Essay on the Political Impact of Kansas-Nebraska Act

The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 was meant to create the Kansas and the Nebraska territories legally. The influential business individuals from the south and settlers wanted to migrate to Nebraska, but because it was not yet a lawfully created land, they could not be able to move in the new area. The move to open up Nebraska led to a historic moment of the civil war (Lehrman 101). Besides its major purpose of creating borders, the bill gave the two territories to decide whether to accept and propagate slavery or stop slavery and support the ideas of an abolitionist. The act also did not complement the Missouri compromise of 1820. Missouri compromise was a law used to stop slavery in the north on latitude 300 30'. The pioneer of Kansas-Nebraska bill was the former Democrat senator, Stephen Douglas in Illinois. The primary target his bill was to open up new plantations and railroad transport network in the Midwest of the new territories. However, the passing of the bill led to increasing tension between the southerners and the northerners. The North did not advocate for slavery while the South did support the activities of enslavement to access cheap slave labor. It is during this time that the political parties had to reorganize themselves due to the existence of ideological differences concerning the bill in question. The problem of slavery had to be decided by the popular sovereignty (Wunder and Joann 129); it implied that the residents in both the Kansas and Nebraska had to vote for slavery or antislavery. The Democrats as a political party did not solidly back the Douglas bill because of unsolved conflict on slavery. For example, Salmon Chase disagreed with the passage of the bill because he was against the spread of slavery in new territories. It is a breaking point where the Democratic Party split into two, those who supported the bill (proponents) and those who opposed the bill (opponents).

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The victory of Douglas bill and next signing of the bill by the president of the South, Franklin Pierce was a major reason why the Whig party lacked influence afterward. The Whig party who supported antislavery in the north had no space in the south, region values slavery as an economic boost regarding labor. It is not astonishing to note that Franklin quest for the second chance in office as the president never came to pass because of intensive campaigns that were going on in the North. On the other hand, the mistakes of Douglas to propose a bill that later led to Democratic Party division were a major force behind the Democrats split. The Whig Party and the Republican Party were the major political players during that time. Above all the negative events, the aftermath of the bill was a breakthrough opportunity that led to the formations and strengthening of the Republican Party (Boyer 309). The party was anti-Whig and Democrats who had the support for the bill. The Republican political party was so convincing in that it moved the public to vote for Abraham Lincoln as the president in 1860. The Northern Whigs shared common interests with the Republicans; it is a reason why they joined hands and left the Democratic Party on the crossroad. Therefore, it is significant to recognize that the Kansas-Nebraska Act violated the Missouri compromise act; it also broke the hearts of the people of the north, in fact, the law did not conquer with the thoughts and beliefs of the Northern people.

Works Cited

Boyer, Paul S. The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People. Boston: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.

Lehrman, Lewis E. Lincoln at Peoria: The Turning Point : Getting Right with the Declaration of Independence. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2008. Internet resource.

Wunder, John R, and Joann M. Ross. The Nebraska-Kansas Act of 1854. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2008. Internet resource.