Why Did Southern Senators Initially Block the Organization of the Kansas and Nebraska Territories? The answer lies in the Missouri Compromise of 1820.
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The Compromise of 1850
The bill to organize the territories of Kansas and Nebraska had been reported to the Senate on January 4, 1854, by Stephen A. Douglas, chairman of the Committee on Territories. The bill provided that the territory should be organized with “all the powers, privileges, and immunities . . . enjoyed by the other Territories of the United States.” This phrase, “all the rights, privileges, and immunities,” was key to the bill, as it would allow the residents of the territories to choose their own laws regarding slavery.
The Missouri Compromise of 1820
The Missouri Compromise was an agreement between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States Congress, passed in 1820. It prohibited slavery in the former Louisiana Territory north of the parallel 36°30′ north, except within the boundaries of the proposed state of Missouri. The south of this line was allowed to keep slavery.
The Compromise of 1850
In January 1850, Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky introduced a series of resolutions to Congress that became known as the Compromise of 1850. The compromise was an attempt to settle the issue of slavery in the western territories and avert a possible civil war.
The compromise consisted of five separate bills:
-The first bill admitted California as a free state.
-The second bill organized the Utah and New Mexico territories and left the issue of slavery to be decided by popular sovereignty.
-The third bill banned the slave trade (but not slavery itself) in the District of Columbia.
-The fourth bill enacted a new fugitive slave law that made it easier for slaveholders to recover escaped slaves.
-The fifth bill repealed the Missouri Compromise, which had banned slavery north of the 36°30′ parallel.
Southern senators initially blocked the organization of the Kansas and Nebraska territories under the terms of the compromise, but they eventually relented and allowed the bills to become law. The Compromise of 1850 temporarily settled the issue of slavery in the western territories, but it also heightened sectional tensions and laid the groundwork for the Civil War.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was an Act of Congress that created the Kansas and Nebraska Territories. The Act was proposed by Democratic Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois and was signed into law by President Franklin Pierce on May 30, 1854. The Act was designed to appease southern senators who were opposed to the organization of the Kansas Territory because it would allow for the spread of slavery.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854
In May 1854, Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois introduced the Kansas-Nebraska Act to Congress. The bill proposed the organization of the Kansas and Nebraska territories and included the repeal of the Missouri Compromise ban on slavery north of latitude 36°30′. The Act was designed to ease tensions over the issue of slavery and allow for the construction of a transcontinental railroad through the territories.
Southern senators initially blocked the bill, but Douglas was able to win them over by adding a provision that allowed each territory’s residents to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery. The bill passed Congress in July 1854 and was signed into law by President Franklin Pierce.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act proved to be highly controversial, as it reopened the simmering debate over slavery. The Act also sparked violence in Kansas, which became known as “Bleeding Kansas.” In 1857, the Supreme Court’s decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford further inflamed tensions by ruling that African Americans could not be citizens of the United States. These events ultimately led to the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1855
In May 1854, Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois introduced the Kansas-Nebraska Act to organize the western territories of Kansas and Nebraska. The bill proposed that each territory would be allowed to determine for itself whether or not slavery would be permitted within its borders, a concept known as “popular sovereignty.”
The bill was fiercely debated in the Senate. Southern senators were initially opposed to the bill because it did not guarantee that slavery would be allowed in the new territories. However, Douglas was able to win them over by amending the bill to repeal the Missouri Compromise, a law that had previously prohibited slavery in all territory north of latitude 36°30′. With the support of southern senators, the Kansas-Nebraska Act passed Congress and was signed into law by President Franklin Pierce in 1854.
The repeal of the Missouri Compromise outraged antislavery northerners, who now saw that the federal government was not willing to protect their rights or restrict the expansion of slavery. The Kansas-Nebraska Act also deepened sectional divisions between North and South and helped propel America toward Civil War.
The Dred Scott Decision
In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed, which allowed settlers in those territories to choose whether or not to allow slavery. This Act nullified the Missouri Compromise, which had previously prohibited slavery in those same territories. The Dred Scott Decision, which ruled that African Americans could not be citizens of the United States, was used as a justification for the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
The Dred Scott Decision of 1857
In 1857, the Supreme Court issued its decision in the case of Dred Scott v. Sandford, one of the most controversial cases in its history. The Court ruled that Scott, a slave, was not a citizen and could not sue for his freedom in federal court. Furthermore, the Court ruled that slavery could not be banned in any territory of the United States.
The decision was widely criticized in the North and helped to fuel the sectional conflict that led to the Civil War. In 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation freed all slaves in areas of rebellion, and in 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment permanently abolished slavery throughout the United States.
The Dred Scott Decision of 1858
In 1857, the United States Supreme Court issued one of its most controversial decisions in the case of Dred Scott v. Sandford. The case revolved around the question of whether a slave who had lived in a free state and territory could sue for his freedom in federal court. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, writing for the majority, answered this question in the negative, holding that slaves were not citizens and therefore could not bring suit in federal court. In addition, the Court ruled that Congress did not have the authority to prohibit slavery in federal territories.
The Dred Scott decision enraged abolitionists and stoked the flames of sectionalism. Abolitionists denounced the ruling as a travesty of justice, while many southern whites hailed it as a victory for states’ rights. The decision also deepened the divide between northern and southern states on the issue of slavery, making compromise on the issue all but impossible. In 1858, Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois proposed legislation to organize the Kansas and Nebraska Territories west of Missouri. The Kansas-Nebraska Act included provisions for popular sovereignty, which would allow residents of those territories to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders.
The Dred Scott decision was one of the primary reasons why southern senators initially voted against the organization of Kansas and Nebraska as slave-free territories. They feared that if slaves were freed in those territories, they would eventually be brought into the Union as free states, which would upset the existing balance between free and slave states. However, with some amendments ensuring protection of southern interests, enough southern senators eventually voted in favor of Douglas’s legislation, and it was passed into law in 1854.
The Civil War
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opening new lands for settlement and increasing sectional strife over the issue of slavery. The bill was drafted by Illinois senator Stephen Douglas in an effort to gain support for the proposed transcontinental railroad. The Act outraged Northerners because it repealed the Missouri Compromise, which had forbidden slavery in all territories west of Missouri and north of latitude 36°30′. Southerners, on the other hand, were pleased with the Act because it gave them the opportunity to extend slavery into new territories.
The Civil War of 1861
In 1861, the Civil War broke out between the Confederate States of America, made up of 11 southern states that had seceded from the United States, and the Union states, made up of 23 northern states. The primary cause of the war was slavery and states’ rights. The Confederacy wanted to keep slavery while the Union wanted it abolished.
The war started on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces attacked a U.S. military installation at Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Four more southern states seceded after this attack, bringing the total number of Confederate states to 15. The Civil War ended on April 9, 1865, after the Confederate army surrendered at Appomattox Court House in Virginia.
The Civil War of 1865
The American Civil War was fought from 1861-1865, mostly in the Southern United States. It began after the election of Abraham Lincoln as president in 1860 and ended with the Confederate surrender at Appomattox Court House. The main cause of the war was the disagreement over the issue of slavery and states’ rights.
