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The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, is the reason for bleeding Kansas. It delt with slavery in the new territories (in the same manner as the Compromise of 1850).

The act created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska and allowed slavery in both of them. The act also provided that when the people of each territory organized as a state, they could decide by popular vote whether to permit slavery to continue. The decision process was called "popular sovereignty."

The first test of popular sovereignty came in Kansas, where the majority of the population voted against being a slave state. However, proslavery forces refused to accept the decision. The situation quickly turned to violence.

In the end, Kansas joined the Union as free state in 1861.

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15y ago

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The Kansas-Nebraska Act - a hopeful attempt to allow new states to admitted as slave or free according to a local vote.

When it was tried in Kansas, every bully-boy from both sides descended on Kansas to intimidate voters. The result was 'Bleeding Kansas'.

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13y ago
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The principle of letting one state at a time vote on whether to be slave or free.

A lot of people from both sides of the debate moved into Kansasto buy cheap properties, in order to qualify for the vote, and try to swing it their way('squatters').

There were also many terrorists, who intimidated the voters and tried to get the results declared invalid.

Violence and counter-violence followed, and 'Bleeding Kansas' was laterseen as the curtain-raiser for the Civil War - proof that the slavery debate would never be settled, except through violence.

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12y ago
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When Kansas wanted to become a state in the 1850s, Congress couldn't decide whether slavery should be allowed there or not. So they came up with a plan- have a vote and allow the people who live in Kansas decide.

The problem was that pro-slavery people from the South and anti-slavery people from the North started moving to Kansas to affect the vote. Eventually this led to fighting, since it was such a controversial issue at the time and people on both sides felt very strongly that they were right.

Eventually the Free side won, and Kansas's constitution outlawed slavery there- although some fighting did continue, especially once the Civil War began. Kansas officially became a state in January 1861, after several pro-slavery Southern states had seceded, so they were unable to prevent Kansas's admission as a Free state.

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8y ago
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tensions increased between the north and south causing small wars leading up to secession and the civil war

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15y ago
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Because if one state at a time was allowed to vote on the slavery issue, it would encourage every bully-boy in America to descend on that one state, to intimidate voters.

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14y ago
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11y ago
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Q: Why did violence broke out in Kansas Bleeding Kansas?
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