The sacking of Lawrence, Kansas on May 21st 1856, was an event in which proslavery settlers violenty attacked and ransacked the town of Lawrence, a town that had been founded by antislavery settlers and abolitionists with intentions to make Kansas a free state. This event highly angered a notorious radical abolitionist by the name of John Brown, and after hearing of the sacking, John Brown set out and lead other proslavery forces north of Pottawatomie creek. North of this creek, Brown and his forces killed 5 proslavery settlers that were said to be professional slave hunters. This event sparked a period in the region known as "Bleeding Kansas', in which many more violent antislavery/abolitionist events occured, most led by John Brown and his men to help in the fight against slavery. This was a very important event not only in generally racial tension within 19th century America, but also a turning point in the times preceding the civil war, and a great start in the abolitionist cause.