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.