Sectionalism: Civil War
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska act created both the Kansas and Nebraska territories. This allowed for new land to be farmed on and put to use. In addition to that, popular sovereignty* was introduced for the the question of slavery, and whether it would be utilized in the farming of the new lands.
*Popular Sovereignty:A pre-Civil War doctrine asserting the right of the people living in a newly organized territory to decide by vote of their territorial legislature whether or not slavery would be permitted there.
*Popular Sovereignty:A pre-Civil War doctrine asserting the right of the people living in a newly organized territory to decide by vote of their territorial legislature whether or not slavery would be permitted there.
Confederacy Versus Union
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the 20 free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the Confederacy. On feb 4 1861 delegates from six seceding states met to establish a new nation – the Confederate States of America. The document resembled the US constitution in many ways but unlike the Union, guaranteed that citizens could hold slaves.Although the Union states included the Western states of California, Oregon, and (after 1864) Nevada, as well as states of the Midwest, the Union has often been referred to as "the North", both then and now.