Compromise of 1850 &

Kansas Nebraska Act

Mr. Franklin
Slavery and States’ Rights
 What was the Compromise of
1850?
• California entered as
a free state
• Southwestern
territories acquired
from Mexico would
decide on their own.
• Henry Clay of Kentucky (1777-1852) was
writer.
• Southerners argued that the Missouri
Compromise should apply
What was the Fugitive Slave Law?
• Required the North to
return runaways
• Made Moderates feel
as if they were
cooperating with
slavery
• Further separated the
nation
 What was the Kansas-Nebraska
Act?
The Kansas turmoil led to open
warfare after John Brown sought
revenge for the "sack of Lawrence"
by murdering five proslavery
settlers in cold blood at
Pottawatomie Creek in May, 1856.
In retaliation against Brown's raid,
the proslavery forces killed five
free-soilers.
• The Kansas-Nebraska Act of
1854 repealed the Missouri
Compromise
• gave people in Kansas and
Nebraska the choice whether to
allow slavery
• “popular sovereignty”
• This law produced bloody
fighting in Kansas as pro- and
anti-slavery battled
• led to the birth of the
Republican Party
Slavery and States’ Rights