Kansas-Nebraska Act
By the early 1850s settlers and entrepreneurs wanted to move westward into the area now known as Nebraska. However, until the area was organized as a territory, settlers would not move there because they could not legally hold a claim on the land. Officially titled "An Act to Organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas," this act repealed the Missouri Compromise, which had outlawed slavery above the 36’ 30' latitude. Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas was behind the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
Douglas wanted Nebraska made into a territory, and to gain Southern support, he proposed that Kansas could be a southern state. The Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed each territory to decide the issue of slavery based on popular sovereignty. This meant that the Act allowed the settlers of the new territories to decide if slavery would be legal there. Kansas would violate the Missouri Compromise, so the Missouri Compromise had to be repealed. The Kansas-Nebraska Act passed on May 30, 1854 after months of debate. Those against slavery and people for slavery rushed into Kansas, wanting to determine the outcome of the first election held after the law. This resulted in violent battles between the North and the South, taking place in Kansas. This event was later known as Bloody Kansas.
This Act also had a political impact. The Whig Party, one of the two major parties at the time, was separated into two parties; Northern Whigs who opposed the bill became the Republican Party, and Southern Whigs who supported the Bill became the Democratic Party.