Officially titled "An Act to Organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas," this act repealed the Missouri Compromise, which had outlawed slavery above the 36ยบ 30' latitude in the Louisiana territories and reopened the national struggle over slavery in the western territories.
In January 1854, Senator Stephen Douglas introduced a bill that divided the
land west of Missouri into two territories, Kansas and Nebraska. He argued for
popular sovereignty, which would allow the settlers of the new territories to
decide if slavery would be legal there. Antislavery supporters were outraged
because, under the terms of the Missouri Compromise of 1820, slavery would have
been outlawed in both territories.
After months of debate, the Kansas-Nebraska Act passed on May 30, 1854. Pro-slavery
and anti-slavery settlers rushed to Kansas, each side hoping to determine the
results of the first election held after the law went into effect. The conflict
turned violent, aggravating the split between North and South until reconciliation
was virtually impossible.
Opponents of the Kansas-Nebraska Act helped found the Republican Party, which
opposed the spread of slavery into the territories. As a result of the Kansas-Nebraska
Act, the United States moved closer to Civil War.
