SLAVERY AND THE WEST: Should
slavery be allowed to expand??
The United States In 1860 (Just Before The Civil War)
Slide #2: Important
Vocabulary
• Slave State: A state
that allowed slavery
• Free State: A state that
did not allow slavery
• Compromise: A
solution where both
sides agree to give up
something in order to
reach an agreement
• Popular Sovereignty:
allowing the people to
have the power to decide
whether or not a territory
should allow slavery
Slide #3: The Missouri
Compromise (1820)
• Missouri asks to join the
U.S. as a slave state
• Senator Henry Clay comes
up with a compromise:
- Add Missouri as a slave
state AND Maine as a free
state
- Draw a line in the
Louisiana Purchase, and
allow no more slavery
North of that line
Slide #3: The Missouri
Compromise (1820)
Answer The Question Below On Packet Page 25
• Food for Thought:
Why would it be important
for there to be an equal
number of free states and
slave states?
Slide #4: Reaction to the MO
Compromise
• Northerners:
- Happy that slave states will
not outnumber free states
- Happy that slavery banned
(made illegal) in most of the
Louisiana Purchase
-Worried that the number of
slave states is growing
• Southerners:
- Happy that Missouri will be
a slave state
-Worried that Northerners
made such a big deal out of
adding a slave state
Worried
Slide #5: Compromise of 1850
• California asks to join the U.S. as a free
state once population grew due to Gold
Rush
• No new slave states are ready to join
the U.S.
• Senator Henry Clay comes up with
another compromise:
1. Add California as a free state
2. Open the rest of the land won during
the Mexican War to popular
sovereignty
3. End the slave trade in Washington,
D.C.
4. Pass a new, stricter Fugitive Slave
Law (required all escaped/runaway
slaves to be returned to their
plantations)
Slide #6: Kansas-Nebraska Act
(1854)
• Northern part of Louisiana
Purchase almost ready to
enter the U.S. as states
• These new states will be
free states, giving the free
states even more power
• Senator Stephen Douglas
comes up with a
compromise:
- Open the entire
Louisiana Purchase to
popular sovereignty
Slide #7: Reactions to the Compromise of
1850 & Kansas-Nebraska Act
Draw A Smiley Face Or Frowny Face For The Following On Packet Page 26
NORTH
SOUTH_____
 California becomes a free state
____________________________________________________________
 Popular sovereignty in land won in
Mexican War
____________________________________________________________
 No slave trade in Washington D.C.
_____________________________________________
 New Fugitive Slave Law passed
____________________________________________________________
 Kansas-Nebraska Act allows slavery
to spread into areas that were not
allowed to have slavery
Wrap-Up
Answer The Following Question As Your
Ticket Out At The End Of Class
With the Kansas-Nebraska Act, U.S. officials decided that the
settlers in new western states will vote whether or not to allow
slavery.
What are the potential problems that can result? Be specific.