Kansas-nebraska act

Worksheets
 Kansas-nebraska act facts

The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed in 1854 and was one of

the many major steps towards the American civil war. The Act
caused controversy because it allowed the territories to vote
for/against slavery, which was previously prohibited.

❏ The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by congress on May

30, 1854 and defined the separate territories of Kansas
and Nebraska. It was proposed by Senator Stephen A.
Douglas of Illinois.
 Kansas-nebraska act facts
❏ The initial aim of the Act was to build a transcontinental
railroad across the Midwest to promote easier access to
the farmland for both farmers and their customers.
❏ It established Kansas and Nebraska as separate
territories. This meant that each of them could decide
whether slavery was allowed or disallowed in their area.
Prior to this, slavery was prohibited in this territory by
the Missouri Compromise of 1820.
❏ As a result, thousands of pro-slavery individuals began
to move to Kansas so they could vote for slavery
(something they couldn’t do in their home territories.)
❏ This however prompted anti-slavery backers to also
moved to Kansas, and the two groups of people soon
clashed. A small civil war broke out between the
for/against groups, which was later referred to as
‘Bleeding Kansas’ due to the high death toll. It divided the
nation into people who agreed with slavery and those who
wanted to ban it. The people who were pro-slavery were
generally from the South, and the anti-slavery group was
from the North.
 Kansas-nebraska act facts
❏ As a result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, a new
anti-slavery constitution was created by Abraham
Lincoln (a congressman at the time). This led to slavery
being completely outlawed throughout the United States
by the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution.
Kansas officially became a state in 1861, and Nebraska
followed in 1867.
 The douglas-lincoln debate
Direction: Provide points of argument given the excerpts
below.

“...that the people of the

“We hold these truths to be
Territories, and of all the
self-evident: That all men are
States, were to be allowed to
created equal; that they are
do as they pleased upon the
endowed by their Creator with
subject of slavery, subject
certain inalienable rights; that
only to the provisions of the
among these are life, liberty
Constitution of the United
and the pursuit of happiness.
States. ‘’

An excerpt from Stephen An excerpt from Abraham

Douglas, “Nebraska Lincoln, “Speech at Peoria”,
Territory,” January 30, 1854 October 16, 1854:
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