30 mai 1854 - Kansas-Nebraska Act

Description:

Prior to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, a significant politician from Illinois by the name of Stephen A. Douglas planned to build a transcontinental railroad from Chicago to California. To gain right of way to construct the railroad, he needed the Nebraska territory to be admitted as a state. However, since it was above 36’30* parallel, as stated by the Missouri Compromise, it had to have been a free state, and would create an unbalance between slave states and non-slave states in the Senate. Therefore, although it was risky to tamper with the Missouri Compromise that had kept the country relatively at peace for the past 30 years, Stephen A. Douglas proposed to split the territory into 2 states, Kansas and Nebraska, and let popular sovereignty decide whether slavery should or should not exist in either of the states. The proposal passed, and Kansas and Nebraska would become two separate states. This act would further lead to Bleeding Kansas. The Kansas-Nebraska Act contributed towards the Civil War because it set the foundation for violence in Kansas in years to come. Furthermore, the choice to reject the Missouri Compromise and allow the possibility of slavery to exist North of the 36’30* parallel was definitely controversial and increased tensions.

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