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The Kansas-Nebraska Act was one of the major contributing factors to the Civil War. By allowing slavery in these new territories, the stage was set for the conflict that would tear the nation apart.
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The Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed in 1854 and was one of the major contributing factors to the Civil War. The Act allowed for popular sovereignty, which led to the vote on whether or not slavery would be allowed in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. This Act also repealed the Missouri Compromise, which had previously banned slavery in these territories. The Kansas-Nebraska Act was a major step towards the Civil War.
The act’s introduction
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was written by Stephen Douglas and introduced into the United States Senate in January 1854. The act was designed to open up the western territories to settlement by organizing them into the territories of Nebraska and Kansas. The act also repeal
The act’s effect on the Missouri Compromise
The Kansas-Nebraska Act overturned the Missouri Compromise, which had outlawed slavery north of the 36°30′ parallel in the Louisiana Purchase territories. The bill was passed by Congress and sent to President Franklin Pierce for his signature on May 30, 1854.
Supporters of the Kansas-Nebraska Act argued that it actually strengthened the Missouri Compromise by guaranteeing that slavery would be forever banned from any state created north of the 36°30′ line. They also claimed that it would put an end to sectional conflict by allowing each territory to choose for itself whether or not it wanted slavery.
Opponents of the act pointed out that it repealed a law that had been in place for nearly thirty years and opened up all of the western territories to slavery. They warned that if the act became law, it would lead to even more division between the North and South and could eventually lead to civil war.
On October 16, 1854, just a few months after he signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act into law, President Pierce admitted that it had been a mistake. In a letter to Missouri Senator David Atchison, he wrote: “I now regret having signed the bill.”
The act’s effect on the Compromise of 1850
The Kansas-Nebraska Act had a profound and direct impact on the Compromise of 1850. The Act repealed the Missouri Compromise, which had prohibited slavery in any U.S. territory north of the 36° 30′ parallel except for Missouri. The Act also created the new territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opening them up for possible settlement by slaveholders as well as abolitionists. This directly led to the outbreak of violence in “Bleeding Kansas,” as pro- and anti-slavery settlers battled for control of the territory. The Act also contributed to the split of the Democratic Party along sectional lines, as Northern Democrats opposed the expansion of slavery while Southern Democrats supported it. These deep divisions ultimately led to civil war.
The Civil War
There were several factors that led to the Civil War. One of the most significant causes was the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed for popular sovereignty, which meant that the people living in a territory would get to vote on whether or not slavery would be allowed. This led to a lot of conflict because pro-slavery and anti-slavery groups were both trying to win over the people living in these territories.
The build-up to the war
In Kansas, the conflict over slavery was waged with violence from its earliest days. “Border ruffians” from Missouri crossed into Kansas to vote illegally in elections and to intimidate settlers who were opposed to slavery. In 1855, pro-slavery forces staged an election and named a proslavery legislature, which then passed a set of repressive laws known as the “Bogus Laws.” Despite this show of force, free-soilers (those opposed to slavery) managed to win the next election in 1857.
However, the new legislature was not seated because President James Buchanan refused to recognize it. Instead, Buchanan sent federal troops to prop up the Bogus Legislature. In response, free-soilers set up their own government in exile in Topeka.
The situation became increasingly tense, and violence broke out in “Bloody Kansas.” The most notorious incident was the Sack of Lawrence, during which proslavery raiders burned down much of the town and killed nearly 200 men and boys.
The war’s outbreak
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 was one of the main contributing factors to the outbreak of the American Civil War. The act created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska and allowed for popular sovereignty, meaning that the residents of those territories would vote on whether or not to allow slavery. The act also repealed the Missouri Compromise, which had banned slavery in all territory north of 36° 30′ latitude.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was highly controversial, and it led to a sharp increase in tensions between the North and the South. In 1855, armed conflict broke out in Kansas between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions. This violence eventually spread to other parts of the country, and by 1861 the nation was on the brink of civil war.
The war’s conclusion
After four years of intense fighting, the Confederate States of America surrendered, and the Union was re-established. Lincoln’s assassination in 1865 meant that Reconstruction would fall to his successor, Andrew Johnson. A moderate Democrat from Tennessee, Johnson was Lincoln’s choice for vice president in 1864 due to his support for the Union during the war. Johnson pursued a lenient Reconstruction policy and encountered strong opposition from Radical Republicans in Congress, who favored a more thorough transformation of Southern society. The issue of how to properly reconstruct the South would ultimately lead to a fundamental disagreement between Johnson and the Radicals, who impeached him in 1868 (though he was acquitted by the Senate).
