It was a deception, and it was contradicted and exposed by the logic of argument in the North and by the logic of action in the South.

No double- dealing was attempted by the Southern men.

They understood the question perfectly and left the apologies and explanations to Northern men, who were hard pressed by anti-slavery constituents.
Southern men knew that the repeal of the Missouri Compromise gave them a privilege which they had not before enjoyed,--the privilege of settling with their slaves on the rich plains and in the fertile valleys that stretched westward from the Missouri River.

In maintaining this privilege, they felt sure of aid from the Executive of the United States, and they had the fullest confidence that in any legal controversy the Federal judiciary would be on their side.
THE SOUTHERN STRUGGLE FOR KANSAS.
Thus panoplied they made a desperate contest for the possession of Kansas.

They had found that all the crops grown in Missouri by slave labor could be as profitably cultivated in Kansas.