In 1855, Senator David Atchison of Missouri said, “Mark every scoundrel among you that is the least tainted with free-soilism, or abolitionism, and exterminate him…[e]nter every election district in Kansas . . . and vote at the point of a Bowie knife or revolver!” according to historian James McPherson. One year later, George W. Brown, a civilian, waited for execution for violating “every section...