AskHistorians Podcast 072 - Politics and the Kansas-Nebraska Act

Freedmanspatrol discusses the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act, which gave us "Bloody Kansas" and paved the way to the Civil War. The focus is on the political (and geographic) landscape as well as the Washington DC wrangling over the deal. Along the way we also discuss the transcontinental railroad, the Second Party System of the Whigs and Democrats, and the ambitions of Stephen Douglas and men of the F Street Mess. (77min) Read more from our guest at the blog Freedmen's Patrol: Exploring the Civil War Era. Join the discussion!