Kansas & Nebraska Act Resolved
Uploaded by Admin on Jan 22, 1999
The Kansas-Nebraska act was a proposal by Sen. Stephen A. Douglas which said that Kansas and Nebraska territory could be allowed to govern for itself whether or not to be a slave state or a free state. By a vote of its residents the territories would become a slave or a free state.This caused many fights between Northerners and Southerners. As a result many people were killed.
This act was fair because it gave the majority of the population the choice. This would be better because if the government just said that the land was a free state the people who had slaves would have to move out of their state and travel to a slave state, so they could keep their slaves and not have to sell them. It would be good because the people who have the choice of it being a slave or free state could debate the situation and work out a decision that they all agreed on. Even though this would take a long period of time all the population would be happy with the decision.
The 36-30 degree parallel was unfair because that was the only land up for slavery. What if someone wanted to move above the 36-30 degree parallel? Would they have to leave their slaves behind and hire workers?
Also the federal government just marked off land that slaves could be in. Slaves are considered property and you can take property anywhere. That is unfair because then they would have to leaves all their slaves behind.
Lastly people needed slaves to tend their farm. If the government just marked off land where people owned slaves and said that the state is now free and no one could own slaves, what would the slave owners do. The slave owners needed slaves to tend their farm and tend the crops, what would slave owners do if they had to give up their slaves and hire people and pay them to do the work.
The Kansas and Nebraska act was fair because it gave the people their choice and they would be more satisfied if they could decide on their own.The people could debate the issue and come up with a verdict that everybody agreed on.