Answer:
Stephen Douglas' proposed Kansas-Nebraska Act might allow slavery in Kansas and Nebraska, and would promote construction of a transcontinental rail line along a southern route.
Explanation:
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was a law passed in the United States in 1854 that allowed the Kansas and Nebraska territories to enter the Union as states. The bill, initiated by Stephen Douglas, a pro-slavery Democratic Party, was approved with the support of President Franklin Pierce. The change opened the Kansas and Nebraska areas to settlers and allowed the construction of railways in the area. At the same time, the attitude of the new territories to slavery was left to the people of the area to decide, which overturned the former Missouri Compromise of 1820.
The decision to submit the issue of slavery to the people of the area eventually became fatal. When opponents and supporters of slavery rushed to the area only to vote on slavery, the situation became violent. Armed groups assembled by slavery supporters and opponents terrorized the area for four months before federal troops arrived in the area.
Politically, the law was a huge loss for Douglas and President Franklin Pierce, who supported him. Abraham Lincoln, the future president of the United States, who opposed slavery, was successful in using the law to his advantage.
