Pierce Signs Kansas-Nebraska Act -- May 30, 1854
On May 30, 1854, President Franklin Pierce signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which was designed to solve the issue of expanding slavery into the territories. However, it failed miserably; the Kansas-Nebraska Act was one of the key political events that led to the American Civil War.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act organized the territories of Kansas and Nebraska on the basis of popular sovereignty, which allowed the two territories to decide for themselves whether to permit slavery when they applied for statehood. This act effectively repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1920 that outlawed slavery north of the latitude of 36 degrees 30 minutes in the former Louisiana Territory because it opened the possibility that Kansas and Nebraska (both above the 36º30' line) could become slave states. Northern anti-slavery politicians and activists were livid. Southerners assumed that the Kansas territory would become a slave state, while Nebraska would be a free state.
Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois designed the Kansas-Nebraska Act and pushed it through Congress. He hoped the act would settle the divisive issue of extending slavery into the territories by removing it from national politics and leaving it for the individual states and territories to decide. Douglas also believed that the Democratic Party could unify behind the banner of popular sovereignty-and that this would greatly aid his presidential aspirations.
In fact, the law did neither. It provoked violence between pro- and anti-slavery forces in Kansas, and it failed to unite the Democratic Party. Southern Democrats favored the bill, but Northern Democrats, sensing their constituents' unease with the extension of slavery, generally avoided taking a stand on it. The Kansas-Nebraska Act also deepened the serious sectional divides in the Whig Party, leading to its eventual destruction. Finally, the act intensified Northern anti-slavery sentiment, which aided the formation of the Republican Party. This political realignment was a major cause of the Civil War.
President Pierce personally lobbied Democrats to support Douglas's bill. As the tide of opposition rose in the North, Pierce used the Kansas-Nebraska Act as a test of party loyalty. He used his presidential powers to cajole, threaten, or promise federal patronage for support and, in the end, was able to direct the votes of many Northern Democrats. The Kansas-Nebraska Act was the most important legislation of the Pierce presidency, but it was a costly victory. Many in the North believed Pierce catered to Southern interests who wanted to expand slavery. This led to a loss of Northern support for Pierce's foreign policy. President Pierce showed that he could not govern effectively or unite the party. The divisive debate surrounding the spread of slavery would not go away-as it had not in 1820 and 1850, and Pierce's presidency languished as a result.
For more information, please visit the Franklin Pierce home page or go to more Events in Presidential History.
