may 30, 1854 - Kansas-Nebraska Act

Description:

passed by Congress in 1854. According to this bill Nebraska Territory would be sliced in two (KS & NE). It assumed the slave free balance would be maintained, KS would go slave and NE would go free. This legislation repealed the Compromise of 1820 by declaring that the issue of slavery in the new territories would be decided by popular sovereignty, people inhabiting the state would decide. The compromise of 1820 had maintained that slavery would be banned forever north of 36 30 line. This bill got the support it needed from Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglass, but it agitated the already fierce quarrel between North and South.

Added to timeline:

Date: