Liberty, the fair maid of Kansas in the hands of the "border ruffians"

This cartoon "portrays the Democratic leaders as jovial and unscrupulous marauders. Robbery, murder and abduction (common occurrences during the struggle between free-soil and pro-slavery advocates in the new states) are laid to Pierce, Buchanan, Cass, Marcy and Douglas. The cheefulness with which these men supported measures leading to such crimes are forcibly emphasized by the cartoonist in depicting them as actual outlaws."
Courtesy of Boston Public Library