"Are you sure this is a good idea?" America questioned, hesitantly, as he finished reading through the document. "This is going to violate the Missouri Compromise."
"All in the interest of democracy," Douglas assured with a self-knowing smirk.
Pierce tried to comfort him with a smile. "We're going to let the settlers choose…certainly there's no harm in that?"
America bit his lip, certain that there was quite a bit of harm in that. "The Northerners aren't going to be happy, sir. Not at all."
"Nonsense!" Douglas' expression took on some qualities of a grimace. "The past few measures have favored them, it's time to give something to the South. To keep it even. And who can argue with popular sovereignty?"
"Sir, please, I don't—" And there was that panic in him, flaring up as it had during the 1850 debates.
"America, trust me, okay?" Pierce grinned, clapping him on the shoulder. "It will all work out."
"America, please…Just trust me on this, okay?"
"Okay," America relented, watching as Douglas and Pierce left the room with the documents.
It was all America could do to refrain from telling his president, 'I told you so."'He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen such united dislike for a measure, even if it was only in the North.
"Well, just my people…They really aren't happy right now, with the way you're running things…"
"Incur any expense to enforce the law," Pierce ordered, once word of the resistance in Boston reached him.
"Isn't that a little harsh?" America cut in. "This owner of his might be a fraud…and we'd be helping him get away with it!"
"The law is the law, and we need to uphold it," was all Pierce would say, ignoring further dissent from the young Nation.
And so America had left, heading out to Boston to view the on-goings for himself. Pierce had been too preoccupied to stop him.
"Kidnappers! Kidnappers!" People were screaming as Burns was taken away. By force, Pierce's force. America could feel the dismay of his people around him, their disgust and hatred at this unfair event. But—much to his alarm—he could also feel a faint sense of satisfaction, as much as the conflicting wave of emotion covered it.
Hours later, after the crowds had moved on, following Burns along his solemn journey back to slavery, America still sat at the building's edge, numbed and lost in thought. He was over-reacting, really. It had just been a fleeting thing, a little thought…nothing to worry about. He had still been in control of his person, merely registering the opposing viewpoint. Nothing out of the usual, nothing out of the ordinary.
Or so he repeated in his head, trying again and again to convince himself it was true.
"You encouraged them!" America accused, refusing to be placated. "You should be trying to help democracy and justice…but you're just helping the pro-slavery people win. You're encouraging all this fighting…this disunity. Why?"
"America!" Pierce shouted, grabbing the young Nation by both shoulders—not hard, but firmly. "I am making it fair. The pro-slavery forces won the election, they—"
"That's not true!" America countered, pulling out of the president's hold. "They're cheating. And you shouldn't take sides. You should be working for the best of everyone, and trying to prevent all of this!"
"You and I both know that's impossible," Pierce returned, a sullen quality entering his tone before it became accusing. "In a conflict that involves you, you have to pick a side. You can't support both ends, or else you'll be torn in two when they both start fighting. Think logically."
America looked back at him blankly, frozen by a mixture of trepidation and shock. His mind began to whirl, thinking of the large scale implications…
"America, I…I'm sorry," Pierce apologized, after a stretch, realizing how deeply his words had affected the other. "I just feel like you're thinking about this too idealistically. It's not easy to stay above a conflict."
"I know," America responded, his voice catching on the way out. "But it's possible. I can do it."
"I'm sure you can," Pierce encouraged, though America could feel the emptiness behind his words. He didn't really believe them, not one bit. America wished he could say differently for himself.
Historical Notes: Douglas wanted to make a transcontinental railroad with Chicago as the endpoint, traveling through unorganized Nebraska territory instead of through the already organized Texas and New Mexico area. He would have supported multiple railroads, very expansionist at heart, but he knew Congress wouldn't go that far. He had presidential ambitions, so between that in order to please the South, Douglas proposed using the democratic principle of popular sovereignty on the two newly made territories of Kansas and Nebraska, despite it being above the 36°30' no slave line put in place by the Missouri compromise.
