Page "Kansas–Nebraska Act" Paragraph 9

Iowa Sen. Augustus C. Dodge immediately reintroduced the same legislation to organize Nebraska that had stalled in the previous session ; it was referred to Douglas ’ s committee on December 14.

Douglas, hoping to achieve the support of the Southerners, publicly announced that the same principle that had been established in the Compromise of 1850 should apply in Nebraska.

In the Compromise of 1850, Utah and New Mexico Territory had been organized without any restrictions on slavery, and many supporters of Douglas argued that this compromise had already superseded the Missouri Compromise.

These territories, however, unlike Nebraska, had not been part of the Louisiana Purchase and had never been subject to the Missouri Compromise.