How did the Kansas-Nebraska Act contribute to the secession of southern states, including South Carolina?
Question 2 options:
Both Kansas and Nebraska were admitted into the nation as free states, which encouraged Southerners to seek more drastic measures to protect their lifestyle.
Kansas was admitted as a slave state and Nebraska as a free state, angering Southerners who realized the fight to protect slavery would not end.
The act allowed the issue of slavery in Kansas to be decided by vote, leading to violent measures on both sides and increased division between the North and South.
The act determined that Congress would decide whether a state entered as free or slave. Southern representation was lower than that of the North, prompting the South to secede.
The correct option is:
The act allowed the issue of slavery in Kansas to be decided by vote, leading to violent measures on both sides and increased division between the North and South.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act, passed in 1854, allowed for the residents of these territories to decide whether or not to allow slavery through popular sovereignty, or a vote. This decision sparked a series of violent clashes between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in Kansas, known as "Bleeding Kansas." The conflict heightened tensions between the North and South and further deepened the divide over the issue of slavery. This ultimately contributed to the secession of Southern states, including South Carolina, which felt that their interests were not adequately represented or protected by the federal government.