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15.2 A Na tion Divided

15.2 A Na tion Divided. The F ugitive S lave A ct. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 Required all citizens to help catch runaways Anyone who aided a fugitive slave could be imprisoned or fined Northerners were often mad about the law

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15.2 A Na tion Divided

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  1. 15.2 A Na tion Divided

  2. The Fugitive Slave Act • The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 • Required all citizens to help catch runaways • Anyone who aided a fugitive slave could be imprisoned or fined • Northerners were often mad about the law • Southerners became more bold about catching runaway slaves • Sometimes slaves had been gone for years • Sometimes free Africans were caught and put into slavery

  3. The Fugitive Slave Act • Resistance to the Law • Underground railroad and other organizations helped escaped slaves make it to Canada • Just getting to the north wasn’t enough any more • Some people pointed out the slave hunters • Juries often wouldn’t convict those accused of aiding slaves

  4. The Fugitive Slave Act • Harriet Beecher Stowe • Thought the FSA was an “nightmare abomination” • Grew up in Cincinnati where she saw the slaves loaded onto ships • Wrote books on social reform • Author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin • Showed the abuses of slavery • Slavery was a cruel and brutal system • President Lincoln introduced her as the author of the book that started the war

  5. The Kansas-Nebraska Act • Franklin Pierce • President in 1853 • from New Hampshire • Supported and enforced the FSA • Made the abolitionists more dedicated to ending it

  6. The Kansas-Nebraska Act • Stephen Douglas wanted to encourage western expansion • Knew the south would not allow two new free states • both Kansas and Nebraska were north of the 36⁰30’N latitude est. in the Missouri Compromise • He wanted Kansas and Neb. to choose themselves – popular sovereignty

  7. The Kansas-Nebraska Act • Passage of the Act • Many Northerners wanted Congress to vote down the law • The south felt certain that slavery would continue in Kansas with people moving in from Mo • Pre. Pierce encouraged northern Dem to support it • It passed in 1854

  8. The Kansas-Nebraska Act • Division Grows • The Democratic Party was now divided • Northern Dem. Didn’t think they could compromise with southern Dem. any longer

  9. Conflict in Kansas • Right after the Act passed people from both sides (proslavery and abolitionists) moved into Kansas • Only1500 people lived in Kansas, but 6000 votes were cast • Border ruffians by the 1000s came into Kansas just to vote • The antislavery people did not accept this and elected their own gov. in Lawrence • There were 2 governments with constitutions in Kansas • The Pres. and Sen. supported proslavery the House supported antislavery

  10. Conflict in Kansas • “Bleeding Kansas” • 1856 800 slavery supporters attacked Lawrence • Sacked the town, burned the hotel and gov.’s house and destroyed 2 newspaper offices • John Brown – abolitionist • Vowed to, “strike terror into the hearts of the proslavery people” • He and his sons attacked and killed 5 slavery supporters

  11. Conflict in Kansas • “Bleeding Kansas” • Violence spreads throughout Kansas • Becomes known as the “Civil War in Kansas” and “Bleeding Kansas” • A new governor and 1500 federal troops finally stopped the bloodshed

  12. Conflict in Kansas • Violence in Congress • Charles Sumner, Senator from MA, • calls the proslavery behavior in Kansas the crime against Kansas and • Verbally attacks Andrew Butler Rep. from SC • Preston Brooks • Butler’s cousin • Walks into the senate and hits Sumner with a cane until unconscious • It would be several years before he returns • This showed the growing tension in the country

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