The Kansas-Nebraska Act

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Section 2 Assessment

Chapter 16, Section 2

Which one of the following statements was NOT a part of the Compromise of

1850?

a) California was admitted to the Union as a free state.

b) The slave trade ended in Washington, D.C. c) Southern states that objected to the compromise could secede peacefully.

d) A strict fugitive slave law required northerners to return runaway slaves.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin affected attitudes toward slavery because it a) described the cruelty of slavery.

b) showed that most slaveholders acted as kind guardians.

c) argued that northerners didn’t really know what slavery was like.

d) explained why northerners should return fugitive slaves.

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The Crisis Deepens

Chapter 16, Section 3

What was the goal of the Kansas-Nebraska

Act?

Why did violence erupt in Kansas and in the

Senate?

What impact did the Dred Scott case have on the nation?

The Kansas-Nebraska Act

Chapter 16, Section 3

The Problem

Provisions of the

Kansas-Nebraska

Act

The argument for the act

The argument against the act

The Compromise of 1850 dealt mainly with the Mexican Cession, and not with the lands that were part of the Louisiana Purchase.

• Nebraska Territory was to be divided into two territories —

Kansas and Nebraska.

• The settlers in each territory would decide the issue of slavery by popular sovereignty.

• Many people thought the act was fair because the Compromise of 1850 had applied popular sovereignty in New Mexico and

Utah.

• Southerners hoped slave owners from Missouri would move into Kansas and make Kansas a slave state.

• The Missouri Compromise already banned slavery in Kansas and Nebraska. In effect, the Kansas-Nebraska Act would overturn the Missouri Compromise.

• Northerners protested by challenging the Fugitive Slave Act.

Chapter 16, Section 3

The Kansas-Nebraska Act

Violence Erupts in Kansas

Chapter 16, Section 3

• Kansas settlers were to settle the slavery issue by popular sovereignty. Proslavery and antislavery settlers fought for control of Kansas. Abolitionists brought in settlers from

New England. Proslavery settlers also moved into Kansas, and proslavery bands from Missouri — Border Ruffians — often rode across the border into Kansas.

• In 1855, Kansas held elections. Border Ruffians voted illegally, helping to elect a proslavery legislature.

Antislavery settlers refused to accept the legislature and elected their own governor and legislature. Kansas had two governments.

• A band of proslavery men raided the town of Lawrence, destroying homes and smashing the press of a Free-Soil newspaper.

Violence Erupts in Kansas (continued)

Chapter 16, Section 3

• Abolitionist John Brown led a band to the town of

Pottawatomie Creek and killed five proslavery settlers there.

• The killings at Pottawatomie Creek led to more violence.

Both sides engaged in guerrilla warfare, or the use of hitand-run tactics. Newspapers started calling the territory

“Bleeding Kansas.”

Violence Erupts in the Senate

Chapter 16, Section 3

• Charles Sumner of Massachusetts was the leading abolitionist senator. In one speech he denounced the proslavery legislature of Kansas and viciously criticized his southern foes, especially Senator Andrew Butler of South

Carolina.

• A few days later Butler’s nephew, Congressman

Preston Brooks, marched into the Senate chamber and with his cane beat Sumner until he was unconscious.

The Dred Scott Case

Chapter 16, Section 3

What was the Dred Scott Case?

Dred Scott filed a lawsuit, that is, a legal case brought to settle a dispute between people or groups. Dred Scott had been enslaved in Missouri. He moved with his owner to Illinois and then to the

Wisconsin Territory, where slavery was not allowed. Scott with his owner returned to Missouri. When his owner died, Scott claimed that because he had lived in a free territory, he had become a free man. The case reached the Supreme Court as Dred Scott v.

Sandford.

What did the Supreme Court decide?

• Scott could not file a lawsuit because, as an enslaved person, he was not a citizen.

Slaves were considered to be property.

• Congress did not have the power to outlaw slavery in any territory. This decision meant the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional.

