Chapter 14,15,16

Some important key points in Chapter 14  is the compromise of 1850 which brought California into the Union. The Union are anti-slavery group and the Confederates are for slavery.  When the war ended in 1848 the U.S. had an equal number of free and slaves states however controversy has risen with the free soil policy, the Missouri Compromise line and popular sovereignty. The free soil angered southerners because this group didn't want to free the slaves. Popular sovereignty shed a positive light to the compromise by taking the question of slavery  out of national politics and letting each territory handle slavery in their own way.
chapter 15 Bleeding Kansas was a battle between free state and slave state. The question was whether Kansas would be with the union (free state) or not. Another popular event was the Uncle Tom's Cabin, this was a play based on slavery. What surprised me was reading how 2 million people converted to abolitionism after watching the play. I enjoyed reading that people actually had feelings and emotions towards a play. It is a different outlook because a couple chapters ago we read about minstrel shows and they had the complete opposite effect on people.
When reading about the Civil war i learned that most soldiers were volunteers. However the North had an advantage because of industrial advantages and man power. The Union was more successful than the Confederacy in raising money for the war.
chapter 16 main key points: The Republican party dominated the South. In this chapter it mainly focused on the reconstruction of the Government. There was a new electorate meaning colored people were officeholders! many black officeholders were literate  and been freed before the civil war. When I read that color differences were evident it surprised me. Another thing that surprised me was the differences between black officials and black voters because they had different priorities.