the problem of kansas nebraska Flashcards
(11 cards)
background on nebraska
The settling of Nebraska was a contentious issue because Nebraska lay North latitude 36 30, meaning that it would eventually enter the Union as a free state. However, Southerners opposed this because they supported a Southern trans-contential railway route. (Nebraska was the remaining part of the Louisianna Purchase territory, it lay between the North and the South).
the kansas nebraska act - 1854
Stephen A Douglas introduced the Kansas-Nebraska bill into Congress in January 1854. Douglas was Chairman of the Senate Committee on Territories. He was also a Democrat senator from Illinois and was one of the main architects of the 1850 Compromise.
The entire are of Nebraska was to be organised into a single territory (don’t use)
The states formed from Nebraska were to be received into the Union “with or without slavery as their constitution may prescribe at the time of their admission”
It also substituted the popular sovereignty in place of the Missouri Compromise. It repealed the Missouri Compromise
Southern involvement in the kansas-nebraska act
Douglas needed Southern support to get this act passed because he knew that Southerners would vote for the act if there was a chance that slavery could expand into Nebraska.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act became law on May 30th 1854, when Franklin Peirce signed it.
Indeed, Southern Senators made amendments to the Kansas-Nebraska act before it was passed. Their amendments were that it must repeal the Missouri Compromise, and that Nebraska must be divided into two territories, Kansas and Nebraska. There was little chance that Nebraska would allow slavery, but there was a possibility that it would be allowed in Kansas.
why Douglas thought that the act wouldn’t heighten sectional tension
Douglas was confident that his bill would not heighten sectional tension because it was unlikely that slavery would spread into the North due to the geographical and climatic proximity of it. He was also a supporter of popular sovereignty.
Northern reaction to the Kansas-Nebraska act
Kansas-Nebraska Act caused outrage in the North because it proved to them that the slave power conspiracy (the belief of abolitionists that wealthy Southern Slaveholders were able to have significant influence on economic and politics in order to prevent the abolishment of slavery). was very much alive.
Abolitionist, Theodore Parker, said in a speech in February 1854; “The Slave Power has long been seeking to extend its jurisdiction (legal decision). It has eminently succeeded”
Southern reaction to the Kansas-Nebraska act
Southerners were apathic to the act, but when the North caused uproar they decided to take the act as a symbol of Southern honour as it was a great struggle in Congress.
sectional divisions due to kansas-nebraska
Northern Whigs, Democrats, Free-soilers and Abolitionists joined in their support to oppose it, whereas Southern Whigs and Democrats joined in their support to support it. Therefore, it created party divides, weaking the effectiveness of both the Whigs and Democrats.
Douglas’ ambitions with the Kansas-nebraska act
Douglas hoped that success with the Kansas-Nebraska Act would help him with his presidential ambitions in the 1856 Presidential election as Democrat.
Northern opposition - free labour
Many Northerners opposed slavery on economic grounds as it threatened free labour in the North. Others opposed the institution on moral grounds.
Farmers view on Douglas passing the Kansas-Nebraska Act
Alan Farmer: Douglas, “he weakened his party, damaged his own presidential ambitions and revived North-South rivalry” as he didn’t predict the Northern outrage.
Hugh Tullochs view on the Kansas-Nebraska Act
Hugh Tulloch: Kansas Nebraska erased the stability of the Missouri Compromise. Against this backdrop grew the Republicans who were united in their opposition to slavery in the South.
