Handout
Other

Us Gen Net: American Local History Network: The Struggle for Kansas

For Students 9th - 10th
A detailed, 5-page article giving an in-depth look at the problems in Kansas after the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
Website
University of Virginia

Miller Center at Uva: u.s. Presidents: Franklin Pierce: Domestic Policies

For Students 9th - 10th
As Franklin Pierce became president, the question of slavery in the territories occupied his handling of his domestic policies. Read about the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the resulting turmoil in Kansas as abolitionists and...
Website
Kansas Historical Society

Willing to Die for Freedom: Look Back at Kansas Territory

For Students 9th - 10th
This online exhibit teaches you about "Bleeding Kansas." Follow the hyperlinks to obtain a wealth of information.
Article
Siteseen

Siteseen: American Historama: Bleeding Kansas

For Students 9th - 10th
A comprehensive overview with interesting facts about Bleeding Kansas, a series of violent confrontations in Kansas, and border towns of Missouri, after the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
Whiteboard
ClassFlow

Class Flow: Trouble in Kansas

For Teachers 6th - 8th
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart contains information about the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the violence that followed in Kansas. It contains photographs of key figures.
Handout
The History Cat

The History Cat: Countdown to Civil War

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes the events leading up to the start of the American Civil War. Looks at clashes between pro- and anti-slavery groups, the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the fight over California, the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act,...
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Border Ruffians

For Students 5th - 8th
Because of the terms of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, a election would be held to determine whether Kansas would be a slave or free state. Read about the fraudulent votes cast by the so-called border ruffians from Missouri, and see how Kansas...
Handout
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: A Divided Nation

For Students 9th - 10th
This page from the American Revolution Project of the University of Groningen discusses how the 1850s were a time of conflicting ideas between North and South regarding the expansion of slavery. Scroll down to the third paragraph and...
Website
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: A Divided Nation

For Students 9th - 10th
Overview of events and politics surrounding the bitter conflict about slavery in the U.S., including the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Dred Scott Decision.
Website
Digital History

Digital History: "Bleeding Kansas" and "Bleeding Sumner"

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about how the concept of popular sovereignty expressed in the Kansas-Nebraska Act resulted in political intrigue and murder in Kansas and the caning of a U.S. Senator in the Senate chamber.
Handout
Other

The American Civil War Fact Sheet: Bleeding Kansas

For Students 9th - 10th
Fact sheet on Bleeding Kansas with the different views of each side.
Handout
Kansas Historical Society

Kansapedia: "Bleeding Kansas"

For Students 9th - 10th
When Kansas became a state it would change the balance of power, so there was fighting between the pro- and anti-slavery groups. This page offers an explanation of that piece of Kansas history, plus letters from two who supported Kansas'...
Article
University of Groningen

American History: Essays: The Iron Horse: Political Changes

For Students 9th - 10th
From a lengthy essay on the history of the railroad in the United States. This section describes the dramatic political changes that took place with the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. This led to the formation of the...
Website
Digital History

Digital History: The Revival of the Slavery Issue

For Students 9th - 10th
A brief account of how the Kansas-Nebraska Act split apart party coalitions and helped create the new Republican Party. See who joined this party and read about its goals.
Primary
Other

Wake Forest University: History of Compromise Legislation

For Students 9th - 10th
Annotated chronology of various compromise legislation, including the Northwest Ordinance, the Constitution, the Missouri Compromise, 1850 Compromise, and Kansas-Nebraska Act.
Handout
Other

Kansas Cyclopedia of State History: Pottawatomie Massacre

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes the Pottawatomie Massacre which was John Brown's plan to drive the pro-slavers out of the area. From a 1912 encyclopedia.
Handout
US Senate

U.s. Senate: The Caning of Senator Charles Sumner

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes Preston Brooks' attack on Senator Charles Sumner, May 22, 1856, in the Senate after Sumner's famous speech, "Crimes Against Kansas."
Primary
US National Archives

Our Documents: A National Initiative on American History, Civics, and Service

For Students 9th - 10th
Our Documents is home to one hundred milestone documents that influenced that course of American history and American democracy. Includes full-page scans of each document, transcriptions, background information on their significance, and...
Website
Northern Illinois University

Northern Illinois University: Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project

For Students 9th - 10th
Northern Illinois University provides audio, visual, and text documents about Abraham Lincoln's Illinois years. You can search historical themes that relate to Lincoln and a biography of Lincoln. The site offers both primary and...
Handout
Other

American Anthropological Association: 1800 1850s: Expansion of Slavery in the Us

For Students 9th - 10th
Outlines the political events prior to the Civil War as the United States expanded its territories to include new states and conflicts arose over the issue of slavery.
Website
US Capitol Visitor Center

U.s. Capitol Visitor Center: 1820 1861: Holding the Union Together

For Students 9th - 10th
American history from 1820-1861 is interwoven with the history of the Capitol as it was expanded to accommodate a growing government body. A timeline of significant events in the debates over slavery, the addition of free and slave...
Lesson Plan
White House Historical Association

White House Historical Association: Thence Forward, and Forever Free

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Informational text and lesson plan for grades 9-12 tracing Abraham Lincoln's battle against slavery from the time he was in the Illinois State Legislature through his presidency and writing of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Website
University of Maryland

Voices of Democracy: Abraham Lincoln, "A House Divided" (16 June 1858)

For Students 9th - 10th
Read the full text of the "House Divided" speech that Lincoln delivered on June 16, 1858, as he accepted the Republican nomination for the U.S.Senate seat from Illinois that was held by Stephen A. Douglas. This speech exemplifies...
Handout
US Department of State

Bureau of International Information Programs: History Outline: Sectionalism

For Students 9th - 10th
Article reviews several conditions of American society that sowed the seeds of civil war, particularly slavery and sectional conflict.

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