MTTC 103 Elementary Practice

The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 is a key piece of legislation that highlighted the growing divisions between different sections of the United States, which is known as sectionalism. This act allowed the settlers of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether they would allow slavery within their borders, a principle known as popular sovereignty. The controversy surrounding this act arose because it effectively repealed the Missouri Compromise, which had previously established a line prohibiting slavery in certain territories.

As settlers from pro-slavery and anti-slavery backgrounds rushed to these territories, violence erupted in what became known as "Bleeding Kansas." This conflict intensified the sectional divide, as it pitted different regions and their economic interests against each other—particularly the agricultural South, which relied on slavery, versus the industrializing North, which sought to limit the spread of slavery. The fallout from the act underscored the deep-seated tensions that existed among the states and set the stage for further political and social unrest leading up to the Civil War.

While immigration, reconstruction, and westward expansion are important contexts in American history during this period, the core issue raised by the Kansas-Nebraska Act particularly emphasizes sectionalism as the act exacerbated the schism between the North and South