Oklahoma Social Studies 8.C.11.2

8.C.11.2 is a cluster heading. These are the individual standards under it.

• 8.C.11.2.A

  Explain how popular sovereignty in new territories regarding the institution of slavery led to factional feuds in “Bleeding Kansas.”

• 8.C.11.2.B

  Examine why the North opposed the possibility that northern territories such as Kansas and Nebraska might adopt slavery, which had been prevented by the Missour...

• 8.C.11.2.C

  Evaluate the impact of the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision, which denied citizenship to African Americans and ruled enslaved persons as property.

• 8.C.11.2.D

  Examine the motives and impact for John Brown’s Raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry.

01

What Students Need to Do

Students explain why letting settlers vote on slavery reopened a fight the Missouri Compromise had limited, and why violence broke out in Kansas. They trace how the Dred Scott ruling and John Brown’s raid widened the divide, then weigh whether war was unavoidable.

02

What Mastery Looks Like

A student can use a map to show why many Northerners opposed slavery spreading into Kansas and Nebraska. They connect violence over Kansas votes, Dred Scott’s citizenship and property rulings, and Brown’s attempt to seize weapons for an uprising to the rising risk of war.

03

Common Misconceptions

Students may think popular sovereignty meant everyone in a territory, including enslaved people, could vote on slavery. Some think Dred Scott affected only one man, rather than denying Black citizenship and treating enslaved people as property. Others assume Brown’s raid started the Civil War.

04

How to Assess It

On a map showing the Missouri Compromise line, have students circle Kansas and Nebraska. Ask them to explain Northern objections, violence in Kansas, and how Dred Scott and Brown’s raid raised tensions.

1. 01

   Give pairs an 1854 territory map and colored pencils; draw the Missouri Compromise line and shade Kansas and Nebraska.

2. 02

   Ask: Could leaders still have avoided war after Dred Scott and Harpers Ferry? Cite one fact for each side.

3. 03

   Hand out cards for the act, Kansas violence, Dred Scott, and Harpers Ferry; teams order them and explain each link.

4. 04

   Read the Fourteenth Amendment’s citizenship clause, then write how it reversed the Dred Scott ruling.

• 8.C.7.5

  Analyze congress’ attempt to balance sectional interests and political power, by describing the impact of the Missouri Compromise on the expansion of slavery, b...

• 8.C.12

  Analyze the course and consequences of the Civil War.

• 8.C.11

  Analyze slavery as the principal cause of increased sectional polarization leading to the Civil War.