Kansas-Nebraska Act

American  

[kan-zuhs-nuh-bras-kuh] / ˈkæn zəs nəˈbræs kə /

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.

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Kansas-Nebraska Act Cultural  

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.

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Example Sentences

Franklin Pierce, although a Northerner, fiercely defended slavery while signing the Kansas-Nebraska Act and enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act; he was a drunkard to boot.

From Salon • Jul. 26, 2025

In May 1854, just as the Kansas-Nebraska Act exploded in American politics, a man named Anthony Burns, who had escaped slavery in Virginia, was arrested and detained in Boston.

From New York Times • Dec. 21, 2022

Or did it come in 1854, when the Kansas-Nebraska Act proposed to settle the question of whether those territories would permit slavery on the basis of “popular sovereignty,” meaning the voters would decide by referendum?

From New York Times • Dec. 21, 2022

The Kansas-Nebraska Act opened what would become Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas, Wyoming, and Montana to local votes on slavery vs. freedom, starting with Kansas.

From Slate • Jan. 6, 2021

The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act made clear to the North that the South would accept no limitations for slavery.

From Abraham Lincoln by Putnam, George Haven