Kansas/Nebraska act and Bleeding Kansas Flashcards
Disagreements over the
Eastern terminus of trans-continental railroads
Kansas Nebraska Act created 1854
To allow a placement of the railroad
Repealed the Missouri Compromise and created Kansas and Nebraska
Southern congressmen asked to
Repeal the Louisiana purchase line (Missouri Compromise 1820)
Kansas and Nebraska states that had
Popular sovereignty
The people of the state chose to be slave or free states
Stephen Douglass
Advocate for popular sovereignty
Popular sovereignty in Kansas and Nebraska was criticised
By abolitionists
Felt it gave more power to the south
Raised the possibility of slavery entering a region it had once been banned in
Kansas Nebraska Act passed
The senate
3 vote margin in congress
Referendum vote in Kansas (popular sovereignty)
Citizens of Missouri crossed the border to vote illegally for slavery
60% of votes were illegal
Proslavery forces
Controlled Kansas
Expelled anti-slavery
Abolitionists set up their own government
Asked to join the Union as a free state
Congress allowed this because of the illegal voted proslavery government
1855, Lawrence Kansas
1000 Missourians crossed the border to attack the anti-slavery area
In response to Lawrence,
John Brown killed 5 proslavery settlers (who had not been involved in the sacking of Lawrence)
John Brown’s actions provoked
A huge reaction
4 months of violence ensued
May 1856
Crime of Kansas speech in congress by Charles Sumner
Preston S. Brooks (slaveholder) took insult against the speech
Brooks decided to beat with a cane Sumner (northern abolitionist) for what he said
Sumner was beaten so severely he could not return to congress for 4 years
For his actions against Sumner
Brooks was celebrated as a national hero of the south
