AN ACT TO ORGANIZE THE TERRITORIES OF NEBRASKA AND KANSAS In the Senate of the United States, July 21, 1854 Resolved that twenty thousand copies of the Kansas and Nebraska Act, certified by the Secretary of State, be printed in pamphlet form for the use of the Senate

Hunter, W. ; Chief Clerk

Published by Government Printing Office, Washington, 1854

About this Item

33d Congress, 1st Session, Senate Mis. Doc. 72; 16 pages; Clean and complete in original self wrappers, stitched at left fold; small faint stain at lower outer corner of first two leaves; foredge curled on a few leaves (unevenly opened); two one word pencil notations in margin "veto" (p. 4) and "Kansas" (p. 8). A very nice example of this uncommon document. OCLC 78611368 OCLC 63889609 End of the document reads: "State Department, Washington, July 22, 1854. / A true copy, carefully collated with the original roll - W. Hunter, Chief Clerk." The Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) repealed the Missouri Compromise, which had outlawed slavery above the 36 30' latitude in the Louisiana territories and reopened the national struggle over slavery in the western territories. In January 1854, Senator Stephen Douglas introduced a bill that divided the land west of Missouri into two territories, Kansas and Nebraska. He argued for popular sovereignty, which would allow the settlers of the new territories to decide if slavery would be legal there. Antislavery supporters were outraged because, under the terms of the Missouri Compromise of 1820, slavery would have been outlawed in both territories. Chronology: March 3, 1854 Passed in Senate; May 22, 1854 Debated, amended and passed in House; May 25, 1854 Senate passed Kansas-Nebraska Act (35-13); and finally May 30, 1854 President Franklin Pierce signs it into law. Official publication in Statutes At Large Volume 10: Public Acts of the Thirty-Third Congress of the United States. Session I. Chapter LIX, pp. 277-290 -- An Act to Organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas. This is the separate printing of the individual act authorized for distribution to the U.S. Senate. Pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers rushed to Kansas, each side hoping to determine the results of the first election held after the law went into effect. The conflict turned violent, aggravating the split between North and South until reconciliation was virtually impossible. This first separate publication. Opponents of the Kansas-Nebraska Act helped found the Republican Party, which opposed the spread of slavery into the territories. As a result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the United States moved closer to Civil War.

Seller Inventory # 42959

Bibliographic Details

• Title: AN ACT TO ORGANIZE THE TERRITORIES OF NEBRASKA AND KANSAS In the Senate of the United States, July 21, 1854 Resolved that twenty thousand copies of the Kansas and Nebraska Act, certified by the Secretary of State, be printed in pamphlet form for the use of the Senate
• Publisher: Government Printing Office, Washington
• Publication Date: 1854
• Binding: Pamphlet
• Edition: First Edition Thus.
• Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Americana and American History
  • Law and Legal History
  • African American Studies
  • 19th Century
  • Political Science