President Franklin Pierce expected the Compromise of 1850 to settle the debate over slavery in the territories. The Compromise had opened Utah and New Mexico to slavery by popular sovereignty. Nevertheless, California’s admission in 1850 to the Union as a free state was bitterly contested. Both sides thought it would upset the balance of power in Congress between Free states and Slave States.
|
|
Douglass drafted the Kansas-Nebraska Act and introduced it in Congress in early 1854. The bill was then signed into law by President Franklin Pierce on May, 30th 1854. It created the new territories of Kansas and Nebraska and opened them to slavery by popular sovereignty. However, the law also repealed/overturned the Missouri Compromise that had outlawed slavery in all the territories north of Missouri. As a result, this act led to considerable opposition from the North; and gave rise to the creation of the Republican Party and a realignment of the political parties in the country.
|
Although Whigs were united by a shared hatred of President Andrew Jackson, the party had been divided over the issue of slavery, and many of its members were ready to reach compromises. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 was seen as the last straw that led to the collapse of the Whig Party. Anti-slavery Whigs thought that their party was not committed enough to stopping the spread of slavery. As a result, Whigs splintered into several factions, one of which became the Republican Party. Among the prominent Whigs who turned Republican was Abraham Lincoln. The Republican Party rapidly gained supporters in the North. By 1860, Southern slave States were threatening to secede if the Republicans won the presidency.
|
|
|
|