Discrimination is something that happens every day, all over the world. It's not cool, and there are millions of people out there dedicating their lives to its eradication. But if we think it's a new phenomenon, or even that it's worse now than it was, we need to spend some time in 1850s America.
In 1850s America, people weren't talking about the wage gap, institutionalized racism, or hate crimes. In fact, in 1850s America, a lot of people weren't talking at all because they didn't have a voice.
Basically, if we were to somehow be transplanted to Kansas or Nebraska during the 1850s, our 21st-century social consciences would probably sustain some serious shock. While the Kansas-Nebraska Act doesn't overtly fan any discriminatory flames, it's evident just by taking note of the language it uses how different the guiding mentality was when it was written.
Questions About Prejudice
- Why were Native American tribes so skeptical of signing treaties with the U.S. Government?
- Why were rights often limited to white property-owning males? What was the justification?
- How would Kansas' Leavenworth Constitution have changed the provisions set out in the Kansas-Nebraska Act if it had been adopted? How about the Lecompton Constitution?
Chew on This
The Kansas-Nebraska Act wasn't intended to be discriminatory; that's just the way things were back then.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act's exclusion of certain groups from the political process was totally intentional and more than just a "sign of the times."