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Kansas-Nebraska Act
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Douglas' role in the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act can be seen as an example of his keen compromising skills. The Act was a result of a compromise with southern senators concerning the ever-growing railroad industry. Douglas, senator from Illinois, desired a railroad line to pass through Chicago on its journey to the Pacific Coast. Southern senators, on the other hand, wished the railroad line to begin in New Orleans and continue on to southern California. As a result, Douglas proposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act in exchange for the agreement of the southern Senators to a railroad through Chicago.
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Eli Thayer of Massachusetts organized The New England Emigrant Aid Company in reaction to the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The notion of popular sovereignty espoused in the act incited Thayer to create an organization that would encourage the emigration of New England abolitionists to Kansas in order to vote against slavery. The following speech by Gerrit Smith of the New England Emigrant Aid Company outlines the goals of the organization, while describing the situation that was arising in Kansas.
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The Kansas-Nebraska Act ... caused the collapse of both the Whig and Democratic parties. The parties split according to section: to pass the act through Congress, Southern Whigs voted with Southern Democrats against their Northern counterparts for the first time in history. The Whigs were never able to reunite after this catastrophic divide. The Democrats survived, but Northern Democrats lost over half their seats in Congress that year.
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The teacher teaching this lesson should be familiar with the events leading to the creation of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. A good resource for the teacher to use to gain this background is David M. Potter's The Impending Crisis, 1848- 1861. The Kansas Crusade, by Eli Thayer, was written in 1889 and published by Harper and Brothers in New York. This volume is available at some university libraries and ... at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts. This would be helpful reading and is very readable by high school students, but is not a necessary read to cover this topic. Students should read any high school United States history text for background on this topic.
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Stephen Douglas stands his ground in the Senate as he closes debate on the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Biographers consider this to be one of his shining moments. Finally, at 5:00 am on the 4th, the Senate passes the bill, 37 to 14
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Advocates of the Kansas-Nebraska Act contended that popular sovereignty was the inherent right of all Americans. By choosing for themselves whether slavery would be permitted in the area, the people of Kansas would simply be exercising their
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Kansas-Nebraska Act