The American Vision © 2008

"Bleeding Kansas"

Introduction
As you learned in this chapter, western expansion forced the nation to address the issue of slavery. To protect their representation in the Senate, many Northern politicians wanted western territories admitted to the Union as free states, while Southern states fought to establish these new territories as slave states. Sectional divisiveness grew as debates over the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850 intensified, but the conflict over the Kansas-Nebraska Act was especially fierce. Kansas became the first battleground between the nation’s pro- and anti-slavery factions. In this activity, you will take a closer look at one event that helped push the nation into civil war.

Destination Title: Bleeding Kansas

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Directions
Start at the PBS Web site feature about Bleeding Kansas.

• Scroll down and read the summary of this event.
• At the bottom of the screen, click on Letter from Edward Bridgman. Read the introduction, then choose to Click here for the text of this historical document.
• Return to the main screen. Click on the link James Horton on Bleeding Kansas and read the material.

1			Why, exactly, were Northerners so upset over Douglas’s proposal for dealing with the slavery question in Kansas and Nebraska?
2			Describe Bridgman’s feelings toward the murders that occurred near Osawatomie.
3			According to Horton, what did Kansas represent for people of the 1850s?
4			Did most whites who opposed slavery in Kansas do so because they believed it was morally wrong? Explain.
5			Imagine that you are living in Kansas during the mid-1850s. The conflict between pro- and anti-slavery factions is growing ever more violent, and you have been sought by members on both sides of the issue to arbitrate a solution to the crisis. Both sides will agree to whatever resolution you propose. Draw up what you believe to be a fair and reasonable resolution to the conflict, and present your proposal to the class.