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Multiple votes over slavery ended up taking place in Kansas, and they were rife with accusations of voter fraud.

Multiple votes over slavery ended up taking place in Kansas, and they were rife with accusations of voter fraud.

The new [[Republican Party]] was formed 1864 in reaction against the Act. It denounced allowing slavery where it had been forbidden, and soon emerged as the dominant force throughout the North.  

The new [[Republican Party]] was formed in 1854 in reaction to the Act. It denounced allowing slavery where it had been forbidden, and soon emerged as the dominant force throughout the North.  

The Act as designed by Senator Douglas did not explicitly repeal the [[Missouri Compromise]] of 1850, but did deem it "inoperative and void".  

The Act as designed by Senator Douglas did not explicitly repeal the [[Missouri Compromise]] of 1850, but did deem it "inoperative and void".  

[[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 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 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]]). Both Northerners and Southerners naturally wanted a route that would more directly connect their own section with the West (and especially California).

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.

One of the most pivotal figures in this debate was Senator Stephen A. Douglas of [[Illinois]], chairman of the Senate Committee on Territories, an avid promoter of railroads, de facto Democratic party leader in the [[United States Senate]], and an aspirant to the presidency. As early as 1844, Douglas had advocated territorial organization for the Kansas-Nebraska region (at the time often simply referred to as "Nebraska"), and was heavily involved in the planning of railroad lines to the West. He personally recommended to the Senate Pacific Railroad Committee the construction of at least three transcontinental routes, so that North and South could equally benefit, but this was rejected as too costly. Meanwhile, in February 1853, Douglas brought forward a bill that would organize the region as the Territory of Nebraska, in which slavery, in accordance with the Missouri Compromise, would be outlawed. Despite some Southern opposition, the legislation passed the [[House of Representatives]], but did not pass the Senate before Congress' winter session expired.

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' motives for such a drastic revision of the Nebraska legislation are still unclear. He was certainly interested in having a railroad extend from his home city of [[Chicago]] to the West, reaching eventually to California, and it is widely believed that the repeal of the Missouri Compromise was part of a deal with Southerners to gain their support for such a central route. He was moreover personally uninterested in the slavery issue, and believed that regardless of any specific legislation, slave labor would be too unprofitable in the more arid Western climate to survive.

The Douglas bill caused a firestorm of opposition because it allowed slavery north of the line agreed upon in the [[Missouri Compromise]], effectively repealing it. Even before the bill passed, a new grass roots opposition party was being organized in most northern states, the Republican Party.  Northern Democrats, southerners,  and President [[Franklin Pierce]] supported the bill. Douglas used brilliant parliamentary maneuvers to get the bill passed on May 30, 1854.  It was signed into law by Pierce; he was a "doughface" or northerner whose political support came mostly from the South.  In effect, there were now three political positions in American politics, represented by Northern Democrats (led by Douglas), the Northern Republicans, and the Southern Democrats.  In 1860, they each ran a candidate for [[President of the United States]].

The Douglas bill caused a firestorm of opposition because it allowed slavery north of the line agreed upon in the [[Missouri Compromise]], effectively repealing it. Even before the bill passed, a new grass roots opposition party was being organized in most northern states, the Republican Party.  Northern Democrats, southerners,  and President [[Franklin Pierce]] supported the bill. Douglas used brilliant parliamentary maneuvers to get the bill passed on May 30, 1854.  It was signed into law by Pierce; he was a "doughface" or northerner whose political support came mostly from the South.  In effect, there were now three political positions in American politics, represented by Northern Democrats (led by Douglas), the Northern Republicans, and the Southern Democrats.  In 1860, they each ran a candidate for [[President of the United States]].

*[http://www.ourdocuments.gov/print_friendly.php?flash=true&page=transcript&doc=28&title=Transcript+of+Kansas-Nebraska+Act+%281854%29 Printer friendly transcript of the act]

*[http://www.ourdocuments.gov/print_friendly.php?flash=true&page=transcript&doc=28&title=Transcript+of+Kansas-Nebraska+Act+%281854%29 Printer friendly transcript of the act]

*[http://antislavery.eserver.org/nebraska Nebraska—A Poem, Personal and Political], an epic 1854 poem on slavery and the Kansas-Nebraska Act, by George Washington Bungay; available from the Antislavery Literature Project

*[http://antislavery.eserver.org/nebraska Nebraska—A Poem, Personal and Political], an epic 1854 poem on slavery and the Kansas-Nebraska Act, by George Washington Bungay; available from the Antislavery Literature Project

====notes====

 

==References==

[[Category:American Civil War]]

[[Category:American Civil War]]

[[Category:Kansas]]

[[Category:Kansas]]

[[Category:Slavery]]

[[Category:Slavery]]