CHAPTER 15 • SECTION 1
Violence Erupts
KEY QUESTION Why did violence erupt in Kansas and Congress?
The Fugitive Slave Act and Uncle Tom’s Cabin heightened tension between the
North and South. As political tensions increased, the issue of slavery in the
territories brought bloodshed to the West and even to Congress itself.
Teach
The Kansas-Nebraska Act In 1854, Senator Douglas drafted a
Violence Erupts
bill to organize the Nebraska Territory. This bill became known as the
Kansas-Nebraska Act.
Act It proposed to divide the territory into two parts—
Nebraska and Kansas.
To get Southern support for the bill, Douglas suggested that
popular sovereignty should be used to decide whether a territory becomes
either slave or free. Popular sovereignty is a system that allows residents to
vote to decide an issue. Southerners liked the bill because people would be
able to vote for slavery in territories where it had been banned by the Missouri Compromise. However, if the bill passed, it would mean the destruction of the Missouri Compromise.
The bill angered opponents of slavery, but it passed. Few people realized
that the Kansas-Nebraska Act would soon turn Kansas into a violent and
bloody battleground over the issue of slavery.
Think, Pair, Share
• Did the Kansas-Nebraska Act benefit the South
or the North more? Why? (The South, since it
allowed slavery to be voted on in Kansas and
Nebraska; the North, since it fueled antislavery
feelings and was a reason the Republican Party
formed.)
• Compare and Contrast How did the
South react to the violent attack on Senator
Charles Sumner, and why? the North? (Possible
Answers: Southerners cheered because Preston
Brooks, who attacked Sumner, was defending
the South. Northerners were shocked and
enraged by the violence.)
COMPARING
Compromise of 1850
WASH.
TERR.
ANSWERS
1. Place Possible Answer: The KansasNebraska Act allowed each new territory
to vote on its own slavery status, which
resulted in conflict in Kansas that mirrored
the eastern political divisions.
2. Evaluate Possible Answers: There were
more proslavery settlers than antislavery
in the Kansas Territory; illegal votes of
proslavery residents from Missouri made
the Kansas legislature largely proslavery.
MINN.
TERR.
1849
NEW MEXICO
TERRITORY
1850
Free States
Territory closed to slavery
Slave states
Territory open to slavery
Connect Geography
Senators debate the
Compromise of 1850.
History
1. Place How were the political divisions of
the East carried into the West?
2. Evaluate Why would Northerners believe
that slavery was spreading?
486 Chapter 15
DIFFERENTIATING INSTRUCTION: TIERED ACTIVITIES
OBJECTIVE Create a time line of events related to the civil war in Kansas.
Basic
Have students draw a time
line of the events below.
Entries should include the
event, its date, and a brief
description.
• Kansas-Nebraska Act
passed
• Missourians vote in Kansas
election
• Sack of Lawrence
486 • Chapter 15
UTAH
TERRITORY
1850
A
• Why do you think Douglas wanted to make
the question of slavery in this territory
a local issue? (Possible Answer: to avoid
controversy, giving his bill a better chance
of passing, which in turn would allow for
settlement and railroad expansion of great
benefit to his home state of Illinois)
KANSAS TERR.
1854
NI
OR
LIF 50
CA 18
FREE STATES, SLAVE STATES, AND
TERRITORIES
Some historians think that Senator Douglas
proposed his bill to organize the Nebraska
Territory for several reasons. One was to
promote settlement and railroad expansion
westward from Chicago. Another was to try to
push the issue of slavery off the national stage
to a local one by allowing for a popular vote in
Kansas and Nebraska.
OREGON
TERRITORY
1848
NEBRASKA
TERRITORY
1854
OREGON
TERR.
Kansas-Nebraska Act 1854
D
ZE
NI Y
GA OR
OR RIT
UN TER
COMPARING
Free States, Slave States, and Territories
• Pottawatomie Massacre
On Level
Have students draw a time
line of the events listed
to the left. Entries should
include the event, its date,
and a brief description.
Students should research
other events that occurred
during this time period and
add at least three more
entries to their time lines.
Challenge
Have students complete the
time line as for the On Level
activity. For each event, they
should also:
• note how it was related to
the previous event
• note how it was related
to the event which came
after it
• include the names of key
people involved.
CHAPTER 15 • SECTION 1
Bleeding Kansas During the election of March 1855, there were more
proslavery than antislavery settlers in the Kansas Territory. After five thousand residents of neighboring Missouri came and voted illegally, the Kansas
legislature was filled with proslavery representatives.
Antislavery settlers rejected the elected government. Settlers on both sides
armed themselves. In May, a proslavery mob looted the town of Lawrence,
Kansas. This attack was called the Sack of Lawrence.
