7 Chapter 4 The Great Debater

Chapter 4 The Great Debater What brought Lincoln back to politics was the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. For a long time, Americans had been arguing about slavery. Should it be legal? And if so, where? In 1820, Missouri had become a state. Slavery was legal there. At that time, Congress had declared that this was as far north as slavery could go. In any land north of the Missouri border, slavery would never be allowed. Then, in 1854, Congress went back on that decision. The Kansas-Nebraska territory was north of the border limiting slavery. But now Congress said that when the territory became two separate states, the people there could decide about slavery. They could make it legal if they wanted. Had

Congress broken its promise? Abolitionists—people who were fighting to make slavery illegal —thought so. They hated the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Lincoln did, too, even though he was not exactly an abolitionist. He hated slavery and wanted it to end. But he thought the Constitution said slavery was legal in the United States. He was

afraid that if Congress tried to force slave owners to give up their slaves, it would just lead to violence. And so, although slavery went against his own values, he supported the legal rights of slave owners. Lincoln thought slavery could end another way. He thought slavery should only be allowed in the part of the United States where it was already legal. But it should not be allowed into any new territory. Then it would die out in time. People would come to see that slavery was bad for the country. They would be willing to end it without fighting. To Lincoln, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was a terrible step in the wrong direction. Congress was opening up huge new areas of the country to slavery. So Lincoln returned to politics. The man responsible for the Kansas-Nebraska Act was Senator Stephen Douglas from Illinois. Lincoln and Douglas had been rivals for years—ever since they were in the state legislature together.

ABOLITIONISTS MOVEMENTS OPPOSING SLAVERY BEGAN In AMERICA WHILE THE COLONIES WERE STILL UNDER BRITISH CONTROL. BY 1804, SLAVERY HAD BEEN MADE ILLEGAL In ALL THE NORTHERN STATES. In THE 1830S And 40S, An ACTIVE ABOLITIONIST MOVEMENT DEVELOPED In THE UNITED STATES. ABOLITIONISTS BELIEVED THAT SLAVERY WAS EVIL And SHOULD BE COMPLETELY ILLEGAL EVERYWHERE. MANY WROTE ARTICLES And PRESSURED THE GOVERNMENT FOR REFORM. SOME WERE ACTIVE On THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD—THE

SECRET NETWORK THAT HELPED SLAVES ESCAPE TO FREEDOM. NOT EVERYONE WHO WAS AGAINST SLAVERY WAS An ABOLITIONIST. SOME PEOPLE WERE AFRAID THAT ABOLITIONISTS WERE DANGEROUS. THEY WANTEd TO MAKE BIG CHANGES TOO QUICKLY. THE MOST EXTREME ABOLITIONIST WAS JOHN BROWN. HE TRIED TO START An ARMED SLAVE REBELLION, BUT HE WAS CAPTURED And HANGED.

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