Civil War on the Western Border, 1854-1865The first phase of the Civil War was fought west of the Mississippi River at least six years before the attack on Fort Sumter. Starting with the passage of the Kansas Nebraska Act in 1854, Jay Monaghan traces the development of the conflict between the pro slavery elements from Missouri and the New England abolitionists who migrated to Kansas. "Bleeding Kansas" provided a preview of the greater national struggle to come. The author allows a new look