Career Ready Standards
- SL.7.1: The students will engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
- SL.7.2: The student will analyze the main ideas and supporting details presented in diverse media and formats (e.g. visually, quantitatively, orally (and explain how the ideas clarify a topic, text, or issue under study).
See admission fees.
Length of tour:
Approximately one hour, tours need to be staggered in half hour increments (e.g., beginning at 10 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11 a.m., etc.)
Number of students in a group:
For the best experience, we recommend approximately 20 students per tour.
Registration and scheduling: register online, or contact 785-272-8681, ext. 415; kshs.education@ks.gov. Tours must be scheduled at least two weeks in advance.
Additional resources that complement this tour:
Read Kansas! lessons
- M-10 Popular Sovereignty Under the Kansas-Nebraska Act
- M-11 Dispute over Slavery in Kansas Territory
- M-12 Danger on the Underground Railroad
- M-13 All Eyes on Kansas Territory
- M-14 Territorial Characters
- M-15 The Wyandotte Constitutional Convention: The Issue of Suffrage
- M-16 The Civil War Comes to Kansas: Quantrill's Raid on Lawrence
- M-17 The Civil War Comes to Kansas: The Battle of Mine Creek
- M-18 "War for the Union and for Freedom!": Recruitment of Civil War Volunteer Regiments
Educational resource trunks:
