A hill in the area, then known as Hogback Ridge and now known as Mount Oread, which sits on the water divide separating the Kansas and Wakarusa River, was used as a landmark and outlook by those on the trail.

Northern Democrats, led by Senators Lewis Cass of Michigan and Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, promoted "popular sovereignty" as a middle position on the slavery issue.

Its proponents argued it was more democratic, as it allowed the citizens of newly organized territories (and not Washington, D.C. politicians) to have a direct say as to the legality of slavery in their own lands.

[20][21]) Douglas eventually made popular sovereignty the backbone of his Kansas–Nebraska Act—legislation that effectively repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska—which passed Congress in 1854.

[22] In time, anger at the Kansas–Nebraska Act united antislavery forces into a movement committed to stopping the expansion of slavery, eventually institutionalized as the Republican Party.

[25] In his book A History of Lawrence (1895), Cordley wrote: The most systematic and extensive movement [to populate Kansas], however, was made [by] "The New England Emigrant Aid Company" ...

[27][34][35][36] Immediately thereafter, about half this party set off to claim land in the nearby countryside, where about 15 of the original settlers remained, and began to establish a city between Mount Oread and the Kansas River roughly where Massachusetts Street now runs.

[38] A third group of settlers arrived in the vicinity of the future city on October 8–9, but many "became disgusted by the outlook" of the settlement and returned to New England, feeling they had been "deceived" by the NEEAC.

The next day, a sizeable band of pro-slavery men appeared, threatening a repeat of the attack, but upon seeing their opponents ready, they retreated with renewed threats of vengeance.

[28] Many approved of this name in honor of Amos A. Lawrence, an Ipswich-based businessman and noted abolitionist, who, Cordley writes, was "a man of wide personal influence" and "one of the first men of means" to fund the Emigrant Aid Company.

[28][39] Around this time, the settlers got into a heated argument with pro-slavery squatters, who were hoping to establish a city named Excelsior on the land where Lawrence was being constructed.

[36] A third paper, the Kansas Free State, was also created by editors Robert Gaston Elliott and Josiah Miller, and began publication in early January 1855.

[36] At the start of 1855, settlers who held opposing opinions about slavery settled in the Kansas Territory around the Lawrence area and began to vie for political power.

[65] Then, in October 1855, the outspoken abolitionist John Brown arrived in the Kansas Territory; he brought with him a wagon-load of weapons with which he intended to use to fight off "Satan and his legions" (i.e., proslavery settlers).

[67][36] The murder was the culmination of a long-simmering feud between them, as for some time they had bickered about a land claim near the Hickory Point post office, about 14 miles (23 km) south of Lawrence.

[80] This proclamation was bolstered by a Kansas grand jury's presentment that "the building known as the 'Free State' Hotel' [sic] in Lawrence had been constructed with a view to military occupation and defence, regularly parapetted and port holed, for the use of cannon and small arms, thereby endangering the public safety, and encouraging rebellion and sedition in this country".

After seizing the house of Charles Robinson (who had recently been arrested in Missouri, and was held in prison near Lecompton on grounds of treason)[36][86] to serve as his headquarters, Jones and his men attacked the offices of the antislavery newspapers.

[93][94] On January 16, 1858, Lawrence was declared the seat of Douglas County (an honor that previously belonged to Lecompton),[95][96] and in February, the legislature approved the city charter that had been drafted a little less than a year prior in July.

[104] After a very bitter winter that forced the citizens to temporarily put their work on hold, rebuilding continued into 1864,[105] and was completed with a zeal that Richard Cordley described as akin to "a religious obligation".

[152] The early settlers of the town named the city's main road "Massachusetts" to commemorate the New England Emigrant Aid Company's home state.

[188] In early 2021, reportedly 200 homeless people lived on the banks of the Kansas River, and wooded areas near nature trails in Lawrence, and hundreds of others setting up encampments in city parks.

[189] In February 2023, the Lawrence City Commission approved an ordinance banning source of income discrimination, disallowing landlords from rejecting housing vouchers.

[193] An exhibit on the Bleeding Kansas era and the Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area is in the old Lawrence Public Library at 9th and Vermont Streets.

Many artists, such as Paw, Mates of State, The New Amsterdams, Kansas, Fourth of July, White Flight, The Anniversary, Minus Story, The Appleseed Cast, Old Canes, Ad Astra Per Aspera, Ghosty, The Esoteric and The Get Up Kids originated in Lawrence or its surrounding areas.

The festival featured an eclectic mix of music, with artists like The Flaming Lips, Wilco, STS9, Medeski, Martin and Wood, Neko Case, and Widespread Panic taking the stage.

The festival was relocated to Mulberry Mountain due to a dispute between the organizers and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks over limiting attendees and over rent payment.

The team played as members of the Class A level Western Association and hosted home minor league games at the South Massachusetts Street Ballpark.

[284] In addition, the Johnson County, Kansas bus system provides inter-city transport between Lawrence and Overland Park college campuses in a route known as the K-10 Connector.

[299] Sam and Dean Winchester, the protagonists of the Supernatural TV series, are from Lawrence, and the city has been referenced numerous times throughout the show's history.

Cross Canadian Ragweed's 2007 album Mission California features the song "Lawrence", which was inspired by a homeless family the band encountered near Christmas while visiting the town.