thumb|400px|Yhdysvaltain kartta vuodelta 1856. Harmaalla orjuuden hyväksyneet osavaltiot, vaaleanpunaisella orjuuden kieltäneet osavaltiot ja vihreällä Yhdysvaltain territoriot, joista valkoisella on merkitty Kansasin territorio. Kansas-Nebraska Act oli Yhdysvalloissa vuonna 1854 hyväksytty lainmuutos, joka antoi Kansasin ja Nebraskan alueille territorioaseman. Orjuusmyönteisen demokraattipuolueen Stephen Douglasin alulle panema lainmuutos hyväksyttiin presidentti Franklin Piercen tuella. Lainmuutos avasi Kansasin ja Nebraskan alueet uudisasukkaille ja mahdollisti rautateiden rakentamisen alueelle. Samalla uusien territorioiden suhtautuminen orjuuteen annettiin alueen asukkaiden päätettäväksi, mikä kumosi aiemman voimassa olleen Missourin kompromissin vuodelta 1820.
Päätös antaa orjuuskysymys alueen asukkaiden ratkaistavaksi koitui lopulta kohtalokkaaksi. Kun sekä orjuuden vastustajat että kannattajat ryntäsivät alueelle vain äänestääkseen orjuudesta, tilanne muuttui väkivaltaiseksi. Orjuuden kannattajien ja vastustajien kokoamat aseelliset ryhmät terrorisoivat aluetta neljän kuukauden ajan, ennen kuin alueelle saatiin liittovaltion joukkoja.
Poliittisesti laki oli valtava tappio Douglasille ja häntä tukeneella presidentti Franklin Piercelle. Yhdysvaltain tuleva presidentti, orjuutta vastustanut Abraham Lincoln onnistui käyttämään lakia hyvin edukseen.
Lain valmistelu ja hyväksyminen Demokraattipoliitikko Stephen A. Douglas teki Kansas-Nebraska lakiehdotuksen 4. tammikuuta 1854. Lakiehdotuksessa Nebraskan territoriolle olisi myönnetty territorioasema, mikä olisi mahdollistanut koko Amerikan mantereen ylittävän rautatien valmistamisen. Rautatie olisi liittänyt erillään olleet Kalifornian ja Oregonin osavaltiot muuhun Yhdysvaltoihin. Orjuutta kannattaneen etelän kongressiedustajat kuitenkin vastustivat lakiehdotusta: vuonna 1820 hyväksytyn Missourin kompromissin mukaisesti Nebraskan osavaltiossa olisi tällöin kielletty orjien omistaminen. Saadakseen etelän tuen lakiehdotukselleen Douglas muokkasi ehdotustaan niin, että Nebraskan territoriosta irrotettaisiin erillinen Kansasin territorio ja kummankin territorion asukkaat saisivat itse päättää suhtautumisestaan orjuuteen. Kongressiedustajat olettivat, että pohjoisemman Nebraskan asukkaat kieltäisivät orjuuden, kun taas eteläisemmän Kansasin asukkaat sallisivat sen. Tämän ansiosta lakiehdotus sai sekä demokraattien että whiggien tuen. Lakiehdotus hyväksyttiin presidentti Franklin Piercen tuella 3. toukokuuta 1854.
Teksti
Transcript of Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
An Act to Organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all that part of the territory of the United States included within the following limits, except such portions thereof as are hereinafter expressly exempted from the operations of this act, to wit: beginning at a point in the Missouri River where the fortieth parallel of north latitude crosses the same; then west on said parallel to the east boundary of the Territory of Utah, the summit of the Rocky Mountains; thence on said summit northwest to the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude; thence east on said parallel to the western boundary of the territory of Minnesota; thence southward on said boundary to the Missouri River; thence down the main channel of said river to the place of beginning, be, and the same is hereby, created into a temporary government by the name of the Territory Nebraska; and when admitted as a State or States, the said Territory or any portion of the same, shall be received into the Union with without slavery, as their constitution may prescribe at the time of the admission: Provided, That nothing in this act contained shall be construed to inhibit the government of the United States from dividing said Territory into two or more Territories, in such manner and at such tin as Congress shall deem convenient and proper, or from attaching a portion of said Territory to any other State or Territory of the United States: Provided further, That nothing in this act contained shall construed to impair the rights of person or property now pertaining the Indians in said Territory' so long as such rights shall remain unextinguished by treaty between the United States and such Indians, or include any territory which, by treaty with any Indian tribe, is not, without the consent of said tribe, to be included within the territorial line or jurisdiction of any State or Territory; but all such territory shall excepted out of the boundaries, and constitute no part of the Territory of Nebraska, until said tribe shall signify their assent to the President of the United States to be included within the said Territory of Nebraska. or to affect the authority of the government of the United States make any regulations respecting such Indians, their lands, property, or other rights, by treaty, law, or otherwise, which it would have been competent to the government to make if this act had never passed.
