document_title: France in the American Revolutionary War

question_text: who helped negotiate an alliance between the patriots and france

text: American origins of the conflict[edit]

text: After its defeat in the Seven Years' War in 1763, France lost its vast holdings in North America. Meanwhile, the American colonists and the British government began to fight over whether Parliament in London or the colonial assemblies had primary responsibility for taxation. As part of that conflict, the colonists organized the Boston Tea Party in response to a tax on tea. The British government responded by passing the Intolerable Acts, which included the closing of Boston Harbor and the revocation of Massachusetts's colonial charter.[1] This conflict exacerbated tensions further. The ideological conflict escalated into open warfare in 1775, at which point the American patriots revolted against British rule. France, who had been rebuilding her Navy and other forces, saw this as an opportunity to seriously weaken her perennial enemy. [2]

text: French involvement[edit]

text: France bitterly resented its loss in the Seven Years' War and sought revenge. It also wanted to strategically weaken Britain. Following the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolution was well received by both the general population and the aristocracy in France. The Revolution was perceived as the incarnation of the Enlightenment Spirit against the "English tyranny." Benjamin Franklin traveled to France in December 1776 in order to rally the nation's support, and he was welcomed with great enthusiasm. At first, French support was covert: French agents sent the Patriots military aid (predominantly gunpowder) through a company called Rodrigue Hortalez et Compagnie, beginning in the spring of 1776. Estimates place the percentage of French supplied arms to the Americans in the Saratoga campaign at up to 90%.[3] By 1777, over five million livres of aid had been sent to the American rebels.

text: Motivated by the prospect of glory in battle or animated by the sincere ideals of liberty and republicanism, volunteers like Pierre Charles L'Enfant joined the American army. The most famous was Lafayette, a charming young aristocrat who defied the king's order and enlisted in 1777 at age 20. He became an aide to George Washington and a combat general. More importantly, he solidified a favorable American view of France. Kramer argues that Lafayette provided a legitimacy for the war and confidence that there was serious European support for independence. Lafayette's personal style was highly attractive; the young man learned quickly, adapted to the Patriot style, avoided politics, and became a fast friend of General Washington. Fifty years later, after a major career in French politics, he returned as a beloved hero of the war.[4]

text: Debate over quiet aid or declaring open war[edit]

text: Up against the British power, the young nation lacked arms and allies, and so it turned towards France. France was not directly interested in the conflict, but saw it as an opportunity to contest British power by supporting a new British opponent. Through negotiations conducted first by Silas Deane and then by Benjamin Franklin, France began covert support of the American cause.

text: Secretly approached by Louis XVI and France's foreign minister, the comte de Vergennes, Pierre Beaumarchais was authorized to sell gunpowder and ammunition to the Americans for close to a million pounds under the veil of the French company Rodrigue Hortalez et Compagnie. The aid given by France, much of which passed through the neutral Dutch West Indies port of Sint Eustatius, contributed to George Washington's survival against the British onslaught in 1776 and 1777. The aid was also a major factor in the defeat of General Burgoyne's expedition in the Champlain corridor that ended in a British disaster at Saratoga. French ports accommodated American ships, including privateers and Continental Navy warships, that acted against British merchant ships. France provided significant economic aid, either as donations or loans, and also offered technical assistance, granting some of its military strategists "vacations" so they could assist American troops.

text: Silas Deane, appointed by the Americans and helped by French animosity towards Britain, obtained unofficial aid, starting in early 1776. However, the goal was the total involvement of France in the war. A new delegation composed of Franklin, Deane, and Arthur Lee, was appointed to lobby for the involvement of European nations. Franklin, age 70 and already well known in French intellectual circles for his scientific discoveries, served as the chief diplomat with the title of "minister" (the term "ambassador" was not used). He dressed in rough frontier clothes rather than formal court dress, and met with many leading diplomats, aristocrats, intellectuals, scientists and financiers. Franklin's image and writings caught the French imagination – there were many images of him sold on the market – and he became the image of the archetypal new American and a hero for aspirations for a new order inside France. When the international climate at the end of 1777 had become tenser, Habsburg Austria requested the support of France in the War of the Bavarian Succession against the Prussia in line with the Franco-Austrian Alliance. France refused, causing the relationship with Austria to turn sour. Under these conditions, asking Austria to assist France in a war against the British was impossible. Attempts to rally Spain also failed: Spain did not immediately recognize potential gains, and the American revolutionary spirit was seen as threatening the legitimacy of the Spanish Crown in its own American colonies.

text: Public opinion in France was in favor of open war, but King Louis and his advisors were reluctant due to the possible risks and heavy expenses involved. The king's economic and military advisors, in particular, remained reluctant. The French Navy was being rapidly rebuilt, but there were doubts as to how ready it was for serious conflict. Financiers Turgot and Necker warned war would be very expensive for France's wobbly system of taxation and finance.

text: The Americans argued that an alliance of the United States, France, and Spain would assure a rapid defeat of the British, but Vergennes, waiting until his navy was ready, hesitated. On July 23, 1777, Vergennes decided that it was time to decide either total assistance, with war, or abandonment of the new nation. The choice, ratified by the king, was war.[5]

text: Entry into the war[edit]

text: The British had taken Philadelphia in 1777, but American victory at the Battle of Saratoga brought back hope to the Patriots and enthusiasm in France. The army of Burgoyne surrendered to American forces after Saratoga and France realized that the United States could be victorious. The king directed Vergennes to negotiate an alliance with the Americans.[6]

text: France formally recognized the United States on February 6, 1778, with the signing of the Treaty of Alliance. Hostilities soon followed after Britain declared war on France on March 17, 1778. The British naval force, then the largest fleet afloat, and French fleet confronted each other from the beginning. The British avoided intercepting a French fleet that left Toulon under the comte d'Estaing in April for North America, fearing the French fleet at Brest might then be used to launch an invasion of Britain. France had kept the Brest fleet to protect commercial shipping in European waters, and it sailed out only after a British fleet was confirmed to have left in pursuit of d'Estaing, thus weakening the British Channel fleet. In spite of this reduction, the British fleet still outnumbered the French fleet at Brest, and Admiral d'Orvilliers was instructed to avoid combat when he sailed in July. D'Orvilliers met the fleet of Admiral Augustus Keppel in the indecisive Battle of Ushant on July 27, after which both fleets returned to port for repairs.

text: France did consider the landing of 40,000 men in the nearby British Isles but abandoned the idea because of logistical issues. On the continent, France was protected through its alliance with Austria which, even if it did not take part in the American Revolutionary War, affirmed its diplomatic support of France.

text: Other nations in Europe at first refused to openly join the war but both Spain and the Dutch Republic gave unofficial support to the American cause. Vergennes was able to convince the Spanish to formally enter the war in 1779 and, in 1780, Britain declared war on the Dutch Republic over claims of Dutch violations of neutrality.

text: North American operations[edit]

text: French participation in North America was initially maritime in nature and marked by some indecision on the part of its military leaders. In 1778, American and French planners organized an attempt to capture Newport, Rhode Island, then under British occupation. The attempt failed, in part because Admiral d'Estaing did not land French troops prior to sailing out of Narragansett Bay to meet the British fleet. He then sailed to Boston after his fleet was damaged in a storm. In 1779, d'Estaing again led his fleet to North America for joint operations, this time against British-held Savannah, Georgia. About 3,000 French joined with 2,000 Americans in the Siege of Savannah, in which a naval bombardment was unsuccessful. An attempted assault of the entrenched British position was repulsed with heavy losses.

