Chapter 2- Miner book "Trampling out the Vintage"

This chapter dealt a great deal with the question of free or slave state. I have always shown my American History classes that it was not simply that Kansas wanted to be a free state. The Miner book enforced the fact that the decision was political. The fact that both Democrats and Republicans were trying their best to make sure the vote went their way. This is a fun concept to teach. You could go and teach this in government and show how the political process has changed or even how it hasn't changed that much. There were some good examples that I have already shared with my classes.