Kansas Nebraska Act, Dred Scot Decision

Kansas-Nebraska Act The Compromise of 1850 dealt with lands that were part of the Mexican Cession, but not with the lands of the Louisiana Purchase. Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)- Stephen Douglas proposed that the Nebraska Territory be split into two territories, Kansas and Nebraska. –The settlers living in each territory would be able to decide the issue of slavery by popular sovereignty.

Feelings on the Acts Southern leaders supported it because they assumed Missouri farmers with slaves would move across the border. –President Franklin Pierce supported the bill and pushed it through Congress. Northerners were unhappy with the decision. –Said Missouri Compromise had already banned slavery in the area and that this repealed that act. –Some protested by openly challenging the Fugitive Slave Act

The Crisis Turns Violent Kansas was now open for settlement. –Antislavery settlers moved from New England –Proslavery groups also came in Border Ruffians – gangs that battled anti-slavery forces Two Governments – 1855 Kansas held elections –Border Ruffians came in and voted illegally and elected a proslavery legislature –Antislavery settlers refused to accept the proslavery laws. –Because of these issues, gangs roamed the territory.

“Bleeding Kansas” Proslavery men destroyed homes and smashed newspaper offices. John Brown, an abolitionist, decided to strike back –He and six men murdered five proslavery settlers. –Both sides engaged in guerilla warfare. –More than 200 people were killed.

Violence in the Senate Charles Sumner of MA spoke against slavery and criticized Southern senators, particularly Andrew Butler. A few days later, Butler’s nephew Preston Brooks marched into Congress with a cane and beat Sumner unconscious. People looked to Supreme Court for help.

Stephen Douglas Quote Referring to Kansas-Nebraska Act –“ The struggle for freedom was forever banished from the halls of Congress to the Western Plains.” –Do you agree or disagree? Why?

The Dred Scott Case Dred Scott Case (1857) – Scott was a slave who moved with his owner to Illinois and the Wisconsin Territory, which did not allow slavery. After they returned to Missouri, Scott’s owner died. Antislavery lawyers helped his bring a lawsuit stating that because Scott lived in a free state, he had become a free man.

The Dred Scott Decision Dred Scott v. Sandford –Court ruled that Scott could not file a lawsuit because as an enslaved person, he was not a citizen. –Court also said that Congress did not have the right to outlaw slavery in any territory Made Missouri Compromise unconstitutional –Reactions: White Southerners were thrilled with the decision because it allowed slavery everywhere. Northerners and African Americans were outraged. –Held meetings to protest