Table of Contents

1. "An Eclipse of the Sun": The Kansas-Nebraska Act in Historical Perspective John R. Wunder and Joann M. Ross (University of Nebraska, Lincoln) 2. The Kansas-Nebraska Act in American Political Culture: The Road to Bladensburg and the Appeal of the Independent Democrats Mark E. Neely, Jr. (Pennsylvania State University) 3. Nebraska and Kansas Territories in American Legal Culture: Territorial Statutory Context Brenden Rensink (University of Nebraska, Lincoln) 4. Stephen A. Douglas and the Kansas Act James A. Rawley (University of Nebraska, Lincoln) 5. Lincoln's Firebell: The Kansas-Nebraska Act Phillip S. Paludan (University of Illinois, Springfield) 6. Frederick Douglass and the Kansas-Nebraska Act: From Reformer to Revolutionary Tekla Ali Johnson (North Carolina A&T University) 7. Unpopular Sovereignty: African-American Resistance and Reactions to the Kansas-Nebraska Act Walter C. Ruker (Ohio State University) 8. Where Popular Sovereignty Worked: Nebraska Territory and the Kansas-Nebraska Act Nicole Etcheson (Ball State University)

Promotional Information

Re-examines the political, social, and personal contexts of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and its effect on the course of American history

About the Author

John R. Wunder is a professor of history and journalism at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He is the author of numerous books, including “Retained by the People”: A History of American Indians and the Bill of Rights, and the coauthor of Americans View Their Dust Bowl Experience. Joann M. Ross has a JD from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She is currently a history instructor at the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts and is a doctoral candidate in the Department of History at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Contributors include: Nicole Etcheson, Tekla Ali Johnson, Mark E. Neely Jr., Phillip S. Paludan, James A. Rawley, Brenden Rensink, Joann M. Ross, Walter C. Rucker, and John R. Wunder.

Reviews

""This is a well-balanced book with innovative essays by outstanding scholars. It might seem specialized, but the essays, deeply researched as they are, are eminently readable. And there is no question about the enormous importance of the topic. Of all the candidates for the moment at which the United States began the steep slide toward Civil War, the Kansas-Nebraska debate of 1854 ranks high.""—Craig Miner, Civil War Book Review|""The Nebraska-Kansas Act of 1854 offers a unique perspective on both the national impact of the bill and the history of the Great Plains.""—Gary L. Cheatham, Great Plains Quarterly