36 Nebraskaland • May 2025
hat did the founders of the Republican Party
call themselves before they called themselves
Republicans? "Anti-Nebraska Men."
The early GOP had nothing against Nebraska
as a place. What they opposed was a certain feature
of the law organizing the territory. The Kansas-
Nebraska Act of 1854 sparked a huge national
controversy and was one of the main events leading
to the Civil War. It is a story of railroads, Native
Americans, backroom politics and slavery.
In the early 1850s, the only states west of Iowa
were Texas (1845) and California (1850). Maps
showed most of the Great Plains as a vast area
ABOVE: This skylight window, formerly in the U.S.
Capitol, shows the Nebraska Territory's offi cial seal.
"Popular Sovereignty" was a controversial phrase in
the context of the times. NSHS 7434-1
RIGHT: Nebraska and Kansas as they appeared in
1856. Early maps often spelled Kansas with a "z."
NSHS M78 1856 C72
By David L. Bristow,
Nebraska State Historical Society
W
Did
Nebraska
Start the
Civil War?
