An eclipse of the sun / John R. Wunder and Joann M. Ross -- The Kansas-Nebraska Act in American political culture / Mark E. Neely, Jr. -- Nebraska and Kansas territories in American legal culture / Brenden Rensink -- Stephen A. Douglas and the Kansas-Nebraska Act / James A. Rawley -- Lincoln's firebell / Phillip S. Paludan -- Frederick Douglass and the Kansas-Nebraska Act / Tekla Ali Johnson -- Unpopular sovereignty / Walter C. Rucker -- Where popular sovereignty worked / Nicole Etcheson
Summary
The Nebraska-Kansas Act of 1854 turns upside down the traditional way of thinking about one of the most important laws ever passed in American history. The act that created Nebraska and Kansas also, in effect, abolished the Missouri Compromise, which had prohibited slavery in the region since 1820. This bow to local control outraged the nation and led to vicious confrontations, including Kansas?s subsequent mini-civil war. The essays in this volume shift the focus from the violent and influential reaction of?Bleeding Kansas? to the role that Nebraska played in this decisive moment
