What Is the Kansas - Nebraska Act of 1854?
The Kansas – Nebraska act of 1854
helped prolong the Civil war, but at the same time help the Civil war take its
shape. In 1854, the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, filed for state-hood. The
question was if Kansas or Nebraska would be a free state or a slave state. The
person who stepped up to answer that question was Illinois Senator, Stephen
Douglas. His answer to the problem was the Kansas – Nebraska act of 1854, and
within the contents of his solution, was a simple formula. Popular Sovereignty,
and to give the people of Kansas and Nebraska the right to vote if they wanted
to be a slave or Free State. This seemed like a great idea so congress put it
into effect to solve their problem. In Kansas things did not go as planned
during this compromise, events like the raiding of the Border Ruffians (they
were people from Missouri who came across the border to vote for the citizens
of Kansas), Bleeding Kansas (fighting broke out often, and most famously John
Browns Pottawatomie Creek massacre and the raid of the arsenal at Harper’s
Ferry).
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Connection Between Democracy and The Kansas - Nebraska Act of 1854
The Kansas –
Nebraska act of 1854 can connect to the American Ideal of Democracy in many ways.
For one example the definition of Democracy is government by the people, and by
letting the people vote for what ideals they want to build their state government
around (free or slave state) fits that definition like a glove. Another example
that connects these two is that when this compromise was produced, it was to
have everyone agree with it, and when the people sit down and talk about it they,
are governing themselves which reverts back to democracy.
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