SEC. 2. And Be it further enacted, That the executive power and authority in and over said Territory of Nebraska shall be vested in a Governor who shall hold his office for four years, and until his successor shall be appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed by the President of the United States. The Governor shall reside within said Territory, and shall be commander-in-chief of the militia thereof. He may grant pardons and respites for offences against the laws of said Territory, and reprieves for offences against the laws of the United States, until the decision of the President can be made known thereon; he shall commission all officers who shall be appointed to office under the laws of the aid Territory, and shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.
SEC. 3. And Be it further enacted, That there shall be a Secretary of said Territory, who shall reside therein, and hold his office for five years, unless sooner removed by the President of the United States; he shall record and preserve all the laws and proceedings of the Legislative Assembly hereinafter constituted, and all the acts and proceedings of the Governor in his executive department; he shall transmit one copy of the laws and journals of the Legislative Assembly within thirty days after the end of each session, and one copy of the executive proceedings and official correspondence semi-annually, on the first days of January and July in each year to the President of the United States, and two copies of the laws to the President of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to be deposited in the libraries of Congress, and in or case of the death, removal, resignation, or absence of the Governor from the Territory, the Secretary shall be, and he is hereby, authorized and required to execute and perform all the powers and duties of the Governor during such vacancy or absence, or until another Governor shall be duly appointed and qualified to fill such vacancy.
SEC 4. And be it further enacted, That the legislative power and authority of said Territory shall be vested in the Governor and a Legislative Assembly. The Legislative Assembly shall consist of a Council and House of Representatives. The Council shall consist of thirteen members, having the qualifications of voters, as hereinafter prescribed, whose term of service shall continue two years. The House of Representatives shall, at its first session, consist of twenty-six members, possessing the same qualifications as prescribed for members of the Council, and whose term of service shall continue one year. The number of representatives may be increased by the Legislative Assembly, from time to time, in proportion to the increase of qualified voters: Provided, That the whole number shall never exceed thirty-nine. An apportionment shall be made, as nearly equal as practicable, among the several counties or districts, for the election of the council and representatives, giving to each section of the Territory representation in the ratio of its qualified voters as nearly as may be. And the members of the Council and of the House of Representatives shall reside in, and be inhabitants of, the district or county, or counties for which they may be elected, respectively. Previous to the first election, the Governor shall cause a census, or enumeration of the inhabitants and qualified voters of the several counties and districts of the Territory, to be taken by such persons and in such mode as the Governor shall designate and appoint; and the persons so appointed shall receive a reasonable compensation therefor. And the first election shall be held at such time and places, and be conducted in such manner, both as to the persons who shall superintend such election and the returns thereof, as the Governor shall appoint and direct; and he shall at the same time declare the number of members of the Council and House of Representatives to which each of the counties or districts shall be entitled under this act. The persons having the highest number of legal votes in each of said council districts for members of the Council, shall be declared by the Governor to be duly elected to the Council; and the persons having the highest number of legal votes for the House of Representatives, shall be declared by the Governor to be duly elected members of said house: Provided, That in case two or more persons voted for shall have an equal number of votes, and in case a vacancy shall otherwise occur in either branch of the Legislative Assembly, the Governor shall order a new election; and the persons thus elected to the Legislative Assembly shall meet at such place and on such day as the Governor shall appoint; but thereafter, the time, place, and manner of holding and conducting all elections by the people, and the apportioning the representation in the several counties or districts to the Council and House of Representatives, according to the number of qualified voters, shall be prescribed by law, as well as the day of the commencement of the regular sessions of the Legislative Assembly: Provided, That no session in any one year shall exceed the term of forty days, except the first session, which may continue sixty days.
SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That every free white male inhabitant above the age of twenty-one years who shall be an actual resident of said Territory, and shall possess the qualifications hereinafter prescribed, shall be entitled to vote at the first election, and shall be eligible to any office within the said Territory; but the qualifications of voters, and of holding office, at all subsequent elections, shall be such as shall be prescribed by the Legislative Assembly: Provided, That the right of suffrage and of holding office shall be exercised only by citizens of the United States and those who shall have declared on oath their intention to become such, and shall have taken an oath to support the Constitution of the United States and the provisions of this act: And provided further, That no officer, soldier, seaman, or marine, or other person in the army or navy of the United States, or attached to troops in the service of the United States, shall be allowed to vote or hold office in said Territory, by reason of being on service therein.