text: Support became more notable when, in 1780, 6,000 soldiers led by Rochambeau landed at Newport, itself abandoned in 1779 by the British, and then established a naval base there. These forces were largely inactive since the fleet was closely watched by the British fleet from its bases in New York and eastern Long Island. By early 1781, with the war dragging on, French military planners were finally convinced that more significant operations would be required in North America to bring a decisive end to the war. That year's West Indies fleet was commanded by the comte de Grasse, and specific arrangements were made to coordinate operations with him. De Grasse asked to be supplied with North American pilots and to be informed of possible operations in North America to which he might contribute. Rochambeau and Washington met in Wethersfield, Connecticut in May 1781 to discuss their options. Washington wanted to drive the British from both New York City and Virginia (the latter led first by Benedict Arnold, then by Brigadier William Phillips and eventually by Charles Cornwallis). Virginia was also seen as a potent threat that could be fought with naval assistance. These two options were dispatched to the Caribbean along with the requested pilots. Rochambeau, in a separate letter, urged de Grasse to come to the Chesapeake Bay for operations in Virginia. Following the Wethersfield conference, Rochambeau moved his army to White Plains, New York and placed his command under Washington.

text: De Grasse received these letters in July at roughly the same time Cornwallis was preparing to occupy Yorktown, Virginia. De Grasse concurred with Rochambeau and subsequently sent a dispatch indicating that he would reach the Chesapeake at the end of August but that agreements with the Spanish meant he could only stay until mid-October. The arrival of his dispatches prompted the Franco-American army to begin a march for Virginia. De Grasse reached the Chesapeake as planned and his troops were sent to assist Lafayette's army in the blockade of Cornwallis's army. A British fleet sent to confront de Grasse's control of the Chesapeake was defeated by the French on September 5 at the Battle of the Chesapeake and the Newport fleet delivered the French siege train to complete the allied military arrival. The Siege of Yorktown and following surrender by Cornwallis on October 19 were decisive in ending major hostilities in North America.[7]

text: Other theaters[edit]

text: Other important battles between the French and the British were spaced out around the world, from the West Indies to India. France's navy at first dominated in the West Indies, capturing Dominica, Grenada, Saint Vincent, Montserrat, Tobago, and St. Kitts, but losing St. Lucia at the beginning of the war. A planned Franco-Spanish invasion of Jamaica was aborted after the decisive Battle of the Saintes in 1782. At the end of the war. the French captured the Turks and Caicos Islands. In European waters, France and Spain joined forces with the entry of Spain into the war in 1779. An attempted invasion of Britain failed due to a variety of factors. French and Spanish forces besieged Gibraltar from 1779 to 1783, but were unsuccessful in either storming the site, or preventing repeated British relief of its garrison. They were more successful in capturing Minorca in Europe and Demerara and Essequibo in South America in February 1782.

text: In India, British troops gained control of French outposts in 1778 and 1779, sparking the Kingdom of Mysore, a longtime French ally, to begin the Second Anglo-Mysore War. Allied with the French, the Mysoreans for a time threatened British positions on the east coast, but that war ended status quo ante bellum in 1784. A French fleet commanded by the Bailli de Suffren fought a series of largely inconclusive battles with a British fleet under Sir Edward Hughes, and the only major military land action, the 1783 Siege of Cuddalore, was cut short by news that a preliminary peace had been signed.

text: Because of decisive battles on American soil, the French were in a strong position during the peace negotiations in Paris.

text: Peace and consequences[edit]

text: Starting with the Siege of Yorktown, Benjamin Franklin never informed France of the secret negotiations that took place directly between Britain and the United States. Britain acknowledged that the United States owned all the land south of the Great Lakes and east of the Mississippi River, except for Florida (which went to Spain). However, since France was not included in the American-British peace discussions, the alliance between France and the U.S. was weakened. Thus the influence of France and Spain in future negotiations was limited.[8]

text: The war formally ended in September 1783 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. France gained (or regained) territories in the Americas, Africa, and India. Losses in the 1763 Treaty of Paris and in the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) were in part regained: Tobago, Saint Lucia, the Senegal River area, as well as increased fishing rights in Terra Nova. Spain regained Florida and Minorca, but Gibraltar remained in the hands of the British.

text: Because the French involvement in the war was distant and naval in nature, over a billion livres tournois were spent by the French government to support the war effort, raising its overall debt to about 3.315 billion. The finances of the French state were in disastrous shape and were made worse by Jacques Necker, who, rather than increase taxes, used loans to pay off debts. State secretary of Finances Charles Alexandre de Calonne attempted to fix the deficit problem by asking for the taxation of the property of nobles and clergy but was dismissed and exiled for his ideas. The French instability further weakened the reforms that were essential in the re-establishment of stable French finances. Trade also severely declined during the war, but was revived by 1783.

text: The war was especially important for the prestige and pride of France, who was reinstated in the role of European arbiter. However, Great Britain, not France, became the leading trading partner of the United States.[9] The French took pride in their cultural influence on the young country through the Enlightenment, as attested by Franklin and Jefferson, and as embodied in the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the United States Constitution in 1787. In turn, the Revolution influenced France.[10] Liberal elites were satisfied by the victory but there were also some major consequences. European conservative Royalists and nobility had become nervous, and began to take measures in order to secure their positions. On May 22, 1781, the Decree of Ségur closed the military post offices of the upper rank to the common persons, reserving those ranks exclusively for the nobility.

text: Financial aspects[edit]

text: In all the French spent 1.3 billion livres to support the Americans directly, in addition to the money it spent fighting Britain on land and sea outside the U.S.[11][12][13]

text: France's status as a great modern power was re-affirmed by the war, but it was detrimental to the country's finances. Even though France's European territories were not affected, victory in a war against Great Britain with battles like the decisive siege of Yorktown in 1781 had a large financial cost which severely degraded fragile finances and increased the national debt. France gained little except that it weakened its main strategic enemy and gained a new, fast-growing ally that could become a welcome trading partner. However, the trade never materialized, and in 1793 the United States proclaimed its neutrality in the war between Great Britain and the French Republic.[14]

text: Some historians argue that France primarily sought revenge against Great Britain for the loss of territory in North America and India from the previous conflict. But Jonathan R. Dull states that France intervened because of dispassionate calculation, not because of Anglophobia or a desire to avenge the loss of Canada.[15]


document_title: Adipose tissue

question_text: where can adipose tissue be found in the body

root

text: Adipose tissue

text: Anatomical features[edit]

text: In humans, adipose tissue is located: beneath the skin (subcutaneous fat), around internal organs (visceral fat), in bone marrow (yellow bone marrow), intermuscular (Muscular system) and in the breast tissue.  Adipose tissue is found in specific locations, which are referred to as adipose depots. Apart from adipocytes, which comprise the highest percentage of cells within adipose tissue, other cell types are present, collectively termed stromal vascular fraction (SVF) of cells. SVF includes preadipocytes, fibroblasts, adipose tissue macrophages, and endothelial cells. Adipose tissue contains many small blood vessels. In the integumentary system, which includes the skin, it accumulates in the deepest level, the subcutaneous layer, providing insulation from heat and cold.  Around organs, it provides protective padding. However, its main function is to be a reserve of lipids, which can be oxidised to meet the energy needs of the body and to protect it from excess glucose by storing triglycerides produced by the liver from sugars, although some evidence suggests that most lipid synthesis from carbohydrates occurs in the adipose tissue itself.[4] Adipose depots in different parts of the body have different biochemical profiles. Under normal conditions, it provides feedback for hunger and diet to the brain.

