Kansas Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was a historical document which led to the creation of territories in both Kansas and Nebraska. Officially signed in 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was geared towards allowing settlement on certain pieces of land and giving white settlers the freedom to choose whether or not they want slavery in their territories. The real purpose of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, however, is to help establish opportunities for the Midwestern Transcontinental Railroad.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act also allowed Kansas territories and Nebraska territories to decide separately on the issue of slavery, a nullification of the 1820 Missouri Compromise (in which it was agreed that the new territories in those areas will NOT allow slavery).
The Kansas-Nebraska Act worked fairly well, until the new Republican Party – not wanting to allow slavery in areas that forbade it – rose into popularity. The Act – which, as was mentioned, declared that the settlers themselves will choose (by popular vote) whether or not to allow slavery in their territory – inevitably became one of the small stones that would lead to small civil wars that would become the American Civil War.