The Dred Scott Case

Chapter 16, Section 3

White southerners

African American northerners

White northerners

White southerners were overjoyed. The decision meant that slavery was legal in all territories.

Northern African Americans condemned the ruling and asked whites to join their efforts to end slavery.

White northerners were shocked. They had hoped that if slavery were kept to the South, it would eventually just die out. Now, slavery could spread.

Section 3 Assessment

Chapter 16, Section 3

After Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, violence broke out in

Kansas because a) the Kansas-Nebraska Act backed up the Missouri Compromise.

b) a congressman from Kansas beat up a senator from Nebraska.

c) proslavery and antislavery forces were battling to gain control of the

Kansas territory.

d) slave owners tried to return Dred Scott to slavery.

One reason the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision shocked some

Americans was because the decision declared that a) Congress could outlaw slavery in any territory.

b) northern African Americans could ask northern whites for help to end slavery.

c) slaves were property in the same way that horses and sheep were property.

d) Dred Scott was a second-class citizen.

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Section 3 Assessment

Chapter 16, Section 3

After Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, violence broke out in

Kansas because a) the Kansas-Nebraska Act backed up the Missouri Compromise.

b) a congressman from Kansas beat up a senator from Nebraska.

c) proslavery and antislavery forces were battling to gain control of the

Kansas territory.

d) slave owners tried to return Dred Scott to slavery.

One reason the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision shocked some

Americans was because the decision declared that a) Congress could outlaw slavery in any territory.

b) northern African Americans could ask northern whites for help to end slavery.

c) slaves were property in the same way that horses and sheep were property.

d) Dred Scott was a second-class citizen.

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The Republican Party Emerges

Chapter 16, Section 4

Why did the Republican party come into being in the mid-1850s?

What events lay behind the rapid emergence of Abraham Lincoln as a Republican leader?

How did Americans react to John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry?

Chapter 16, Section 4

The Republican Party Emerges

Who formed the Republican Party?

• A group of Free-Soilers, northern Democrats, and antislavery Whigs

Why did they form a new party?

• They believed that neither the Whigs nor the

Democrats would take a strong enough stand against slavery.

What was the goal of the party?

• Its main goal was to keep slavery out of the western territories. A few Republicans hoped to end slavery in the South as well.

How Abraham Lincoln Became Leader of the Republican Party

Chapter 16, Section 4

• Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky. Later, he lived in Indiana and

Illinois.

• Lincoln opened a store in Illinois. He studied law and entered politics.

• He served eight years in the state legislature and one term in

Congress.

• He opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, so he ran for the Senate in

1858.

• During the Senate campaign, he debated Stephen Douglas seven times.

• Lincoln: Slavery is wrong. African Americans are entitled to all the natural rights in the Declaration of Independence, so slavery should not extend to the territories. However, it can remain in the states where it already exists.

• Douglas: The slavery question should be settled by popular sovereignty.

• Douglas narrowly won the election. However, during the campaign,

Lincoln became known throughout the country.

Chapter 16, Section 4

The Impact of John Brown’s Raid

• In 1859, John Brown led followers, including five African

Americans, to Harpers Ferry, Virginia. He planned to raid a federal arsenal, or gun warehouse.

• Brown took over the arsenal. He expected that would inspire a slave uprising, but none took place.

• Troops killed ten raiders and captured Brown. He was tried for murder and treason, or actions against one’s country.

• Brown gave a moving defense of his actions. Nevertheless he was found guilty and sentenced to death. John Brown was hanged.

• To many northerners, John Brown became a martyr because he was willing to give up his life for his beliefs.

• White southerners were outraged at the northern response. Many southerners became convinced that the North wanted to destroy slavery and the South along with it.

Section 4 Assessment

Chapter 16, Section 4

When the Republican party was formed in the 1850s, its main goal was to a) attract southern support for popular sovereignty.

b) see to it that Abraham Lincoln became President.

c) end slavery in all states of the United States.

d) keep slavery out of the western territories.

