Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854

an act that granted tothe white population of Kansas and Nebraska (new territoriesincorporated into the USA) the right to decide the question ofallowing or forbidding slavery on their territory. Adopted by theUS Congress, it in effect abolished the prearranged border between the free and slaveholding states (36°30’ N lat.) establishedby the Missouri Compromise of 1820. In the actual historicalsituation of the middle of the 19th century this solution met thedemands of the slaveholders alone, who were striving to spreadslavery throughout the entire USA. Its adoption provoked anarmed struggle in Kansas between the advocates and opponentsof slavery (1854–56).