tag: p

text: Mice[edit]

text: Mice have eight major adipose depots, four of which are within the abdominal cavity.[1] The paired gonadal depots are attached to the uterus and ovaries in females and the epididymis and testes in males; the paired retroperitoneal depots are found along the dorsal wall of the abdomen, surrounding the kidney, and, when massive, extend into the pelvis.  The mesenteric depot forms a glue-like web that supports the intestines and the omental depot (which originates near the stomach and spleen) and - when massive - extends into the ventral abdomen.  Both the mesenteric and omental depots incorporate much lymphoid tissue as lymph nodes and milky spots, respectively.  The two superficial depots are the paired inguinal depots, which are found anterior to the upper segment of the hind limbs (underneath the skin) and the subscapular depots, paired medial mixtures of brown adipose tissue adjacent to regions of white adipose tissue, which are found under the skin between the dorsal crests of the scapulae.  The layer of brown adipose tissue in this depot is often covered by a "frosting" of white adipose tissue; sometimes these two types of fat (brown and white) are hard to distinguish.  The inguinal depots enclose the inguinal group of lymph nodes.  Minor depots include the pericardial, which surrounds the heart, and the paired popliteal depots, between the major muscles behind the knees, each containing one large lymph node.[5]  Of all the depots in the mouse, the gonadal depots are the largest and the most easily dissected,[6] comprising about 30% of dissectible fat.[7]

text: Obesity[edit]

text: In an obese person, excess adipose tissue hanging downward from the abdomen is referred to as a panniculus. A panniculus complicates surgery of the morbidly obese individual. It may remain as a literal "apron of skin" if a severely obese person quickly loses large amounts of fat (a common result of gastric bypass surgery).  This condition cannot be effectively corrected through diet and exercise alone, as the panniculus consists of adipocytes and other supporting cell types shrunken to their minimum volume and diameter.[citation needed] Reconstructive surgery is one method of treatment.[citation needed]

text: Visceral fat[edit]

text: Visceral fat or abdominal fat[8] (also known as organ fat or intra-abdominal fat) is located inside the abdominal cavity, packed between the organs (stomach, liver, intestines, kidneys, etc.).  Visceral fat is different from subcutaneous fat underneath the skin, and intramuscular fat interspersed in skeletal muscles. Fat in the lower body, as in thighs and buttocks, is subcutaneous and is not consistently spaced tissue, whereas fat in the abdomen is mostly visceral and semi-fluid.[9] Visceral fat is composed of several adipose depots, including mesenteric, epididymal white adipose tissue (EWAT), and perirenal depots. Visceral fat is often expressed in terms of its area in cm2 (VFA, visceral fat area).[10]

text: An excess of visceral fat is known as central obesity, or "belly fat", in which the abdomen protrudes excessively. New developments such as the Body Volume Index (BVI) are specifically designed to measure abdominal volume and abdominal fat. Excess visceral fat is also linked to type 2 diabetes,[11] insulin resistance,[12] inflammatory diseases,[13] and other obesity-related diseases.[14]  Likewise, the accumulation of neck fat (or cervical adipose tissue) has been shown to be associated with mortality.[15] Several studies have suggested that visceral fat can be predicted from simple anthropometic measures,[16] and predicts mortality more accurately than body mass index or waist circumference.[17]

text: Men are more likely to have fat stored in the abdomen due to sex hormone differences. Female sex hormone causes fat to be stored in the buttocks, thighs, and hips in women.[18][19] When women reach menopause and the estrogen produced by the ovaries declines, fat migrates from the buttocks, hips and thighs to the waist;[20] later fat is stored in the abdomen.[9]

text: High-intensity exercise is one way to effectively reduce total abdominal fat.[21][22] One study suggests at least 10 MET-hours per week of aerobic exercise is required for visceral fat reduction.[23]

text: Epicardial fat[edit]

text: Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) is a particular form of visceral fat deposited around the heart and found to be a metabolically active organ that generates various bioactive molecules, which might significantly affect cardiac function.[24] Marked component differences have been observed in comparing EAT with subcutaneous fat, suggesting a depot specific impact of stored fatty acids on adipocyte function and metabolism.[25]

text: Subcutaneous fat[edit]

text: Most of the remaining nonvisceral fat is found just below the skin in a region called the hypodermis.[26] This subcutaneous fat is not related to many of the classic obesity-related pathologies, such as heart disease, cancer, and stroke, and some evidence even suggests it might be protective.[27] The typically female (or gynecoid) pattern of body fat distribution around the hips, thighs, and buttocks is subcutaneous fat, and therefore poses less of a health risk compared to visceral fat.[28]

text: Like all other fat organs, subcutaneous fat is an active part of the endocrine system, secreting the hormones leptin and resistin.[26]

text: The relationship between the subcutaneous adipose layer and total body fat in a person is often modelled by using regression equations. The most popular of these equations was formed by Durnin and Wormersley, who rigorously tested many types of skinfold, and, as a result, created two formulae to calculate the body density of both men and women. These equations present an inverse correlation between skinfolds and body density—as the sum of skinfolds increases, the body density decreases.[29]

text: Factors such as sex, age, population size or other variables may make the equations invalid and unusable, and, as of  2012[update], Durnin and Wormersley's equations remain only estimates of a person's true level of fatness. New formulae are still being created.[29]

text: Marrow fat[edit]

text: Marrow fat,  also known as marrow adipose tissue (MAT), is a poorly understood adipose depot that resides in the bone and is interspersed with hematopoietic cells as well as bony elements. The adipocytes in this depot are derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) which can give rise to fat cells, bone cells as well as other cell types.  The fact that MAT increases in the setting of calorie restriction/ anorexia is a feature that distinguishes this depot from other fat depots.[30][31][32] Exercise regulates MAT, decreasing MAT quantity and diminishing the size of marrow adipocytes.[33][34][35]  The exercise regulation of marrow fat suggests that it bears some physiologic similarity to other white adipose depots.  Moreover, increased MAT in obesity further suggests a similarity to white fat depots.[33]

text: Ectopic fat[edit]

text: Ectopic fat is the storage of triglycerides in tissues other than adipose tissue, that are supposed to contain only small amounts of fat, such as the liver, skeletal muscle, heart, and pancreas.[1] This can interfere with cellular functions and hence organ function and is associated with insulin resistance in type-2 diabetes.[36] It is stored in relatively high amounts around the organs of the abdominal cavity, but is not to be confused as visceral fat.

text: The specific cause for the accumulation of ectopic fat is unknown. The cause is likely a combination of genetic, environmental, and behavioral factors that are involved in excess energy intake and decreased physical activity. Substantial weight loss can reduce ectopic fat stores in all organs and this is associated with an improvement of the function of that organ.[36]

text: In the latter case, non-invasive weight loss interventions like diet or exercise have the ability to decrease ectopic fat (particularly in heart and liver) in children and adults with overweight or obesity.[37][38]

text: Physiology[edit]

text: Free fatty acids are liberated from lipoproteins by lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and enter the adipocyte, where they are reassembled into triglycerides by esterifying it onto glycerol. Human fat tissue contains about 87% lipids.[citation needed]

text: There is a constant flux of FFA (Free Fatty Acids) entering and leaving adipose tissue. The net direction of this flux is controlled by insulin and leptin—if insulin is elevated, then there is a net inward flux of FFA, and only when insulin is low can FFA leave adipose tissue. Insulin secretion is stimulated by high blood sugar, which results from consuming carbohydrates.[citation needed]

text: In humans, lipolysis (hydrolysis of triglycerides into free fatty acids) is controlled through the balanced control of lipolytic B-adrenergic receptors and a2A-adrenergic receptor-mediated antilipolysis.

