Kansas-Nebraska Act

[ kan-zuhs-nuh-bras-kuh ]

noun

, U.S. History.

1. the act of Congress in 1854 annulling the Missouri Compromise, providing for the organization of the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, and permitting these territories self-determination on the question of slavery.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

1. A law passed by Congress in 1854 that divided the territory west of the states of Missouri and Iowa and the territory of Minnesota into two new territories, Kansas and Nebraska . The law was extremely controversial because it did not exclude slavery from either territory, despite the fact that the Missouri Compromise prohibited slavery in these territories. By effectively repealing the Missouri Compromise, the law outraged many northerners, led to the collapse of the Whig party and the rise of the Republican party , and moved the nation closer to civil war.

Example Sentences

The tariff of 1828, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which led to the civil war in “Bloody Kansas” and ultimately to the Civil War itself.

From The Daily Beast

The immediate effect of the Kansas-Nebraska act was to aggravate sectionalism.

From Project Gutenberg

The Kansas-Nebraska act did serve as a cry for the rallying of all anti-slavery voters.

From Project Gutenberg

By the Kansas-Nebraska act they had paralyzed the legislation of half a century.

From Project Gutenberg

He differed with the senator from Illinois, both in the history of the Kansas-Nebraska act, and what was intended by it.

From Project Gutenberg

Mr. Botts was opposed to the Kansas-Nebraska act and to the passage of the Lecompton bill.

From Project Gutenberg