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[[Image:US-1854.JPG|thumb|550px|Kansas is shown in white in the center]]

[[Image:US-1854.JPG|thumb|550px|Kansas is shown in white in the center]]

==Background==

==Background==

The availability of tens of millions of acres of excellent farm land made it necessary to create a territorial infrastructure to allow settlement. Railroad interests were especially eager to start operations since they needed farmers as customers. Four previous attempts to pass legislation had failed. The solution was a bill proposed in January 1854 by Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois. He was the Democratic party leader in the [[United States Senate]], the chairman of the Committee on Territories, an avid promoter of railroads, an aspirant to the presidency, and, above all, a fervent believer in [[popular sovereignty]]: the policy of letting the residents of a territory decide whether or not they would permit slavery to exist.   

The availability of tens of millions of acres of excellent farmland in the Great Plains, and the pressure of American pioneers in the Mississippi Valley, made it necessary to create a territorial infrastructure to allow settlement. At the same time, railroad interests were especially eager to start construction of a transcontinental line that would extend westward to the Pacific Coast; this would link [[Oregon]] and [[California]] with the rest of the nation, enable the railroads to reach more potential customers among the farmers on the frontier, and speed up development of the new territories. The organization of the West into territories, and the building of a railroad to the Pacific, would therefore benefit one another. Despite these obvious advantages, four previous attempts to pass legislation had failed, largely because there was no agreement among lawmakers in the capital on the proper route: northern (via [[St. Paul, Minnesota|St. Paul]] and [[Puget Sound]]), central (from [[Chicago]] or [[St. Louis]] to [[San Francisco]]), or southern (from [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]] to San Francisco, or alternately from [[New Orleans]] to [[San Diego]]).  

 

The solution was a bill proposed in January 1854 by Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois. He was the Democratic party leader in the [[United States Senate]], the chairman of the Committee on Territories, an avid promoter of railroads, an aspirant to the presidency, and, above all, a fervent believer in [[popular sovereignty]]: the policy of letting the residents of a territory decide whether or not they would permit slavery to exist.   

Douglas was very interested in having a railroad extend from his home city of [[Chicago]] to the West, reaching eventually to California. However, many southerners wanted a transcontinental railroad that would start in New Orleans and extend to southern California. Douglas decided to make a compromise with the southern senators. In exchange for having the railroad go through Chicago, he would introduce the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854.  At first he proposed one new territory of Nebraska, then two of Kansas and Nebraska. Popular sovereignty would decide whether there would be slavery or not.  

Douglas was very interested in having a railroad extend from his home city of [[Chicago]] to the West, reaching eventually to California. However, many southerners wanted a transcontinental railroad that would start in New Orleans and extend to southern California. Douglas decided to make a compromise with the southern senators. In exchange for having the railroad go through Chicago, he would introduce the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854.  At first he proposed one new territory of Nebraska, then two of Kansas and Nebraska. Popular sovereignty would decide whether there would be slavery or not.