U.S. History / Unit 4: Sectionalism, Civil War and Reconstruction
4.2 Compromises Over Slavery's Expansion
Notes
As the nation grew, Congress repeatedly tried to balance free states and slave states.
| Law | Main terms |
|---|---|
| Missouri Compromise (1820) | Missouri a slave state, Maine free; no slavery north of 36°30' in the Louisiana Territory |
| Compromise of 1850 | California free; popular sovereignty in Utah and New Mexico; stricter Fugitive Slave Act |
| Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) | let settlers in Kansas and Nebraska decide by popular sovereignty, overturning the 36°30' line |
- Popular sovereignty: voters in a territory decide whether to allow slavery.
- The Fugitive Slave Act required Northerners to help return people who escaped slavery, angering many in the North.
- "Bleeding Kansas": pro- and antislavery settlers rushed into Kansas and fought violently.
- The Kansas-Nebraska Act led to the founding of the Republican Party (1854), which opposed slavery's spread.
Practice
The Missouri Compromise kept the balance in the Senate by:
One slave and one free state kept Senate numbers equal.
In 1855, settlers in a territory vote on whether to allow slavery there. This is an example of:
Under popular sovereignty, residents of the territory decided the question.
Why did the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 increase Northern opposition to slavery?
Many Northerners who had ignored slavery now saw it enforced in their own communities.
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