ShmoopTube

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[ musical flourish ]

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And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by the two-party system,

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a foolproof method for always having weekend plans.

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All right, how did the actions shown in the image impact politics in the United States?

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And here are your potential answers.

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[ mumbles ]

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Okay, here we go.

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Well, remember the Kansas-Nebraska Act?

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Well, that piece of legislation allowed residents of

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Kansas and Nebraska

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to decide the issue of slavery through popular sovereignty.

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And with the country hurtling towards Civil War,

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you better believe this action had consequences.

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Did the actions shown in this image

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impact politics in the U.S. because

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A - it radically changed the number of votes in the House?

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Hmm. Well, the Kansas-Nebraska Act

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created territories, not states,

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so there wouldn't have been any change in the number of

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votes in the house. That takes A off the list.

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Did the Kansas-Nebraska Act impact U.S. politics

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because it B - strengthened the two-party system?

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Well, actually, following its passage, the American

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two-party system collapsed in favor of regional parties,

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like when the Democrats split into Northern and Southern factions.

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So the party's over for B and D.

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Which means that the actions shown in the image most impacted

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politics in the U.S. because C -

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it led to the creation of the Republican Party.

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Those Northern Democrats we were just talking about?

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Well, they're the ones who formed the Republican Party,

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which vehemently opposed slavery.

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So C is the right answer.

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Party splintering had a big impact on the 1860

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presidential election which brought Abraham Lincoln into office.

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After that, Southerners really didn't wanna

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talk about the elephant in the room.

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