If you were planning to go to Baldwin, Saturday, June 4, 2022 for the 166th Anniversary Commemoration of the Battle of Blackjack, it has has been postponed. The threat of inclement weather has forced organizers to move the event to Saturday, July 23rd. Director of Marketing, Emery Compton, says people would have to park in the grass and with the rain, it would create muddy and unsafe conditions. They also don’t want to have anyone outside during stormy weather.
The Battle of Blackjack was the first armed conflict between proslavery and antislavery forces in the United States. The battle, near Baldwin City, on June 2, 1856, had implications far beyond Kansas Territory. Some call it the first battle of the Civil War. The debate over Kansas and the events there clearly marked a turning point in the march toward the Civil War.
Both the battle and the coverage of the battle in the Nation’s newspapers introduced John Brown, who called for armed insurrection to end slavery. The battlefield was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2012.
