Kansas-Nebraska Act
4 Jan 1854
Causes: Douglas wanted to build a transcontinental railroad + promote western settlement. He proposed that the Kansas territory be split into 2 and that the citizens in each would vote on whether the state would be free or slave (popular sovereignty).
People: Stephen Douglas
Effects: The Kansas-Nebraska Act invalidated the Missouri Compromise, which forbade slavery in the North. It also led to the Republican Party & fighting between pro slavery and antislavery forces in "Bleeding Kansas.