Why was the kansas nebraska act important?

In 1854, Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which organized the remaining territory acquired in the Louisiana Purchase so that such territories could be admitted to the Union as states. Probably the most important result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act was its language concerning the contentious issue of slavery. read more

Kansas was admitted as a free state in January 1861 only weeks after eight Southern states seceded from the union. On January 4, 1854, Stephen A. Douglas, wanting to ensure a northern transcontinental railroad route that would benefit his Illinois constituents, introduced a bill to organize the territory of Nebraska in order to bring the area under civil control. read more

The Kansas-Nebraska Act, which in 1859 was overturned by the US Supreme Court, was important because it was a method by which people in the territories could vote on whether their future states would be slave or free ones. read more