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Kansas-Nebraska Act

The establishment of the Kansas and Nebraska territories has recently transpired, via a bill which became law early this week. Until late, the area of vast plains and quaint rivers to the west of Iowa and Missouri had been unsettled. It is not the settling of the land, however, which is in controversy. The act is unavoidably bound to the expansion of slavery into the territories. To further complicate the matter, conflict has arisen over the location of the projected transcontinental railroad. Steven A. Douglas, democratic, yearns not only for the organization of the territories, but also for a binding railroad to connect the expanded United States. These two actions are interrelated, for the reason that the railroad is contingent upon settlement of the territories. Earlier, Douglas had agreed to back a bill invalidating the Missouri Compromise line. Speculation on the motives beh...

Posted by: Rheannon Androckitis

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