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The '''[[Missouri Compromise (1820)]]''' allowed for the entry of Maine into the Union as a free state, and Missouri as a slave state.  It was further agreed that slavery was to be excluded from territory north of the 36°30′ parallel, or the remaining western territories. Before admission could be granted to Missouri a clause in the state's constitution provoked controversy: the exclusion of "free Negroes and mulattoes".  Under Whig Henry Clay's influence in the U.S. senate, an act of admission was passed, upon condition that the controversial [[exclusionary clause]] should "never be construed to authorize the passage of any law" impairing the privileges and immunities of free citizens. The compromise seemed deliberately ambiguous in that it could be interpreted to indicate that free blacks and mulattoes did not qualify as United States citizens, which would be put to direct test years later with a slave named Dred Scott. [http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Missouri.html]

The '''[[Missouri Compromise (1820)]]''' allowed for the entry of Maine into the Union as a free state, and Missouri as a slave state.  It was further agreed that slavery was to be excluded from territory north of the 36°30′ parallel, or the remaining western territories. Before admission could be granted to Missouri a clause in the state's constitution provoked controversy: the exclusion of "free Negroes and mulattoes".  Under Whig Henry Clay's influence in the U.S. senate, an act of admission was passed, upon condition that the controversial [[exclusionary clause]] should "never be construed to authorize the passage of any law" impairing the privileges and immunities of free citizens. The compromise seemed deliberately ambiguous in that it could be interpreted to indicate that free blacks and mulattoes did not qualify as United States citizens, which would be put to direct test years later with a slave named Dred Scott. [http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Missouri.html]

Another crisis arose from the request of the California Territory to be admitted to the Union as a [[free state]]; this was complicated by territory acquired in the southwest as a result of the [[Mexican War]] of 1848 and whether to extend slavery there.  An omnibus bill drafted by [[Henry Clay]] called the '''Compromise of 1850''' tried to give satisfaction to the southern states in addition to California's admission: the settlement of the Texas-New Mexico border dispute; the slavery question open for voting via popular sovereignty in the Utah and New Mexico territories as they were organized; the end of slave trading in the District of Columbia; and tough requirements concerning [[runaway slave]]s. [http://blueandgraytrail.com/event/Compromise_of_1850]

Another crisis arose from the request of the California Territory to be admitted to the Union as a [[free state]]; this was complicated by territory acquired in the southwest as a result of the [[Mexican War]] of 1848 and whether to extend slavery there.  An omnibus bill drafted by [[Henry Clay]] called the '''[[Compromise of 1850]]''' tried to give satisfaction to the southern states in addition to California's admission: the settlement of the Texas-New Mexico border dispute; the slavery question open for voting via popular sovereignty in the Utah and New Mexico territories as they were organized; the end of slave trading in the District of Columbia; and tough requirements concerning [[runaway slave]]s. [http://blueandgraytrail.com/event/Compromise_of_1850]

All five measures were enacted in September, 1850 as a result of the efforts and support of Democratic senator [[Stephen A. Douglas]] and Whig senator [[Daniel Webster]], and were accepted by moderates throughout the country as well as postponing Southern [[secession]] for another decade.  But the seeds of discord were planted; the precedent of [[popular sovereignty]], championed by Douglas as the way for the public to vote whether or not they wanted slavery in their territories, led to the Kansas territory agitating for a similar provision.  And the [[Fugitive Slave Act]] that was a part of the Compromise was so bitterly condemned that many moderates who had ignored slavery in the past became determined opponents to any extension of the institution into the territories.  Many would risk jail rather than turn over runaway slaves to their owners as required by the new laws.   

All five measures were enacted in September, 1850 as a result of the efforts and support of Democratic senator [[Stephen A. Douglas]] and Whig senator [[Daniel Webster]], and were accepted by moderates throughout the country as well as postponing Southern [[secession]] for another decade.  But the seeds of discord were planted; the precedent of [[popular sovereignty]], championed by Douglas as the way for the public to vote whether or not they wanted slavery in their territories, led to the Kansas territory agitating for a similar provision.  And the [[Fugitive Slave Act]] that was a part of the Compromise was so bitterly condemned that many moderates who had ignored slavery in the past became determined opponents to any extension of the institution into the territories.  Many would risk jail rather than turn over runaway slaves to their owners as required by the new laws.   

The '''[[Kansas–Nebraska Act]]''' (May 30, 1854), sponsored by Douglas, provided for the territorial organization of Kansas and Nebraska, using his principle the idea of popular sovereignty.  Douglas had written the act in an effort to slow or halt the sectarianism <!-- sectional strife? --> over slavery's extension, but the Kansas-Nebraska Act merely increased the flames, and was attacked by [[free-soil]] and [[abolitionist]]s as a capitulation to those who supported slavery. The [[Whig Party]], ineffective in preventing it, largely disintegrated, and the Republican Party was born and soon became a viable political organization opposed to territorial expansion of slavery.  

The '''[[Kansas–Nebraska Act]]''' (May 30, 1854), sponsored by Douglas, provided for the territorial organization of Kansas and Nebraska, using his principle the idea of popular sovereignty.  Douglas had written the act in an effort to slow or halt the sectarianism <!-- sectional strife? --> over slavery's extension, but the Kansas-Nebraska Act merely increased the flames, and was attacked by [[free-soil]] and [[abolitionist]]s as a capitulation to those who supported slavery. The [[Whig Party]], ineffective in preventing it, largely disintegrated, and the Republican Party was born and soon became a viable political organization opposed to territorial expansion of slavery.  

On the heels of the act a large number of people left Missouri and sought to influence elections in the Kansas Territory.  "[[Border Ruffians]]", as they were called, entered Kansas and cast thousands of illegal votes,{{fact-historical}} resulting in a pro-slave government that Democratic president [[Franklin Pierce]] recognized, and continued doing so even after it was ruled illegitimate by a congressional investigative committee. The territory's actual residents set up their own legislature and created the [[Topeka Constitution]]; Pierce declared their endeavors an act of rebellion, and he went so far as to send in Federal troops to break it up.

On the heels of the act a large number of people left Missouri and sought to influence elections in the Kansas Territory.  "[[Border Ruffians]]", as they were called, entered Kansas and cast thousands of illegal votes resulting in a pro-slave government that Democratic president [[Franklin Pierce]] recognized, and continued doing so even after it was ruled illegitimate by a congressional investigative committee. The territory's actual residents set up their own legislature and created the [[Topeka Constitution]]; Pierce declared their endeavors an act of rebellion, and he went so far as to send in Federal troops to break it up.

===Bleeding Kansas===

===Bleeding Kansas===