text: Fat cells have an important physiological role in maintaining triglyceride and free fatty acid levels, as well as determining insulin resistance. Abdominal fat has a different metabolic profile—being more prone to induce insulin resistance. This explains to a large degree why central obesity is a marker of impaired glucose tolerance and is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease (even in the absence of diabetes mellitus and hypertension).[39] Studies of female monkeys at Wake Forest University (2009) discovered that individuals suffering from higher stress have higher levels of visceral fat in their bodies. This suggests a possible cause-and-effect link between the two, wherein stress promotes the accumulation of visceral fat, which in turn causes hormonal and metabolic changes that contribute to heart disease and other health problems.[40]

text: Recent advances in biotechnology have allowed for the harvesting of adult stem cells from adipose tissue, allowing stimulation of tissue regrowth using a patient's own cells.  In addition, adipose-derived stem cells from both human and animals reportedly can be efficiently reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells without the need for feeder cells.[41] The use of a patient's own cells reduces the chance of tissue rejection and avoids ethical issues associated with the use of human embryonic stem cells.[42] A growing body of evidence also suggests that different fat depots (i.e. abdominal, omental, pericardial) yield adipose-derived stem cells with different characteristics.[42][43]  These depot-dependent features include proliferation rate, immunophenotype, differentiation potential, gene expression, as well as sensitivity to hypoxic culture conditions.[44]

text: Adipose tissue is the greatest peripheral source of aromatase in both males and females,[citation needed] contributing to the production of estradiol.

text: Adipose derived hormones include:

text:
Adiponectin
Resistin
Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1)
TNFα
IL-6
Leptin
Estradiol (E2)

tag: ul

text: Adipose tissues also secrete a type of cytokines (cell-to-cell signalling proteins) called adipokines (adipocytokines), which play a role in obesity-associated complications. Perivascular adipose tissue releases adipokines such as adiponectin that affect the contractile function of the vessels that they surround.[1][45]

text: Brown fat[edit]

text: Brown fat or brown adipose tissue (BAT) is a specialized form of adipose tissue important for adaptive thermogenesis in humans and other mammals. BAT can generate heat by "uncoupling" the respiratory chain of oxidative phosphorylation within mitochondria through tissue-specific expression of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1).[46] BAT is primarily located around the neck and large blood vessels of the thorax, where may effectively act in heat exchange. BAT is robustly activated upon cold exposure by the release of catecholamines from sympathetic nerves that results in UCP1 activation. BAT activation may also occur in response to overfeeding.[47] UCP1 activity is stimulated by long chain fatty acids that are produced subsequent to β-adrenergic receptor activation.[46] UCP1 is proposed to function as a fatty acid proton symporter, although the exact mechanism has yet to be elucidated.[48] In contrast, UCP1 is inhibited by ATP, ADP, and GTP.[49]

text: Attempts to simulate this process pharmacologically have so far been unsuccessful.  Techniques to manipulate the differentiation of "brown fat" could become a mechanism for weight loss therapy in the future, encouraging the growth of tissue with this specialized metabolism without inducing it in other organs.

text: Until recently, brown adipose tissue was thought to be primarily limited to infants in humans, but new evidence has now overturned that belief. Metabolically active tissue with temperature responses similar to brown adipose was first reported in the neck and trunk of some human adults in 2007,[50] and the presence of brown adipose in human adults was later verified histologically in the same anatomical regions.[51][52][53]

text: Beige fat and WAT browning[edit]

text: Browning of WAT, also referred to as “beiging”, occurs when adipocytes within WAT depots develop features of BAT. Beige adipocytes take on a multilocular appearance (containing several lipid droplets) and increase expression of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1).[54] In doing so, these normally energy-storing adipocytes become energy-releasing adipocytes.

text: The calorie-burning capacity of brown and beige fat has been extensively studied as research efforts focus on therapies targeted to treat obesity and diabetes. The drug 2,4-dinitrophenol, which also acts as a chemical uncoupler similarly to UCP1, was used for weight loss in the 1930s. However, it was quickly discontinued when excessive dosing led to adverse side effects including hyperthermia and death.[54] β3 agonists, like CL316,243, have also been developed and tested in humans. However, the use of such drugs has proven largely unsuccessful due to several challenges, including varying species receptor specificity and poor oral bioavailability.[55]

text: Cold is a primary regulator of BAT processes and induces WAT browning. Browning in response to chronic cold exposure has been well documented and is a reversible process. A study in mice demonstrated that cold-induced browning can be completely reversed in 21 days, with measurable decreases in UCP1 seen within a 24-hour period.[56] A study by Rosenwald et al. revealed that when the animals are re-exposed to a cold environment, the same adipocytes will adopt a beige phenotype, suggesting that beige adipocytes are retained.[57]

text: Transcriptional regulators, as well as a growing number of other factors, regulate the induction of beige fat. Four regulators of transcription are central to WAT browning and serve as targets for many of the molecules known to influence this process.[58] These include peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ), PR domain containing 16 (PRDM16),[59] peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1 alpha (PGC-1α), and Early B-Cell Factor-2 (EBF2).[60][61][62]

text: The list of molecules that influence browning has grown in direct proportion to the popularity of this topic and is constantly evolving as more knowledge is acquired. Among these molecules are irisin and fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), which have been well-studied and are believed to be important regulators of browning. Irisin is secreted from muscle in response to exercise and has been shown to increase browning by acting on beige preadipocytes.[63] FGF21, a hormone secreted mainly by the liver, has garnered a great deal of interest after being identified as a potent stimulator of glucose uptake and a browning regulator through its effects on PGC-1α.[54] It is increased in BAT during cold exposure and is thought to aid in resistance to diet-induced obesity[64] FGF21 may also be secreted in response to exercise and a low protein diet, although the latter has not been thoroughly investigated.[65][66] Data from these studies suggest that environmental factors like diet and exercise may be important mediators of browning. In mice, it was found that beiging can occur through the production of methionine-enkephalin peptides by type 2 innate lymphoid cells in response to interleukin 33.[67]

text: Genomics and bioinformatics tools to study browning[edit]

text: Due to the complex nature of adipose tissue and a growing list of browning regulatory molecules, great potential exists for the use of bioinformatics tools to improve study within this field. Studies of WAT browning have greatly benefited from advances in these techniques, as beige fat is rapidly gaining popularity as a therapeutic target for the treatment of obesity and diabetes.

text: DNA microarray is a bioinformatics tool used to quantify expression levels of various genes simultaneously, and has been used extensively in the study of adipose tissue. One such study used microarray analysis in conjunction with Ingenuity IPA software to look at changes in WAT and BAT gene expression when mice were exposed to temperatures of 28 and 6 °C.[68] The most significantly up- and downregulated genes were then identified and used for analysis of differentially expressed pathways. It was discovered that many of the pathways upregulated in WAT after cold exposure are also highly expressed in BAT, such as oxidative phosphorylation, fatty acid metabolism, and pyruvate metabolism.[68] This suggests that some of the adipocytes switched to a beige phenotype at 6 °C. Mössenböck et al. also used microarray analysis to demonstrate that insulin deficiency inhibits the differentiation of beige adipocytes but does not disturb their capacity for browning.[69] These two studies demonstrate the potential for the use of microarray in the study of WAT browning.

