Today, Jeanette and I heard about how Congress was having another problem with what to do about slavery. Apparently, Senator Douglas has introduced a bill to set up the Nebraska Territory and the Kansas Territory. He suggested that the territory be organized by popular sovereignty. His idea was that one would be a slave state and one would be a free state even though this was not clearly stated in the bill. He thought this would be a good solution, but it would also let things stay equal in Congress. The Kansas-Nebraska Act was accepted a couple years ago, in 1854.
Many people have been rushing to move to the new territories. The northerners and the southerners competing to win the state through popular sovereignty. By 1856, there were two governments petitioning for statehood in Kansas. There was a lot of tension between the two groups. Border Ruffians raided Lawrence, Kansas (an antislavery town). They destroyed homes, shops, and The Kansas Free State newspaper. I was even told about how the abolitionist John Brown, his family, and his friends had a midnight execution of five proslavery settlers 20 miles south of Lawrence. This started violence from both sides. The battles that are happening in Kansas have been called, "Bleeding Kansas." The act only made things worse than they already are by adding in the fighting to get what they want. Popular sovereignty was not a good idea once actually acted outside Congress. "Bleeding Kansas" has really made the split between the North and the South over slavery more noticeable. The whole problem out in Kansas would have been fixed if Senator Douglass had just written what he actually wanted in the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
Here is a photo of an poster about an anti-popular sovereignty meeting:
That's all for now Diary,
Rebecca
Popular Sovereignty Poster in Kansas. N.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2016.
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