Preview

Bleeding Kansas: The Cause Of The Civil War

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
277 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Bleeding Kansas: The Cause Of The Civil War
Bleeding Kansas also took part in causing the Civil War. Bleeding Kansas was a war between the anti-slavery and pro-slavery activists. It took place between 1855 to 1861 (Ponce). Missouri was a slave state and Kansas had not yet decided to be pro-slavery or anti-slavery, and because the two sections did not agree with each other, that caused a war. “Yet the violence that broke out in the 1850s was an unintended consequence of the territory’s organization” (Ponce). President Franklin Pierce signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act in May 1854. Kansas could settle anywhere under the doctrine of popular sovereignty and allowed residents to determine their state institutions for themselves (Ponce). “While its geography should have meant a free Kansas, residents

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    During the spring of 1862, angry men who opposed Matt Creighton’s son, Bill, burned down his barn. Now, the majority of people thought this was unjust and cruel; however, others think it was the right thing to do. Matt Creighton’s barn should not have burned down. Matt is currently sick and can barely do daily tasks such as cleaning or feeding the animals. On top of that, his barn is now gone and has to be rebuilt. What has this man done that was so evil that this accident has happened to him? Did this all happen just because one of his children is in the Confederate army? Matt has many boys serving in in Union army and one died for the Union. Just because one son is in the Confederate army does not mean that Matt is a bad man…

    • 231 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act opened another battleground to the controversy. By leaving the slavery question up to popular sovereignty, Congress initiated a race between abolitionist and proslavery forces to control Kansas. Abolitionists encouraged free-soil advocates from New England and New York state to move to Kansas. Ministers like Henry Ward Beecher supported this emigration and encouraged their parishioners to help fund free-soil advocates. Meanwhile, proslavery forces urged slaveowners to relocate with their slaves. Southerners from Missouri and farther southeast made the move. The resulting conflict and bloodshed between the two groups earned the area the nickname Bleeding Kansas.4…

    • 4060 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Kansas Nebraska Act Dbq

    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Kansas-Nebraska Act that was passed by Congress in 1854 increased the already building tension between the North and the South. It caused a civil war in Kansas and many people believed that it was one of the causes of the American Civil War. The disastrous effects that were caused by the Kansas-Nebraska Act serves as an example of what could happen if people in America today were to become as divided over an issue as they were over…

    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Election time came around to decide whether or not Kansas would be a free or slave state in 1854. During the election, hundreds of pro-slavery men from Missouri came and casted fraudulent ballots, which outvoted anti-slavery settlers. So Kansas adopted the same laws of Missouri including “Slave Code.” This angered the anti-slavery forces which then concluded into a civil war of Kansas. This war will be known as Bleeding Kansas.…

    • 255 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Kansas-Nebraska Act set the stage for what began “Bleeding Kansas” and ultimately the Civil War. As settlers began moving west of the Mississippi River, they moved into the area which is present-day Nebraska. Since the area was not yet a structured state, the people could not live there. The area that was wanted was located in a part of the United States that had outlawed slavery due to the Missouri Compromise of 1820. This, in turn, caused representatives in Congress to have no interest in creating a Nebraska territory. Senator Stephen A. Douglas was the driving factor behind the Kansas-Nebraska Act. With the goal in mind that Nebraska would become a territory, the Kansas- Nebraska Act would allow each territory the ability to choose whether or not they supported slavery. With this being enacted, it was a direct violation of the Missouri Compromise. The bill that allowed territories to decide for or against slavery, also known as popular sovereignty, split the Whig party into two different groups; the northern Whigs and the southern Whigs with the northerners organizing the Republican Party.…

    • 471 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Page, Smith. The Rise of Industrial America: A People’s History of the Post Reconstruction Era…

    • 999 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Kansas was stuck in between the Confederates of the South and the Union of the North. Kansas got in a few skirmish’s trying to defend itself as a free state against all the other states trying…

    • 1146 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Americans today continued to debate whether the civil war was inevitable, but there is no doubt that the Kansas-Nebraska Act made the ghastly conflict much more likely. And for that reason, it should be remembered as one of the most consequential pieces of legislation in American…

