Title: Kansas-Nebraska Act Letter

Date/Date Range :   1854 April 16

Extent: 0.1 linear feet

Abstract:

This collection consists of one letter dated April 16, 1854 addressed to "Sir" from an unknown Senator discussing the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Call number: MS-2178

Repository: University of Tennessee Special Collections Library, Knoxville, TN

Aquisition Information:

This collection was donated to the Special Collections Library.

Access Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Copyright:

The copyright interests in this collection remain with the creator. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library.

Preferred Citation:

[Identification of Item], Kansas-Nebraska Act Letter, MS-2178. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Special Collections Library.

Collection consists of a single folder.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 represented a dramatic change in the mechanisms designed to maintain the balance of power between free and slave states in 19th century American government. The Missouri Compromise had seemingly settled the issue in 1820 by declaring that all states formed from lands acquired in the Louisiana Purchase lying south of 36°30' N would allow slavery, while those north would not. The exception was to be Missouri itself. After this legislation was enacted, states were admitted to the Union in pairs of one northern and one southern state in order to maintain an equal number of free and slave states.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) effectively shattered this uneasy truce. Introduced by Senator Stephen A. Douglas (D-IL), this act had two major effects: it divided Nebraska Territory into two states (Kansas and Nebraska) and declared that these new states would decide whether or not to allow slavery by means of a popular vote when they joined the Union. Known as "popular sovereignty" to its supporters and "squatter sovereignty" to its detractors, this legislation made it possible for free states to outnumber slave states, or vice versa, in the American government, thus upsetting the delicate balance of power that had been established in 1820 and triggering a major realignment of the leading political parties. It also led to a violent reopening of the "slavery question" among the people living in the territories in a series of events now known as "Bleeding Kansas."

This collection consists of one letter and transcription dated April 16, 1854 discussing the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Addressed to "Sir," it was written by an unidentified senator who was opposed to the legislation. The writer states that he had helped to defeat the bill in the preceding session because "there was no necessity for the organization of a territory west of Missouri -- there being no white settlers -- and it would be a gross of the faith of the government pledged to the emigrant Indian Tribes." Indeed, he feels that the Kansas-Nebraska Act was originally introduced because various senators (and especially Douglas) wished to strengthen existing alliances with Southern Democrats and to test the "Softs" of New York, who the writer felt had received the bulk of the Pierce Administration's patronage. The writer also provides a brief history of the political events leading up to the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

• Slavery -- United States -- Extension to the territories.
• Kansas -- History -- 1854-1861.