The Kansas-Nebraska Act, passed in 1854, stated that:
1. The territories of Kansas and Nebraska would enter the Union as:
- Separate territories.
- And they would have the right to decide through popular sovereignty whether they would allow slavery within their borders.
This act effectively repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which had prohibited slavery north of the 36°30' parallel. The Kansas-Nebraska Act led to significant political turmoil and violence in the Kansas Territory, known as "Bleeding Kansas," as pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers clashed over the issue of slavery in the region. This act was a crucial step towards the intensification of tensions between the North and the South that ultimately contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War.