This political cartoon, titled, "Forcing Slavery Down The Throat of a Freesoiler," was published in 1856 by illustrator John L. Magee on Harper's Weekly. This was in response to violence against antislavery supporters in Kansas. The cartoon shows several Democratic figures--namely Stephen Douglas, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, and Lewis Cass--shoving a peronified version of slavery (a black man) down a "freesoiler's" throat. The term "freesoiler" refers to an
The Missouri Compromise of 1820
In the 1800s, slavery became a national issue when certain states started banning slavery, thus introducing the concept of "free" versus "slave" states. A majority of the northern states were antislavery, while the South supported slavery. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 introduced more territory to the country, and the Missouri Compromise of 1820 soon followed to balance the number of free and slave states. This plan proposed that Maine would join the US as a free state if Missouri became a slave state.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
For the success of his transcontinental railroad, Senator Stephen A. Douglas proposed the Kansas-Nebraska act of 1854. With this policy, the Missouri Compromise that was established thirty-four years earlier would be overruled, and the Nebraska and Kansas territories would be able to choose whether or not they would allow slavery due to the principle of popular sovereignty. This idea suggested that the citizens of a state should be allowed to vote whether or not the state was "free" or not, instead of Congress.