During his campaign for the United States Senate in 1858, Abraham Lincoln argued that a) African Americans were entitled to all of the natural rights listed in the

Declaration of Independence.

b) each and every state should decide slavery for itself.

c) slavery should be decided in the western territories by popular sovereignty.

d) slavery should be ended in the South.

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Section 4 Assessment

Chapter 16, Section 4

When the Republican party was formed in the 1850s, its main goal was to a) attract southern support for popular sovereignty.

b) see to it that Abraham Lincoln became President.

c) end slavery in all states of the United States.

d) keep slavery out of the western territories.

During his campaign for the United States Senate in 1858, Abraham Lincoln argued that a) African Americans were entitled to all of the natural rights listed in the

Declaration of Independence.

b) each and every state should decide slavery for itself.

c) slavery should be decided in the western territories by popular sovereignty.

d) slavery should be ended in the South.

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A Nation Divides

Chapter 16, Section 5

How did the electon of 1860 reflect sectional divisions?

How did the South react to the election results?

How did the Civil War begin in 1861?

The Election of 1860

Chapter 16, Section 5

The Democratic party split in two: Northern Democrat and Southern Democrat.

Northern Democrats nominated Stephen Douglas.

• Southern Democrats nominated John

Breckinridge.

Some Americans tried to heal the split by forming a new party, the Constitutional Union party.

• The Constitutional Union party nominated John

Bell.

• The Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln.

Chapter 16, Section 5

The Election of 1860

How the South Reacted to the Election of 1860

Chapter 16, Section 5

• Many southerners thought that Lincoln’s election meant the

South no longer had a voice in national government. They believed the President and Congress were against them.

• Senator John Crittenden of Kentucky introduced a bill to extend the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific. He proposed an amendment to the Constitution that would guarantee slavery south of the compromise line forever. His proposals received little support.

• Other southerners believed secession was their only choice. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede. By late February 1861, Alabama,

Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas had followed.

• At a convention in Montgomery, Alabama, the seven states formed a new nation, the Confederate States of America.

Jefferson Davis became its president.

How the Civil War Began

Chapter 16, Section 5

• When Lincoln took office, he warned that no state could lawfully leave the Union.

• Jefferson Davis had already ordered Confederate forces to begin seizing federal forts in the South.

• President Lincoln had to make a decision. Should he let Confederates take over federal property and look like he was admitting that states had a right to leave the Union? Or should he send troops to hold the forts and risk a war?

• By April 1861, the Union held only four forts in the South. Food supplies at one —Fort Sumter in South Carolina—were running low.

Lincoln notified the governor of South Carolina that he was going to ship food to Fort Sumter. He said he would not send troops or weapons.

• The Confederates demanded that Fort Sumter surrender to them. The

Union commander refused to give in. The Confederates opened fire.

The Union troops ran out of ammunition and had to surrender.

Section 5 Assessment

Chapter 16, Section 5

To many southerners, Lincoln’s election meant southern states had to secede from the Union because a) the Democratic party had split in two. b) they believed that Lincoln’s election meant the South no longer had a voice in the national government.

c) they were looking for a way to compromise.

d) they wanted to save the Union.

The Civil War began when a) Southern Democrats all voted for Breckinridge.

b) South Carolina seceded from the Union.

c) the Confederates fired on Fort Sumter.

d) Lincoln sent a shipload of weapons to Fort Sumter.

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Section 5 Assessment

Chapter 16, Section 5

To many southerners, Lincoln’s election meant southern states had to secede from the Union because a) the Democratic party had split in two. b) they believed that Lincoln’s election meant the South no longer had a voice in the national government.

c) they were looking for a way to compromise.

d) they wanted to save the Union.

The Civil War began when a) Southern Democrats all voted for Breckinridge.

b) South Carolina seceded from the Union.

c) the Confederates fired on Fort Sumter.

d) Lincoln sent a shipload of weapons to Fort Sumter.

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