In response, John Brown, an extreme abolitionist, led seven other men in
a massacre of five of his proslavery neighbors. This attack is known as the
Pottawatomie Massacre, after the creek near where the victims were found.
As news of the violence spread, civil war broke out in Kansas. It continued
for three years, and the territory came to be called “Bleeding Kansas.”
CONNECT
What issues and events shattered the
nation’s unity and led to civil war?
Ask students what they have learned so far
that can help them answer this question.
Students might mention:
Violence in Congress In May 1856, Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts spoke against the proslavery forces in Kansas. In his speech, Sumner
insulted A. P. Butler, a senator from South Carolina.
Preston Brooks, a relative of Butler, heard about Sumner’s speech. He
attacked Sumner, who was sitting at his desk in Congress. Brooks beat
Sumner with his cane, causing severe injuries from which he never fully
recovered.
Brooks was cheered in the South. But Northerners were shocked at the violence in the Senate. “Bleeding Kansas” and “Bleeding Sumner” became rallying cries for antislavery Northerners. In their anger over events, antislavery
forces united to create a new political organization—the Republican Party.
SUMMARIZE Describe the events that led to violence in Kansas.
• The different economic paths of the North
and South led to sectional division.
• Territorial expansion brought the issue of
slavery to the forefront of politics.
Answer: Supporters of
both sides moved to
Kansas to try to influence
the elections. Antislavery
settlers rejected the
elected, proslavery
government; supporters
of both sides turned to
violence.
• Attempts to calm the political situation,
including the Compromise of 1850 and
the Kansas-Nebraska Act, failed.
4
Section Assessment
For test practice, go to
Interactive Review @ ClassZone.com
TERMS & NAMES
1. Explain the importance of
• Wilmot Proviso
• Fugitive Slave Act
• Free-Soil Party
• Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Stephen A. Douglas • Uncle Tom’s Cabin
• Compromise of 1850 • Kansas-Nebraska Act
KEY IDEAS
3. What were two ways that the North and the South
differed by the 1850s?
4. How did the War with Mexico provoke
disagreements between the North and the South?
5. Why was the Kansas-Nebraska Act so controversial?
USING YOUR READING NOTES
2. Compare and Contrast Complete the diagram
you started at the beginning of this section.
CRITICAL THINKING
6. Causes and Effects How did Uncle Tom’s Cabin
affect national politics?
7. Problems and Solutions What might have been
done to prevent the violence in Kansas?
Northern Economy
Southern Economy
relied on plantation
farming
Assess & Reteach
Assess Have students complete the Section
Assessment.
ONLINE QUIZ
1
to the Essential Question
Unit 6 Resource Book
• Section Quiz, p. 43
Interactive Review
@ ClassZone.com
Power Presentations
Test Generator
Reteach Have the class play “Who Am I?” for
people in this section. Each student should write
a brief description of a person. Then have each
student read his or her description aloud, so the
class can guess who the student “is.”
8. Art Research the architecture of the North and
South in the 19th century. Then create a travel poster
showing the kinds of houses a visitor might see in
each section of the country.
Unit 6 Resource Book
• Reteaching Activity, p. 46
A Nation Breaking Apart 487
SECTION 1 ASSESSMENT ANSWERS
Terms & Names
1. Wilmot Proviso, p. 483; Free-Soil Party, p. 483;
Stephen A. Douglas, p. 484; Compromise
of 1850, p. 484; Fugitive Slave Act, p. 485;
Harriet Beecher Stowe, p. 485; Uncle Tom’s
Cabin, p. 485; Kansas-Nebraska Act, p. 486
Using Your Reading Notes
2. North: small farms, industry and commerce,
immigrants; South: plantation farming, land
and slaves, slave labor
Key Ideas
3. The South’s economy relied on plantations and
slaves, the North’s on industry and commerce;
the South wanted slavery to expand westward,
the North wanted it stopped.
4. The Union gained new territories, which caused
disagreement over extending slavery there.
5. It allowed each territory to vote on whether
slavery would be legal where it had been
banned by the Missouri Compromise.
Critical Thinking
6. Possible Answer: It fueled the North’s
antislavery feelings but angered the South,
which claimed the book presented a false
picture of slavery.
7. Possible Answer: The national government
could have could have stationed troops in
Kansas to keep the peace.
8. Posters should accurately depict the
architectural styles of typical houses in the
North and South during this time period.
Poster Rubric
Clarity/Quality
Accuracy
4
excellent; very well detailed;
high quality
no errors
3
good; well detailed;
good quality
few/minor
2
fair; somewhat detailed;
fair quality
several
1
poor; few details; poor quality
many
Teacher’s Edition • 487