Kansas-Nebraska Act
This act was passed by the U.S congress on May 30,1854. This act allowed people of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within those borders. The act served to repeal the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which prohibited slavery North of the latitude 36,30. The act made many people furious in the North who considered the Missouri Compromise a long standing agreement. It was very much favored in the pro-slavery South.
After the act was passed proslavery and antislavery rushed into settle Kansas to affect the outcome of the first of the first election held there after the law went into effect. The anti-slavery group held another election however pro-slavery refused to vote because they wanted slavery. This altercation between the two resulted in the establishment of two opposing legislatures within the Kansas territory. Violence soon became the answer with the anti-slavery forces led by John Brown. The Kansas territory became known as “bleeding kansas” as the death toll arose. President Franklin Pierce in support of pro-slavery settlers, Pierce sent in federal troops to stop the violence and disperse the anti-slavery legislature. After all this commotion Kansas was not allowed to become a free state.
After the act was passed proslavery and antislavery rushed into settle Kansas to affect the outcome of the first of the first election held there after the law went into effect. The anti-slavery group held another election however pro-slavery refused to vote because they wanted slavery. This altercation between the two resulted in the establishment of two opposing legislatures within the Kansas territory. Violence soon became the answer with the anti-slavery forces led by John Brown. The Kansas territory became known as “bleeding kansas” as the death toll arose. President Franklin Pierce in support of pro-slavery settlers, Pierce sent in federal troops to stop the violence and disperse the anti-slavery legislature. After all this commotion Kansas was not allowed to become a free state.