Gold seekers, farmers, and railroad promoters wanted new land in the West opened for settlement in the early 1850s. But the large area west of Iowa and Missouri could not be settled until Congress organized it as a territory. This land was above the Missouri Compromise line of 1820, which banned slavery north of the line. That rule kept a balance between states that allowed slavery and those that did not.
In 1854, Senator Stephen Douglas proposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Douglas wanted the land organized so settlers could move in, and he hoped a northern railroad would start in Chicago. He needed help from Southern politicians. So, he agreed to repeal the Missouri Compromise. He also agreed that the territories would use popular sovereignty to decide on slavery. Settlers in Kansas and Nebraska could vote on whether to allow slavery or not, which was a change from older national rules.
Tensions had already risen in 1850 when the United States added land from the Mexican Cession. Congress passed the Compromise of 1850 to ease tensions. It allowed California to enter as a free state, strengthened the fugitive slave law, and tried to settle questions about slavery in the West. Many Americans hoped this would ease the growing divide between the North and the South.
But the Kansas-Nebraska Act brought those arguments back. Many Northerners were angry, especially members of the Free-Soil Party. Free-Soilers did not want slavery to spread into western lands. They believed this would protect white workers and keep new territories open to free labor. They also believed that repealing the Missouri Compromise removed an important agreement that had helped keep the nation together.
After months of debate, Congress passed the act. The political results were huge. The Whig Party, already struggling to stay united, collapsed. Its northern and southern members chose different sides. The Democratic Party also split along sectional lines. Free-Soilers, antislavery Whigs, and others who opposed slavery united to create the new Republican Party. This party grew quickly in the North because it promised to stop slavery from moving into the territories.
Once the act passed, settlers and activists rushed into Kansas to influence the vote. Their fights soon turned violent in a period known as Bleeding Kansas. The Kansas-Nebraska Act reignited the slavery debate in the West. It also deepened divisions and brought the United States closer to the Civil War.
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