THE RETURN OF SECTIONAL CONFLICT

The desire to organize settlement in Kansas and Nebraska brought tensions between the North and the South back to the forefront. According to the provisions of the Missouri Compromise, slavery would be banned in both of these territories. Stephen A. Douglas, sponsor of the bill that proposed the creation of the Kansas and Nebraska territories, wanted to create a large region free of native Americans so that a transcontinental railroad could be built between Chicago and the West Coast. Douglas was pressured by Southern senators and included a provision in the bill that the existence of slavery in these territories would be decided by a vote of those that lived there. This Kansas-Nebraska Act infuriated many in the North. The bill was passed with the support of President Pierce.

The fury over the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act caused the creation of the Republican party. The party was an exclusively Northern one and was dedicated to the principle that slavery should be prohibited in all territories. Some former Democrats, Whigs, and Free-Soilers made up the base of the Republican party, which would quickly replace the Know- Nothings as the second most important political party in the United States.