<P> The Kansas -- Nebraska Act of 1854 ( 10 Stat. 277 ) created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska and was drafted by Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois and President Franklin Pierce . The initial purpose of the Kansas -- Nebraska Act was to open up thousands of new farms and make feasible a Midwestern Transcontinental Railroad . The popular sovereignty clause of the law led pro - and anti-slavery elements to flood into Kansas with the goal of voting slavery up or down , resulting in Bleeding Kansas . </P>
<P> The Kansas -- Nebraska Act of 1854 ( 10 Stat. 277 ) created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska and was drafted by Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois and President Franklin Pierce . The initial purpose of the Kansas -- Nebraska Act was to open up thousands of new farms and make feasible a Midwestern Transcontinental Railroad . The popular sovereignty clause of the law led pro - and anti-slavery elements to flood into Kansas with the goal of voting slavery up or down , resulting in Bleeding Kansas . </P>
why did congress pass the kansas nebraska act
why did congress pass the kansas nebraska act
to open up thousands of new farms and make feasible a Midwestern Transcontinental Railroad
to open up thousands of new farms and make feasible a Midwestern Transcontinental Railroad