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Primary sourceDocument1854

Kansas-Nebraska Act

United States Congress · 1854

The 1854 law that reopened the fight over slavery in the western territories, whose violent aftermath helped drive John Brown toward the Harpers Ferry raid Tubman helped plan.

This law's violent aftermath helped push John Brown toward the Harpers Ferry raid that Tubman helped recruit supporters for.

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Handwritten manuscript page of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, headed 'Thirty-third Congress of the United States, First Session, begun and held at the city of Washington, December 1853,' with the title 'An Act to organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas' in ornate script.
Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854. U.S. National Archives, Washington, DC.

About this source

What it is

This is the enrolled Kansas-Nebraska Act, officially 'An Act to Organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas,' passed by Congress in 1854. It is held by the U.S. National Archives. The act, pushed by Senator Stephen Douglas, let settlers in the new Kansas and Nebraska territories decide for themselves whether to allow slavery, overturning the Missouri Compromise's ban on slavery above a set line.

Why it matters

The act triggered a rush of pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers into Kansas and the violence known as 'Bleeding Kansas,' deepening the split between North and South. It also helped found the Republican Party. Among those drawn into the resulting violence was John Brown, whose later plan to raid Harpers Ferry Harriet Tubman helped recruit supporters for, connecting this law to her own anti-slavery network.

Look closer

  • Why would letting settlers vote on slavery lead to violence rather than peace?
  • Who benefits from

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