text: RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) is a powerful computational tool that allows for the quantification of RNA expression for all genes within a sample. Incorporating RNA-Seq into browning studies is of great value, as it offers better specificity, sensitivity, and a more comprehensive overview of gene expression than other methods. RNA-Seq has been used in both human and mouse studies in an attempt characterize beige adipocytes according to their gene expression profiles and to identify potential therapeutic molecules that may induce the beige phenotype. One such study used RNA-Seq to compare gene expression profiles of WAT from wild-type (WT) mice and those overexpressing Early B-Cell Factor-2 (EBF2). WAT from the transgenic animals exhibited a brown fat gene program and had decreased WAT specific gene expression compared to the WT mice.[70] Thus, EBF2 has been identified as a potential therapeutic molecule to induce beiging.

text: Chromatin immunoprecipitation with sequencing (ChIP-seq) is a method used to identify protein binding sites on DNA and assess histone modifications. This tool has enabled examination of epigenetic regulation of browning and helps elucidate the mechanisms by which protein-DNA interactions stimulate the differentiation of beige adipocytes. Studies observing the chromatin landscapes of beige adipocytes have found that adipogenesis of these cells results from the formation of cell specific chromatin landscapes, which regulate the transcriptional program and, ultimately, control differentiation. Using ChIP-seq in conjunction with other tools, recent studies have identified over 30 transcriptional and epigenetic factors that influence beige adipocyte development.[70]

text: Genetics[edit]

text: The thrifty gene hypothesis (also called the famine hypothesis) states that in some populations the body would be more efficient at retaining fat in times of plenty, thereby endowing greater resistance to starvation in times of food scarcity. This hypothesis, originally advanced in the context of glucose metabolism and insulin resistance, has been discredited by physical anthropologists, physiologists, and the original proponent of the idea himself with respect to that context, although according to its developer it remains "as viable as when [it was] first advanced" in other contexts.[71][72]

text: In 1995, Jeffrey Friedman, in his residency at the Rockefeller University, together with Rudolph Leibel, Douglas Coleman et al. discovered the protein leptin that the genetically obese mouse lacked.[73][74][75] Leptin is produced in the white adipose tissue and signals to the hypothalamus. When leptin levels drop, the body interprets this as a loss of energy, and hunger increases. Mice lacking this protein eat until they are four times their normal size.

text: Leptin, however, plays a different role in diet-induced obesity in rodents and humans. Because adipocytes produce leptin, leptin levels are elevated in the obese. However, hunger remains, and—when leptin levels drop due to weight loss—hunger increases. The drop of leptin is better viewed as a starvation signal than the rise of leptin as a satiety signal.[76] However, elevated leptin in obesity is known as leptin resistance. The changes that occur in the hypothalamus to result in leptin resistance in obesity are currently the focus of obesity research.[77]

text: Gene defects in the leptin gene (ob) are rare in human obesity.[78] As of July, 2010, only 14 individuals from five families have been identified worldwide who carry a mutated ob gene (one of which was the first ever identified cause of genetic obesity in humans)—two families of Pakistani origin living in the UK, one family living in Turkey, one in Egypt, and one in Austria[79][80][81][82][83]—and two other families have been found that carry a mutated ob receptor.[84][85] Others have been identified as genetically partially deficient in leptin, and, in these individuals, leptin levels on the low end of the normal range can predict obesity.[86]

text: Several mutations of genes involving the melanocortins (used in brain signaling associated with appetite) and their receptors have also been identified as causing obesity in a larger portion of the population than leptin mutations.[87]

text: In 2007, researchers isolated the adipose gene, which those researchers hypothesize serves to keep animals lean during times of plenty.  In that study, increased adipose gene activity was associated with slimmer animals.[88] Although its discoverers dubbed this gene the adipose gene, it is not a gene responsible for creating adipose tissue.

text: Pre-adipocytes are undifferentiated fibroblasts that can be stimulated to form adipocytes. Recent studies shed light into potential molecular mechanisms in the fate determination of pre-adipocytes although the exact lineage of adipocyte is still unclear.[89]

text: Physical properties[edit]

text: Adipose tissue has a density of ~0.9 g/ml.[90] Thus, a person with more adipose tissue will float more easily than a person of the same weight with more muscular tissue, since muscular tissue has a density of 1.06 g/ml.[91]

text: Body fat meter[edit]

text: A body fat meter is a widely available tool used to measure the percentage of fat in the human body. Different meters use various methods to determine the body fat to weight ratio. They tend to under-read body fat percentage.[92]

text: In contrast with clinical tools, one relatively inexpensive type of body fat meter uses the principle of bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) in order to determine an individual's body fat percentage. To achieve this, the meter passes a small, harmless, electric current through the body and measures the resistance, then uses information on the person's weight, height, age, and sex to calculate an approximate value for the person's body fat percentage. The calculation measures the total volume of water in the body (lean tissue and muscle contain a higher percentage of water than fat), and estimates the percentage of fat based on this information. The result can fluctuate several percentage points depending on what has been eaten and how much water has been drunk before the analysis.

text: Animal studies[edit]

text: Within the fat (adipose) tissue of CCR2 deficient mice, there is an increased number of eosinophils, greater alternative Macrophage activation, and a propensity towards type 2 cytokine expression. Furthermore, this effect was exaggerated when the mice became obese from a high fat diet.[93]

text: Gallery[edit]

text:
Diagrammatic sectional view of the skin (magnified).

White adipose tissue in paraffin section

Electronic instrument of body fat meter


document_title: Rules of cribbage

question_text: who counts first in crib at the end

question_tokens: who counts first in crib at the end

text: Rules of cribbage

text: The deal[edit]

text: Cribbage uses a standard 52-card deck of cards. The jokers are removed; the suits are equal in status. The players cut for first deal, with the player cutting the lowest card (the ace counts as one, and is the lowest card) dealing first. If the cutters tie, the cards are re-shuffled and re-cut. The dealer shuffles, offers the deck to the player on his or her right to cut (required in tournament play), and deals cards singly to each player, starting with the player on the dealer's left. During the deal, if any card is exposed by the dealer or found face-up in the deck, cards must be redealt.[1]

text: Cards must be dealt so that each player ends up with four cards after the crib is formed, and the crib should also have four cards. For two players, each is dealt six cards (though some play with five cards dealt to each player and two to the crib). For three or four players, each is dealt five cards. In the case of three players, a single card is dealt face down in front of the dealer to start the crib.

text:
# of Players
# cards dealt to each player
# cards dealt to crib
# cards discarded by each player to crib

2  (standard)
6
0
2

2  (alternate)
5
2
1

3
5
1
1

4
5
0
1

tag: table

text: The crib[edit]

text: Once the cards have been dealt, each player chooses four cards to retain, discarding the other one or two face-down to form the "crib" that will be used later by the dealer.[2] At this point, each player's hand and the crib will contain exactly four cards.

text: Example cribs[edit]

text: Two players[edit]

text:
Player

Cards dealt

Discarded

Hand

Alice(dealer)

Bob

Crib

text: Three players[edit]

text:
Player

Cards dealt

Discarded

Hand

Claire(dealer)

David

Eve

Crib

text: The starter[edit]

text:
The player on the dealer's left cuts the undealt portion of the deck (leaving at least 4 cards), and the dealer reveals the top card, called the "starter" or the "cut", placing it on top of the deck face up. (It is illegal to peek at any other cards in the deck during this process.)[3] If this card is a Jack, the dealer scores two points for "his heels", also known as "his nibs", or simply "nibs".
The game can end on a cut of a Jack for the dealer.

