KansasNebraska

The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, also known as the Kansas-Nebraska Act, was a law proposed by Senator Stephen A. Douglas to organize the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. It established that slavery in those territories would be decided by popular sovereignty, effectively repealing the Missouri Compromise provision prohibiting slavery north of the 36°30′ latitude. The act was signed into law by President Franklin Pierce on May 30, 1854.

The measure had immediate political consequences, provoking intense mobilization by both pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions within the new territories. Elections were often marred by irregular voting and violence, producing a period of upheaval known as Bleeding Kansas. The conflict exposed deep sectional tensions and contributed to the realignment of American political parties, playing a role in the rise of the anti-slavery Republican Party.

In the long term, the territories would eventually become states under the evolving federal framework. Kansas was admitted as a free state in 1861, and Nebraska followed in 1867. The Kansas-Nebraska Act thus reshaped the political landscape of the American Midwest during the antebellum era, influencing debates over slavery, territorial expansion, and federal authority on the road to the Civil War.