Kansas-Nebraska Act: Slavery Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Section.Sentence)

Quote #4

That the Constitution, and all Laws of the United States which are not locally inapplicable, shall have the same force and effect within the said Territory of Kansas as elsewhere within the United States, except the eighth section of the act preparatory to the admission of Missouri into the Union, approved March sixth, eighteen hundred and twenty, which, being inconsistent with the principle of non-intervention by Congress with slavery in the States and Territories, as recognized by the legislation of eighteen hundred and fifty, commonly called the Compromise Measures, is hereby declared inoperative and void […] (32.4)

And here it is, folks, the bomb-drop that repeals the Missouri Compromise in the Territory of Kansas. Same thing happens to Nebraska Territory in Section 14.

Quote #5

[…] it being the true intent and meaning of this act not to legislate slavery into any Territory or State, nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to revive or put in force any law or regulation which may have existed prior to the act of sixth March, eighteen hundred and twenty, either protecting, establishing, prohibiting, or abolishing slavery. (14.4; 32.4)

We're not just repealing the Missouri Compromise, here, folks. We're also saying that the people in each new State or Territory get to decide for themselves whether slavery is in or out. The only requirement as far as we the federal government are concerned is that whatever happens, it's constitutional. P.S. Don't just put old pre-Missouri Compromise laws back into effect. Everything's gotta be new.