Student Activity

The Kansas–Nebraska Act: Interactive Map

Photo caption

Map of Kansas and Nebraska in Colton's Atlas of the World Illustrating Physical and Political Geography (1855).

The Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed the settlers of a federal territory to decide whether or not slavery would be legal in that territory without interference from Congress. Based on what you have learned about the series of laws and compromises made to determine the future of slavery in the western United States, address the following compelling question: How did the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 affect sectionalism in the antebellum United States?

This interactive political and demographic map of the U.S. in 1854 allows users to see the economic, demographic, and political makeup of regions and states at the time. It is used in Lesson 3: The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854: Popular Sovereignty and the Political Polarization over Slavery.

Student Activity Details

Context: The Missouri Compromise, Mexican-American War, and Compromise of 1850

What was the status quo established by the Missouri Compromise? Review this lesson and this interactive map for help.
After the Missouri Compromise, why did the debate over the extension of slavery persist?
How did Congress attempt to resolve this debate with the Compromise of 1850?

The Kansas-Nebraska Act

Why did Stephen Douglas, who spearheaded the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, agree to revisit the Missouri Compromise? See this lesson and this article from Lincoln/Net, funded in part by the NEH.
What were some of the immediate responses to the Kansas-Nebraska Act? The Library of Congress provides links to some newspaper articles to help you start your research (see the "Chronicling America" section).
What were some of the medium-term repercussions of the Kansas-Nebraska Act? You may choose to focus on one of the following:
- Emigrant aid societies
  - View a pro-slavery political cartoon from the Library of Congress
  - View a pamphlet soliciting anti-slavery settlers in Massachusetts from the Library of Congress
- The formation of the Republican Party (read the 1856 Republican Party platform)
- Bleeding Kansas
  - Read about the impact of the conflict on Fort Scott, Kansas, from the National Park Service
- Bleeding Sumner
  - Read Charles Sumner's speech, "A Crime Against Kansas"

Related on EDSITEment

Student Activity

The Kansas–Nebraska Act: Interactive Map

Student Activity Details

Related on EDSITEment

An Early Threat of Secession: The Missouri Compromise, 1820–1821

Lesson 3: The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854: Popular Sovereignty and the Political Polarization over Slavery

The Growing Crisis of Sectionalism in Antebellum America: A House Dividing

BackStory: How Reconstruction Transformed the Constitution