The Kansas-Nebraska Act becomes law: Kansas is divided into two territories, Kansas to the south and Nebraska to the north. The latter is soon invaded by Northern freesoilers, who will soon also reach southern Kansas, which the Act intended to reserve for Southern settlers and their slaves. This will create further friction between Northerners and Southerners, resulting in full-blown clashes in Kansas at Lawrence, Pottawatomie, Black Jack, and Ossawatomie. The Union begins to slide toward the abyss of civil war.