This Kansas-Nebraska Act enraged Northerners, the biggest unanimous public reaction since the Stamp and Intolerable Acts. The Free Soiler and Whigs parties became more radical. On May 24th—two days after the bill was passed—Anthony Burns, a slave who had escaped from Virginia by stowing away on a ship, was arrested in Boston. Massachusetts abolitionists brought suit against Burn's former master, accusing him of false arrest. They organized a protest meeting, where they incited the gathered crowd into attacking the courthouse where Burns was being held. The mob broke into the building and a guard was killed, but federal marshals drove off the attackers.
Pierce ordered the Boston district attorney to "incur any expense" to enforce the law. Eventually, Burns was returned to his master, but only with the help of two companies of soldiers and 1000 police and marines to get him aboard the ship. As they marched to the ship. Buildings filled with African Americans screamed "Kidnappers! Kidnappers! Kidnappers!" at the soldiers. The total cost amounted to around $100,000 for the return of this single slave. A few months later, northern sympathizers bought Burns freedom for a few hundred dollars.
A new party was formed, called the "Know-Nothing" American Party. (The name came from it's origins as a secret society, for which the password was "I don't know".) It was comprised of nativists who disliked foreign immigrants and Catholics, alarming many anti-slavery Northerners. They adopted the local view of slavery wherever they were in order to preserve unity. The Republicans were not abolitionists, but against slavery in the new territories so as to secure work for whites. They contained the Free Soilers, "Conscience Whigs", and "Anti-Nebraska" Democrats. The Whig party had almost disappeared, and the Democrats were gravely weakened.
The land in the Kansas Territory was not surveyed and divided properly., causing confusion. Both Southerners and Northerners wanted Kansas, and the new act left it's control too open. They were meant to be left to their own devices to form a local government of their choice, but outside influence was making this impossible. There was no guideline for what sort of government they were to create, and no example to follow in absence of the Old Northwest Territory system.
Proslavery Missourians were the first to arrive. When word spread that "foreigners" from New England were trying to "steal" Kansas, many Missourians rushed to protect their "rights". In November 1854, an election was held in Kansas to pick a territorial delegate to Congress. A large band of Missourians crossed over to vote for a proslavery candidate and elected him easily. In March 1855 around 5000 again came into Kansas to elected a territorial legislature. A census had recorded 2905 eligible voters, but 6307votes were cast. The legislature quickly created a slave code and laws prohibiting abolitionist intervention. Anti slavery settlers refused to recognize this regime and held elections of their own. By 1856, two governments existed: one based on deception the other extralegal.
By denouncing the free-state government located at Topeka, Pierce encouraged proslavery settlers to assume the offensive. In May, around 800 of them plundered the antislavery town of Lawrence. John Brown, an antislavery extremist, believed five Free Soilers to have been killed in the attack. He retaliated, murdering 5 men in a settlement at Pottawatomie Creek after dragging them out of their houses in the dead of night. This accelerated into violence on both sides. Two hundred were killed by the time Brown fled in 1856.
A certain amount of violence was common in any frontier community, but the Republicans exaggerated the situation in Kansas to make it seem worse than it was, filling newspapers in the North with tales of the "bleeding Kansas". The Democrats were also to blame for their influence in the whole affair. But the Pierce administration was chiefly responsible. The national government was supposed to monitor elections and make sure they turned out fair for popular sovereignty. Instead, pierce had been biased. When the first governor of the territory objected to how the proslavery legislature had been elected, Pierce replaced him with a man that backed the southern group without question.
I'm sorry this is so late. Life has just been really busy, and I spent most of Saturday asleep because I'd been functioning on 3-4 hours of sleep per night. I'll try to have the next one up quicker. But Happy Easter to all that celebrate it ^^ That was another thing…filling eggs, hiding them around the house, and having family over for most of today. Also had a project…I digress. Hope you liked the chapter.
malus: Ah, Niños Héroes :[ Sad story, but brave. I saw a History Channel show on them not too long ago and I meant to include them, but somehow that didn't happen. But Alfred definitely would have been affected by that, at least to some extent, so perhaps he stayed back that day with Trist to plan out negotiations? Either way, glad you've been enjoying it thus far ^^ And as for the Civil War, you shall find out soon enough what happens to our poor Alfred.