Had Kansas in the death struggle of 1856 fallen a prey to the slave holders, slave-holding would today be the law of our imperial democracy. The sanctions of the Union and the Constitution would now be on the side of human slavery, as they were from 1840 to 1860. The question of slavery domination must and will be fought out on the plains of Kansas.[80] Kansas must be a Slave State or the Union will be dissolved.... If Kansas is not made a Slave State, it requires no sage to foretell that there will never be another Slave State.[81] Slavery in South Carolina is dependent upon its establishment in Kansas.[82] The Touch-stone of our political existence is Kansas.[83] Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama stand pledged to secede from the Union, should Kansas applying for admission as a slave state be refused admission.[84] The question is one of life or death to the South upon the simple alternative of the admission or rejection of Kansas with her slave constitution.[85] That American is little to be envied who can speak lightly of the decisive contest in Kansas between the two antagonistic civilizations of this continent. Either he does not love his country, or he is incapable of understanding her history.[86] CHAPTER IV HIS PUBLIC SERVICES _Peace rules the day, where reason rules the mind._ --COLLINS It was in the fall of 1855 that John Brown came to Kansas to try another venture with fortune, in a new field of opportunity. During the spring of 1854 his son John was seeking a new location, and had written to his father in relation thereto; who replied to him in a letter dated April 3, 1854, "I do not know of a good opening for you this way."[87] But during the fall of that year five of Brown's sons--John, Jason, Owen, Frederick, and Salmon--decided to settle in Kansas. Having completed their arrangements they moved to the Territory in the spring of 1855, arriving, about May 1st, in the vicinity of Osawatomie. They were attracted to the Territory, as thousands of others were, by the glowing accounts published by emigration societies north and south. These prospectuses described the beauty of the prairies, the fertility of the soil, the delightful and health-giving climate; and set forth the prospective rewards in wealth, health, and happiness which were awaiting all who took advantage of the great opportunities the country offered. That they were not disappointed upon their arrival, appears from their letters expressing eminent satisfaction with everything pertaining to the settlement, and their desire to have their father locate in Kansas with them.