text: The play[edit]

text: The play (often called pegging) starts with the player on the dealer's left and continues clockwise. Each player lays one card in turn onto the table so that it is visible, stating the cumulative value of the cards played. (For example, the first player lays a 4 and says "four", the next lays a 7 and says "eleven", and so on). Face cards are worth ten; Aces are worth one. Play must not exceed 31, so a player who cannot lay a card without bringing the total above 31 passes by saying "Go". The other players continue to lay cards in turn without exceeding 31 until no cards can be played. If a player can lay a card they must do so. The last player to lay a card scores two points if 31 is reached exactly ("31 for two"); otherwise one point is scored, e.g., "29 for one", or "30 for one", etc. The one-point score is known as "One for the go",[4] or simply the "Go". The count is then reset to zero and play resumes, starting with the player to the left of the last card played.  Players with cards remaining repeat this process until all players' cards have been played.

text: In addition to scoring one or two points for the last card, players score points according to the following rules:

text:
fifteen-twos
two points for a cumulative total of exactly fifteen ("fifteen two")
runs
three points for completing a run of three cards, regardless of the order in which they are laid (a 6, then a 4, then a 5 is a run of three even though they were not laid in order)
four points for completing a run of four
five points for completing a run of five
six points for completing a run of six
seven points for completing the run of seven; e.g. playing 2, 4, 6, A, 3, 5 and 7
pairs
two points for laying a card of the same rank as the previous card, thus completing a pair
six points for laying a third card of the same rank (a "pair royal" or "trips")
twelve points for laying a fourth card of the same rank (a "double pair royal" or "quad")

text: If a card completes more than one scoring combination, then all combinations are scored. For example, if the first three cards played are 5s, the third one scores eight points: two for making 15, and six for a pair royal. Card combinations cannot span a reset; once the total reaches 31 (or a Go has been scored) and counting has restarted at zero, cards already played cannot contribute to runs or pairs. During this phase of play run combinations cannot span a pair; in a play of 2, 3, 3, 4 the pair interrupts the run so only the pair is counted for points.

text: Players choose when to lay each card in order to maximise their score according to the scheme shown below. The first player to reach 121 wins the game.

text: Example plays[edit]

text: Two players[edit]

text:
Alice(dealer)

Bob

text:
Player

Card

Cumulative

Score

Announced

Bob

10

"ten"

Alice

15
2 points (fifteen exactly)
"fifteen for two"

Bob

22

"twenty-two"

Alice

28
3 points (run: 5, 6, 7)
"twenty-eight for three"

Bob

"go"

Alice

30
1 point
"thirty for one"

Bob

6

"six"

Alice

10

"ten"

Bob

14
3 points (pair, last card)
"fourteen for three"

text: Three players[edit]

text:
Claire(dealer)

David

Eve

text:
Player

Card

Cumulative

Score

Announced

David

7

"seven"

Eve

14
2 points (pair)
"fourteen for two"

Claire

21
6 points (three-of-a-kind)
"twenty-one for six"

David

26

"twenty-six"

Eve

31
4 points (pair, 31 exactly)
"thirty-one for four"

Claire

8

"eight"

David

18

"eighteen"

Eve

28
2 points (pair)
"twenty-eight for two"

Claire

"go"

David

"go"

Eve

31
2 points (31 exactly)
"thirty-one for two"

Claire

10

"ten"

David

14

"fourteen"

Claire

23
1 point (last card)
"twenty-three for one"

text: The show[edit]

text: Once the play is complete, each player in turn receives points based on the content of their hand. Starting with the player on the dealer's left, players spread out their cards on the playing surface and calculate their score based on these four cards and the starter card:

text:
fifteen-twos
two points for each separate combination of two or more cards totalling exactly fifteen
runs
three points for a run of three consecutive cards (regardless of suit)
four points for completing a run of four
five points for completing a run of five
pairs
two points for a pair of cards of a kind
six points for three cards of a kind (known as a "pair royal", comprising three distinct pairs)
twelve points for four cards of a kind (a "double pair royal", comprising six distinct pairs)
flush
four points for a flush, where all four cards in the hand are of the same suit, with an additional point if the starter card is also of that suit.
one point for holding the Jack of the same suit as the starter card ("one for his nob"[5] or "... his nobs"[6])

text: Common combinations are often scored as a group. For example, a run of three cards with an additional card matching one of the three in value, e.g., 2–2–3–4, is termed a "double run", and scores eight according to the above rules, three for each of the runs and two for the pair. Even more valuable are "triple runs" (three three-card straights including a three-of-a-kind, e.g., 2–2–2–3–4, that score fifteen) and "double-double runs" (four three-card straights including pairs, e.g., 2–3–3–4–4, that score sixteen). Combined runs may also include fifteen-twos. A 24 hand, the largest commonly seen, comprises a double-double run and four fifteen-twos. Two examples are 4–4–5–5–6 and 6–7–7–8–8.

text: The dealer scores his hand last and then turns the cards in the crib face up. These cards, in conjunction with the starter card, are scored by the dealer as an additional hand. The rules for scoring the crib are the same as scoring a hand, with the exception of the flush; a four-card flush in the crib is scored only if it is the same suit as the starter card (for a total of five points).

text: The highest possible score for a hand is 29 points: a starter card of a 5, and a hand of 5, 5, 5, J with the Jack being the same suit as the starter card. The score might be announced thus:

text: Fifteen two, fifteen four, fifteen six, fifteen eight, [four J-5 combinations]fifteen ten, fifteen twelve, fifteen fourteen, fifteen sixteen, [four 5–5–5 combinations]twelve for pairs [four 5s] is twenty-eight,and nobs makes twenty-nine.

text: Scores between 0 and 29 are all possible, with the exception of 19, 25, 26 and 27.[7] Players may colloquially refer to a blank hand (one scoring no points) as a "nineteen hand".

text: Example scores[edit]

text: Two players[edit]

text:
Startercard

Alice(dealer)

Bob

Crib

text:
Player

Cards

Score

Announced

Bob

2
"fifteen two"

2
"fifteen four"

4
"four for a run"

1
"and one for his nob"

Total
9

Alice

2
"fifteen two"

2
"fifteen four"

8
"and eight for a double run"

Total
12

Alice(crib)

2
"fifteen two"

2
"fifteen four"

2
"and two for a pair"

Total
6

text: Three players[edit]

text:
Startercard

Claire(dealer)

David

Eve

Crib

text:
Player

Cards

Score

Announced

David

2
"fifteen two"

2
"fifteen four"

3
"and three for a run"

Total
7

Eve

2
"fifteen two"

2
"fifteen four"

2
"fifteen six"

2
"and two for a pair"

Total
8

Claire

2
"fifteen two"

3
"and three for a run"

Total
5

Claire(crib)

2
"fifteen two"

3
"and three for a run"

Total
5

text: The end[edit]

text: After the dealer has scored the crib, all cards are collected and the deal passes to the player on the dealer's left. The next round starts with the deal.

text: Although the rules of cribbage do not require it (except in tournament play), the traditional method of keeping score is to use a cribbage board. This is a flat board, usually made of wood, with separate series of holes that record each player's score. It is usually arranged in five hole sections for easier scoring. Players each have two pegs that mark their current and previous scores, and all scoring is done by moving the back peg ahead of the front peg.

text: When a player reaches the target score for the game (usually 121), the game ends with that player the winner.

text: Match[edit]

text: A match (much like tennis) consists of more than one game, often an odd number (3 games, 5 games, 7 games etc.). The match points are scored on the cribbage board using the holes reserved for match points. On a spiral board, these are often at the bottom of the board in a line with 5 or 7 holes. On a traditional board, they are often placed in the middle of the board or at the top/bottom.

