Kansas-Nebraska Act

In January of 1854, Senator Stephen Douglas introduced a bill that would divide the territory of Missouri into two, states called Kansas and Nebraska. This Act was first intended to open up farmland, area for a Transcontinental Railroad, and lots of acres of beautiful plains, but once the discussion of sovereignty came up, tensions grew between the north and south. Southerners who were against slavery were furious because under the Missouri Compromise, Missouri should have been a slave state for good.  The Act was finally passed on May 30, 1854. Even though the proposed bill had not passed four previous times, this time it was passed. Stephen Douglas debated much about the Act; Lincoln did not want to spread slavery, while Douglas wanted it to be completely abolished. Opponents of the Act went on to form the Republican Party, and the Union would move closer and closer to the Civil War.
The aftermath of the bill signing was not pretty. Because of the fact Nebraska and Kansas could choose whether or not to allow slavery, many southerners and northerners rushed to the new territories. Many pro-slavery settlers quickly moved into Kansas just to vote in the state. They wanted to be heard, so they formed groups such as the "Blue Lodges". Northerners also came from the east and called themselves the "Jayhawks". Violent actions followed, with many settlers dying. Bleeding Kansas lasted from 1854 to 1858.



Sources
Bleeding Kansas Photo http://www.legendsofamerica.com/photos-americanhistory/BleedingKansasFight.jpg

Kansas-Nebraska Act http://www-tc.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/media/uploads/lincolns_shifting_1854.jpg

Information
Bleeding Kansas http://americanhistory.about.com/od/beforethewar/g/bleedingkansas.htm
Kansas-Nebraska Act http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=28