"We arraign this bill as a gross violation of a sacred pledge; as a criminal betrayal of precious rights; as a part and parcel of an atrocious plot to exclude from a vast unoccupied region immigrants from the Old World and free laborers from the States, and convert it into a dreary region of despotism, inhabited by masters and slaves."
— Appeal of the Independent Democrats, 1854
Which of the following was a direct result of the congressional legislation opposed in the excerpt?
- The outbreak of violent sectional conflict over the extension of slavery in Kansas TerritoryAnswer
- BThe assertion of direct federal authority by the executive branch to decide the legal status of slavery in new territories
- CThe immediate secession of the Southern states from the Union in protest of the legislation
- DThe unanimous acceptance of popular sovereignty as a peaceful mechanism to resolve the status of slavery in the territories
Answer
The outbreak of violent sectional conflict over the extension of slavery in Kansas Territory
The correct answer is correct because the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 repealed the Missouri Compromise and introduced popular sovereignty to the Kansas and Nebraska territories. This triggered a migration of both northern abolitionists and southern pro-slavery advocates to Kansas to influence the vote, leading to violent clashes known as 'Bleeding Kansas'.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
The political and social consequences of sectional legislative compromises and crises in the 1850s, specifically the Kansas-Nebraska Act.