text: Two player game[edit]

text: In a two player game of cribbage a player scores one match point for each game won. Their opponent will begin the next game as first dealer. If a player skunks their opponent (reaches 121 points before their opponent scores 91 points) then that player scores one extra match point for that game (two match points in total). If a player double skunks their opponent (reaches 121 points before their opponent reaches 61), then they score two extra match points for the game (four match points in total). If a player triple skunks their opponent (reaches 121 points before their opponent reaches 31 points), they automatically win the match regardless of how many match points are needed to win. Double and triple skunks are not included in the official rules of cribbage play and are optional. There are several different formats for scoring match points.

text:
Match point scoring

Scoring Variation
Points for a normal win
Points for skunking opponent
Points for double skunking opponent
Points for triple skunking opponent

Official Tournament rules
2 points
3 points
no extra points
no extra points

Variation of Tournament rules
2 points
3 points
4 points
no extra points

Free play rules
1 point
2 points
4 points
no extra points

Free play rules with triple skunk
1 points
2 points
4 points
Automatic win of match

text: Three player game[edit]

text: Winner takes all[edit]

text: When playing a three player match in a winner takes all format, the winner scores two match points (just like in two-way cribbage) for each game won. If he/she skunks just the third opponent, they score an additional match point (3 total) with second place receiving one point. If he/she double skunks both opponents, he/she still scores three match points but second place would not receive any points at all.

text: Continued play[edit]

text: In continued play format, the winner of the match earns two match points for three player cribbage and four match points for five player cribbage (plus applicable match points if the player has skunked/double skunked their opponents). The remaining players play until there is a second winner, who scores one match point for three player cribbage and two match points for five player cribbage (with no extra points for skunking opponents). In five player cribbage, the remaining three players play until there is a third winner, who scores one match point (with no extra points for skunking opponents).

text: Variations[edit]

text:
Three players: Five cards are dealt to each player and one card directly to the crib, and each player then discards one card to the crib, as shown in the examples above. Three players can score individually, with the winner the first to reach 121, or in a "two against one" team format, where the two-player team must score 121 to win before the lone player reaches 61. Another variation of the "two against one" team format, is that prior to the cut, the lone player picks up the crib, examines all 8 cards, and then discards 4 cards to the crib.  Both the team and lone player need to reach 121 to win.
Four players: Five cards are dealt to each player, each of whom discards one to the crib. The players can play as individuals or as two sets of partners.
Five-card cribbage (called the "old game"): Each of two players is dealt five cards, two of which are discarded into the crib. The crib thus consists of four cards but each hand only three. The non-dealer is given a three-point start and play is to 61.
Five players: Five cards are dealt to each player except the dealer, who has only four cards.  The four non-dealers each discard one card to the crib.
Muggins: This is a scoring variant in which a player who fails to count all the points to which he is entitled in the play or the show loses the unclaimed points to an opponent who calls "muggins" or "cut throat".
Lowball (or "Loser's Crib"): This is a misère variant in which the normal rules apply but the aim is to avoid scoring. The loser is the first to 121.
Jokers: Jokers are fully wild, with their rank and suit decided only at the moment of play. The choice of card may even replicate a card already in play, allowing for 5 of a kind (20 points), 6 of a kind (30 points), etc.  When a joker is cut as the starter, the dealer scores 2 for heels and each player may choose a different rank and suit for the joker when hands are scored.
Toss Fives: This is a variant in which players must discard any 5s they may have into the crib (even an opponent's crib).
Auction Cribbage:[8] In Auction Cribbage, any player may bid for the points in the box after the cards are dealt. Bidding continues in turn until no further bids are offered; the winning bidder then immediately deducts that number of points from their hand; the crib is scored at the usual time and its points awarded to the winning bidder for that round.  If no bid is placed, the dealer retains the crib.
Null point penalty:[citation needed] When a player scores zero points during "the show", their opponent scores one point. This applies to both players hands as well as in the crib.
Back 10 (Backup Ten): The hand and the crib must contain points. If either hand does not, the owner of the hand must go back ten points.[9]


document_title: Bleeding Kansas

question_text: what came first bleeding kansas or kansas nebraska act

text: Bleeding Kansas

text: Origins[edit]

text:
Events leading to
the American Civil War

Slavery
Northwest Ordinance
Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions
Battle of Negro Fort
Missouri Compromise
Tariff of 1828
Nat Turner's slave rebellion
Nullification Crisis
The Amistad
Prigg v. Pennsylvania
Texas annexation
Mexican–American War
Wilmot Proviso
Manifest destiny
Underground Railroad
Nashville Convention
Compromise of 1850
Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Kansas–Nebraska Act
Ostend Manifesto
Bleeding Kansas
Caning of Charles Sumner
Dred Scott v. Sandford
The Impending Crisis of the South
Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry
1860 presidential election
Crittenden Compromise
Secession of Southern States
Star of the West
Corwin Amendment
Battle of Fort Sumter

v
t
e

text: Through the Missouri Compromise of 1820, Congress kept a tenuous balance of political power between North and South. In May 1854, the Kansas–Nebraska Act, created from unorganized Indian lands and territories of Kansas and Nebraska, permitted residency by U.S. citizens, who were to determine their state's slavery status and seek admission to the Union. Immigrants supporting both sides of the question arrived in Kansas to establish residency and gain the right to vote. However, Kansas Territory officials were appointed (1854) by the pro-slavery administration of President Franklin Pierce (in office 1853–1857), and thousands of non-resident pro-slavery Missourians entered Kansas with the goal of winning elections. They captured territorial elections, sometimes by fraud and intimidation. In response, Northern abolitionist elements flooded Kansas with "free-soilers." Anti-slavery Kansas residents wrote the first Kansas Constitution (1855) and elected the Free State legislature in Topeka; this stood in opposition to the pro-slavery government in Lecompton. The two Territorial governments increased as well as symbolized the strife of Bleeding Kansas.[1][2]

text: Meeting of North and South[edit]

text: Among the first immigrants to Kansas Territory were citizens of slave states, notably neighboring Missouri, who came to secure the expansion of slavery. Pro-slavery forces settled towns including Leavenworth and Atchison. At the same time, citizens of the North, many aided by the New England Emigrant Aid Company, moved to Kansas to make it a free state and settled towns including Lawrence, Topeka and Manhattan.[3]

text: It was rumored in the South that thousands of Northerners were arriving in Kansas. Believing these rumors, in November 1854, thousands of armed pro-slavery men known as "Border Ruffians" or "southern yankees", mostly from Missouri, poured into the Kansas Territory and swayed the vote in the election for a non-voting delegate to Congress in favor of pro-slavery candidate John Whitfield.[4] The following year a Congressional committee investigating the election reported that 1729 fraudulent votes were cast compared to 1114 legal votes. In one location only 20 of the 604 voters were residents of the Kansas Territory. In another 35 were residents and 226 non-residents.[5]

text: First Territorial Legislature[edit]

text: On March 30, 1855, Kansas Territory held the election for its first Territorial Legislature.[4] Crucially, this legislature would decide whether Kansas Territory would allow slavery.[3] Just as had happened in the election of November 1854, "Border Ruffians" from Missouri again streamed into the territory to vote, and proslavery delegates were elected to 37 of the 39 seats – Martin F. Conway and Samuel D. Houston from Riley County were the only Free-Staters elected.[3] Due to questions about electoral fraud, Territorial Governor Andrew Reeder invalidated the results in five voting districts, and a special election was held on May 22, 1855, to elect replacements.[3] Eight of the eleven delegates elected in the special election were Free-State, but this still left the proslavery camp with an overwhelming 29–10 advantage.[3]

text: To help countermand the voting fraud, by the summer of 1855 around 1,200 New England Yankees had emigrated to Kansas Territory.[6] The abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher armed many of them with Sharps rifles, which, it is alleged, became known as "Beecher's Bibles" for their shipment in wooden crates so labeled.

