Question

Do you think that the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act were necessary to prevent the Civil War, or were they band-aids on the problem that would lead to the Civil War?

a. They were necessary to prevent the Civil War
b. They were band-aids on the problem that led to the Civil War
c. Neither
d. Both

Answer 1

The Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act were temporary measures that failed to resolve the conflict over slavery expansion, ultimately contributing to the outbreak of the Civil War.

Step-by-step explanation:

Both the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act aimed at resolving the intensifying conflict between the pro-slavery South and the anti-slavery North. However, these measures can be seen as temporary solutions, or 'band-aids,' that failed to address the root causes of the sectional discord, primarily the expansion of slavery into new territories.

The Compromise of 1850 included a controversial Fugitive Slave Act, leading to increased resistance in the North, while the Kansas-Nebraska Act, by allowing territories to choose whether to allow slavery through popular sovereignty, effectively nullified the Missouri Compromise and led to violent confrontations known as 'Bleeding Kansas.' Both acts exacerbated tensions and, rather than prevent, in fact contributed to the path toward the Civil War.