1. THE UNION IN PERIL: CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR CHAPTER 15
Section 2
The Crisis Deepens
Why were the Fugitive Slave Act and the Kansas-Nebraska Act factors that led to war?
How was the debate over slavery leading to violence?

2. Of all of the components of the Compromise of 1850, Northerners most vigorously objected to _______ Slave Act.
The Compromise of 1850 allowed ________ to enter the Union as a free state.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin was written by ____________.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act proposed to determine whether the territories would be free or slave by using p________ s__________.
Who is famous for murdering 5 pro-slavery settlers in Bleeding Kansas?

3. Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was historic for a number of reasons. Not only did it help to fire up northern antislavery sentiments, but it also was the first American novel that featured African American characters in prominent roles. It was issued in various editions with many different covers, but most of them featured the lead character, Uncle Tom--another first in American publishing. This particular cover, from an early "Young Folks' Edition" of the book, depicts the stooped old man with his young, sympathetic white mistress. (Collection of Picture Research Consultants and Archives)
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4. Uncle Tom’s Cabin Published in 1852
Author: Harriet Beecher Stowe, daughter of Rev. Beecher, abolitionist
Reaction to Fugitive Slave Act
Immensely popular in North, shapes attitudes toward slavery
Influential in France and England
Immense political impact in US and abroad

5. Theatre poster: Uncle Tom's Cabin
With its vivid word pictures of slavery, Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin translated well to the stage. Stowe herself was among the many who wrote dramatizations of the novel. Scenes of Eliza crossing the ice of the Ohio River with bloodhounds in pursuit and the evil Simon Legree whipping Uncle Tom outraged northern audiences and turned many against slavery. Southerners damned Mrs. Stowe as a "vile wretch in petticoats." ( Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.)
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7. Impact of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
Energized Northern Abolitionists
Persuaded moderate Northerners to become more supportive of abolition (read bottom p. 288)
North responds by passing laws forbidding imprisonment of runaway slaves
These laws angered the South, who felt that North was not keeping its part of the bargain in the Compromise of 1850
Increased sectionalism in the country & eroded support for federal govt. in both N and S.

8. Kansas-Nebraska Act -1854
Stephen Douglas pushes for popular sovereignty to determine the status of the Kansas Territory and splitting into two: Kansas and Nebraska.
Kansas-Nebraska Act passed in It nullifies (ends) the Missouri Compromise b/c land is north of 36º30’ line.
Implied that Kansas to be Slave and Nebraska Free
Both pro-slavery & anti-slavery settlers rush to Kansas
Bloody conflict results

9. Map: The Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854
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10. Why were the Fugitive Slave Act and the Kansas-Nebraska Act factors that led to conflict?

11. Bleeding Kansas 1855: 1st Election in Kansas Territory
Missourians (Slaveholders) cross border illegally & win election, then pass Lecompton Constitution (pro-slavery)
Free-soilers elect their own state govt. & own constitution.
1856 Free-soiler settlement at Lawrence, KS attacked by pro-slavery militia of over 800 men. Town is sacked.
John Brown retaliates at Pottawatomie Creek, murders 5, leads to deaths of over 200.
Civil strife continues in Kansas until end of Civil War

13. SUMMARY:  The artist lays on the Democrats the major blame for violence perpetrated against antislavery settlers in Kansas in the wake of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Here a bearded "freesoiler" has been bound to the "Democratic Platform" and is restrained by two Lilliputian figures, presidential nominee James Buchanan and Democratic senator Lewis Cass. Democratic senator Stephen A. Douglas and president Franklin Pierce, also shown as tiny figures, force a black man into the giant's gaping mouth. The freesoiler's head rests on a platform marked "Kansas," "Cuba," and "Central America," probably referring to Democratic ambitions for the extension of slavery. In the background left is a scene of burning and pillage; on the right a dead man hangs from a tree. CREATED/PUBLISHED:  1856. NOTES: [Drawn by John L. Magee]

14. Armed antislavery men with John Doy
Though no one would deny that their cause was noble, many of the men who flocked to Kansas to resist the expansion of slavery were no less violent than their proslavery adversaries. This photograph, taken in 1859, shows a gang of armed antislavery men who had just broken an accomplice (John Doy, seated) out of jail in neighboring St. Joseph, Missouri. Like proslavery "Border Ruffians," many of these men also served in guerrilla bands during the Civil War and some went on to careers as famous outlaws after the war was over. (Kansas State Historical Society)
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