text: In response to the disputed votes and rising tension, Congress sent a special committee to Kansas Territory in 1856.[3] The committee report concluded that if the election on March 30, 1855, had been limited to "actual settlers" it would have elected a Free-State legislature.[3][7] The report also stated that the legislature actually seated "was an illegally constituted body, and had no power to pass valid laws."[3][7]

text: Nevertheless, the pro-slavery territorial legislature convened in the newly created Territorial Capital in Pawnee on July 2, 1855. The legislature immediately invalidated the results from the special election in May and seated the pro-slavery delegates elected in March. After only one week in Pawnee, the legislature moved the territorial capital to the Shawnee Mission on the Missouri border, where it reconvened and passed laws favorable to slavery.

text: In August 1855, antislavery residents met to formally reject the pro-slavery laws. This led to the election of Free State delegates, and the writing of the Topeka Constitution. However, in a message to Congress on January 24, 1856, President Pierce declared the Free-State Topeka government insurrectionist in its stand against pro-slavery Territorial officials.[8]

text: Open violence[edit]

text: In October 1855, John Brown came to the Kansas Territory to fight slavery. On November 21, 1855 the so-called "Wakarusa War" began when a Free-Stater named Charles Dow was shot by a pro-slavery settler. The war had one fatality, when the free stater Thomas Barber was shot and killed near Lawrence on December 6. On May 21, 1856, Missourians invaded Lawrence and burned the Free State Hotel, destroyed two newspaper offices, and ransacked homes and stores.

text: In May 1856, Republican Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts took to the floor to denounce the threat of slavery in Kansas and humiliate its supporters. He had devoted his enormous energies to the destruction of what Republicans called the Slave Power, that is the efforts of slave owners to take control of the federal government and ensure the survival and expansion of slavery. In the speech (called "The Crime against Kansas") Sumner ridiculed the honor of elderly South Carolina Senator Andrew Butler, portraying Butler's pro-slavery agenda towards Kansas with the raping of a virgin and characterizing his affection for it in sexual and revolting terms.[9] The next day Butler's cousin, the South Carolina Congressman Preston Brooks, nearly killed Sumner on the Senate floor with a heavy cane. The action electrified the nation, brought violence to the floor of the Senate, and deepened the North-South split.[10]

text: The violence continued to increase. John Brown led his sons and other followers to plan the murder of settlers who spoke in favor of slavery. At a proslavery settlement at Pottawatomie Creek on the night of May 24, the group seized five pro-slavery men from their homes and hacked them to death with broadswords. Brown and his men escaped and began plotting a full-scale slave insurrection to take place at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, with financial support from Boston abolitionists.[11]

text: The pro-slavery Territorial government, serving under President Pierce, had been relocated to Lecompton. In April 1856, a Congressional committee arrived there to investigate voting fraud. The committee found the elections improperly elected by non-residents. President Pierce refused recognition of its findings and continued to authorize the pro-slavery legislature, which the Free State people called the "Bogus Legislature."

text: On the Fourth of July in 1856, proclamations of President Pierce led to nearly 500 U.S. Army troops arriving in Topeka from Ft. Leavenworth and Ft. Riley. With their cannons pointed at Constitution Hall, and the long fuses lit, Colonel E.V. Sumner, cousin to the senator of the same name beaten on the Senate floor, ordered the dispersal of the Free State Legislature.[12]

text: In August 1856, thousands of pro-slavery men formed into armies and marched into Kansas. That same month, Brown and several of his followers engaged 400 pro-slavery soldiers in the "Battle of Osawatomie". The hostilities raged for another two months until Brown departed the Kansas Territory, and a new territorial governor, John W. Geary, took office and managed to prevail upon both sides for peace. This was followed by a fragile peace broken by intermittent violent outbreaks for two more years. The last major outbreak of violence was touched off by the Marais des Cygnes massacre in 1858, in which Border Ruffians killed five Free State men. In all, approximately 56 people died in Bleeding Kansas by the time the violence ended in 1859.[13] Following the commencement of the American Civil War in 1861, additional guerrilla violence erupted on the border between Kansas and Missouri.

text: Constitutional fight[edit]

text: A major confrontation of the Bleeding Kansas era was in the writing of constitutions that would govern the state of Kansas. The first of four such documents was the 1855 Topeka Constitution, written by antislavery forces unified under the Free State Party. This was the basis for the Free State Territorial government that resisted the illegitimate, but federally authorized government elected by non-resident, and thus unqualified Missourians.[14]

text: In 1857, the second constitutional convention drafted the "Lecompton Constitution", a pro-slavery document. The Lecompton Constitution was promoted by President James Buchanan. Congress instead ordered another election because of voting irregularities uncovered. On Aug. 2, 1858, Kansas voters rejected the document by 11,812 to 1,926.[15]

text: While the Lecompton Constitution was pending before Congress, a third document, the Leavenworth Constitution, was written and passed by Free State delegates. It was more radical than other Free State proposals in that it would have extended suffrage to "every male citizen", regardless of race. Participation in this ballot on May 18, 1858 was a fraction of the previous and there was some opposition by Free State Democrats. The proposed constitution was forwarded to the U.S. Senate on January 6, 1859 where it was met with a tepid reception and left to die in committee.[16]

text: The Wyandotte Constitution drafted in 1859 represented the Free State view of the future of Kansas. It was approved in a referendum by a vote of 10,421 to 5,530 on October 4, 1859.[17] With southern states still in control of the Senate, Kansas awaited admission to the Union until January 29, 1861.

text: Heritage Area[edit]

text: In 2006, federal legislation defined a new Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area (FFNHA) and was approved by Congress. A task of the heritage area is to interpret Bleeding Kansas stories, which are also called stories of the Missouri/Kansas border war. A theme of the heritage area is the enduring struggle for freedom. FFNHA includes 41 counties, 29 of which are in eastern Kansas and 12 in western Missouri.[18]

text: In popular culture[edit]

text: The issue of "Bleeding Kansas" is dramatically rendered in Wildwood Boys (William Morrow, New York; 2000), a biographical novel of Bloody Bill Anderson by James Carlos Blake.

text: The November 8, 2014, episode of Hell on Wheels, titled "Bleeding Kansas", depicted one occurrence of a white family being slain for having slaves, who were then freed, in the name of religion.[19]

text: Other mentions include:

text:
Sara Paretsky, Bleeding Kansas (2008) - a novel depicting social and political conflicts in present-day Kansas, with many references to the 19th Century events.
McBride, James. The Good Lord Bird (2013)
KCPT Kansas City Public Television and Wide Awake Films (2007).
Bad Blood, the Border War that Triggered the Civil War, a documentary DVD (ISBN 0-9777261-4-2)
The Outlaw Josey Wales a 1976 American Western film set during and after the American Civil War, involves violence in the aftermath of Bleeding Kansas.
When Kings Reigned, a 2017 docudrama directed by Ian Ballinger and Alison Dover, set during and after the Bleeding Kansas era about fishermen living along the Kansas River, and the persecution they faced from local governments.