    • 921 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Missouri Compromise, (1820), in U.S. history, measure worked out between the North and the South and passed by the U.S. Congress that allowed for admission of Missouri as the 24th state (1821). It marked the beginning of the prolonged sectional conflict over the extension of slavery that led to the American Civil War.…

    • 545 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Civil War Bleeding Kansas

    • 452 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Before the Civil War, the territory of Kansas was unsettled as a slave state or a free state. This caused a conflict over who should settle this territory, right before the Civil War. This conflict was also called “Bleeding Kansas”. Later on, popular sovereignty, played a key role before the Civil War.…

    • 452 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Missouri Compromise

    • 274 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Missouri Compromise was implicitly repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act, submitted to Congress by Stephen A. Douglas in January 1854. The Act opened Kansas Territory and Nebraska Territory to slavery and future admission of slave states by allowing white male settlers in those territories to determine through "popular sovereignty" whether they would allow slavery within each territory. Thus, the Kansas-Nebraska Act effectively undermined the prohibition on slavery in territory north of 36°30′ latitude which had been established by the Missouri Compromise. This change was viewed by Free Soilers and many abolitionist Northerners as an aggressive, expansionist maneuver by the slave-owning South, and led to the creation of the Republican Party.…

    • 274 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Bleeding kansas

    • 415 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Many Kansans will certainly remember the years 1854 to 1861. It was filled with bloodshed, rebellious actions, lynching, and more bloodshed. The groups responsible for this viciousness were the ignorant pro-slavery and the anti-slavery clashing in their differences. Within a few months, Kansas was invaded by raids and riots from left and right. Stephan Douglass pushed for The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 which allowed the territory of Kansas to decide whether it would be free territory or slave territory, a practice known as popular sovereignty. It was obvious this decision was not going to be fixed properly or peacefully. People from other states soon decided to invade in the discussions and cross over into Kansas Territory to try and fix the votes making Kansas pro-slavery. From the south came people called Border Ruffians who made this issue a lot more difficult than it should be. They began a lot of violence, such as the “Raid on Lawrence” in attempt to force the acceptance of slavery. Why do they feel the need to invade in issues that should not be their business? In May 1856, Ruffians crossed the border and looted and burned multiple buildings, this act kicked open the door to more violent acts. A few days later the anti-slavery supporters caused the Pottawatomie Creek Massacre. John Brown attacked a pro-slavery settlement, killing five of the men. This controversy and violence was so large and out of control that it was impossible for federal authorities to contain it.…

    • 415 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bleeding Kansas Analysis

    • 583 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Bleeding Kansas is also described as a period of violence during the settling of the Kansas territory. In 1854 the Kansas-Nebraska Act reversed the Missouri Compromise’s use of latitude as the line between slave and free territory and instead, using the principle of popular sovereignty, announced that the residents would determine whether the area became a free state or slave state.…

    • 583 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    If asked, most people would blame as the cause of the civil war the issue of slavery. This is understandable; many people in the U.S. at the time were against slavery, going to far as to help runaway slaves escape to the free north. But, while slavery at face value was a major factor, international politics and economics played a major role. Several factors, including the election of Lincoln, the raid on Harper 's Ferry, the Dred Scott decision, and, most importantly, the fugitive slave law, contributed to the growing rift between the North and South and, eventually, the Civil War.…

    • 888 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Kansas Bleeding Kansas

    • 1916 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Bleeding Kansas is a term used to describe the period of violence during the settling of the Kansas territory. The period of violence in 1854 is called, "The Bleeding Kansas". The Missouri Compromise was overturned and became the "Kansas-Nebraska Act. This new act would let the residents decide whether the area would become a slave state or a free state. Of all the Union States Kansas suffered the most casualties because of the issues of slavery being divided. Free-state settlers and proslavery settlers went to Kansas to help decide the decision. The Republican Party opposed slavery which promoted the Democrats to conform with the Republicans. The political fight over slavery is what led to the civil conflict in Kansas.…

    • 1916 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays