Incivilty In 19th Century AmericA
Incivilty
rude or unsociable speech or behavior.
Relationships
(How is the Kansas Nebraska Act related to other events in the submovement of Incivility?)
Missouri Compromise of 1850
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The Missouri Compromise (1820) was a previous agreement about how to divide up territories regarding slavery. This was invalidated, or ignored by both the Kansas Nebraska Act and the Compromise of 1850. Between 1820 and 1850, the US continued to expand westward. They began settling new lands and new areas. The previous Missouri Compromise worked fine until California was becoming established. Because California is such a big area and essentially lies directly in the middle of the 36, 30 line, it was difficult to determine whether or not it would be a pro-slavery or anti-slavery. A revised/new compromise was introduced making California a non-slave state. However, there needed to be a part of the compromise that satisfied the southerners. This was known as the Fugitive Slave Act. The Fugitive Slave Act made it so that any escaped slaves had to be returned to their owners/masters, and that the northern states had to cooperate/help with this. This compromise was similar to the Kansas Nebraska Act, in the ways that the previous Missouri Compromise wasn't working out anymore, and that they both further led to the Civil War.
Bleeding kansas
Bleeding Kansas was an immediate effect of the Kansas Nebraksa Act. Because the act allowed for the Kansas and Nebraskan territories to be either free or slave states (determined by a vote of popular sovereignty), many people rushed towards those areas, in an attempt to make their votes count in the determination of this area's slavery status. This caused a lot of violence and bloodshed which became known as "Bleeding Kansas." This event also worsened the relationship between North and South and in part led to the Civil War.
The wilmot proviso
Following the Mexican-American War, the Wilmot Proviso would have outlawed slavery in the newly acquired areas from the war. This area included most of the southwest region, up to California. Pennsylvania Congressman David Wilmot tried whatever he could to get his plan into action, but it failed and the proposal was never passed. The Wilmot Proviso is similar to the Kansas Nebraska Act because they describe ways in which to determine how a new area will fall in the slavery conditions.
freeport doctrine
Also written by Stephen Douglas, the Freeport Doctrine was written in hopes of giving local legislatures the ability to exclude slavery from areas of the US. The doctrine was first introduced during the Lincoln-Douglas debates during 1858, in Freeport, Illinois.
Davis resolutions
In an attempt to end the disagreements over slavery in territories, Congress voted on a set of agreements known as the Davis Resolutions. There was a big debate in Congress over whether the citizens of an area should decide whether to allow slavery or not (popular sovereignty) or if the government should just decide. A vote of 36-19 determined that slavery would be left to the inhabitants of the area to decide. The Davis Resolutions were initiated on May 14, 1860, less than a year before the Civil War.
