Exploring American Histories: Printed Page 377

Document 12.5

John Magee | Forcing Slavery down the Throat of a Freesoiler, 1856

The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act deepened the conflict over slavery. The act repealed the Missouri Compromise and allowed voters in Kansas and Nebraska to decide whether their territories would enter the Union as free or slave states. Advocates and opponents of slavery poured into Kansas, leading to open violence throughout the state. The following antislavery cartoon shows presidential candidate James Buchanan and Democratic senator Lewis Cass holding down a free-soiler while Franklin Pierce and Stephen Douglas force a black man down his throat.

Explore

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  • Question

    Whom does Magee hold responsible for the violence in Kansas?

  • Question

    What is the significance of binding the free-soiler to the Democratic Platform?

  • Question

    What argument is Magee making by putting Central America, Cuba, and Kansas on the Democratic Platform?

Put It in Context

Question

What does this cartoon suggest about the role of northern Democratic Party leaders in the ongoing conflicts over the expansion of slavery?