What was the New England Emigrant Aid Company?
Q: What was the New England Emigrant Aid Company?
A: The New England Emigrant Aid Company, originally the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company, was a transportation company in Boston, Massachusetts created to bring immigrants to the Kansas Territory.
Q: Who founded the company?
A: The company was founded by Eli Thayer, a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
Q: What was the purpose of creating this company?
A: The purpose of creating this company was to make sure Kansas would become a free state by allowing its population to choose for themselves whether or not slavery would be legal through popular sovereignty.
Q: How much money did it start with?
A: The New England Emigrant Aid Company started with a capital of $5 million.
Q: How did they protect settlers sent by them?
A: To protect settlers sent by them, they secretly sent armed men and Sharps rifles to Kansas which were marked as "books" and "Bibles".
Q: Did they make any profit from their activities?
A: No, the Company never made any profit or had any significant impact on the population of Kansas.
Q: How did their actions contribute to Bleeding Kansas?
A: Their actions contributed to Bleeding Kansas as sending armed men and rifles caused Border Ruffians from nearby Missouri where slavery was legal to move into Kansas in order to ensure its admission as a slave state which further galvanized Free-Staters and abolitionists into action.
