Industrial Age · North America · Politics
1854
Kansas-Nebraska Act
May 30, 1854
Stephen Douglas's bill opened Kansas and Nebraska to slavery by 'popular sovereignty,' repealing the Missouri Compromise. The North erupted. Within months, pro- and anti-slavery settlers were shooting each other in 'Bleeding Kansas.' The Whig Party collapsed; the Republican Party was born. The Civil War had moved much closer. Abraham Lincoln, roused from political retirement by the act's passage, began the speeches that would carry him to the presidency.
In context
Also in 1854 (4 other events on record)
- Kanagawa Treaty · East Asia · Politics
- John Snow Removes the Broad Street Pump Handle · Europe · Science
- Nightingale Sails for Scutari · Europe · Science
- Charge of the Light Brigade · Europe · War
Before and after in North America
Before and after in Politics
- Before: July 8, 1853: Perry at Edo Bay
- After: March 2, 1855: Nicholas I Dies
Era
Industrial Age (1801–1900), one of 513 events from that era on Saeculum.