This point has been
elaborated by Allen Johnson in his study of Douglas ("Stephen A.
Douglas: a Study in American Politics"). In his "Repeal of the
Missouri Compromise", P.O. Ray contends that the legislation of
1854 originated in a factional controversy in Missouri, and that
Douglas merely served the interests of the proslavery group led
by Senator David R. Atchinson of Missouri. Still another point
of view is that presented in the "Genesis of the Kansas-Nebraska
Act," by F. H. Hodder, who would explain not only the division of
the Nebraska Territory into Kansas and Nebraska, but the object
of the entire bill by the insistent efforts of promoters of the
Pacific railroad scheme to secure a right of way through
Nebraska. This project involved the organization of a
territorial government and the repeal of the Missouri Compromise.
Douglas was deeply interested in the western railroad interests
and carried through the necessary legislation.
CHAPTER II. THE PARTY OF POLITICAL EVASION
In order to understand Douglas one must understand the Democratic
party of 1854 in which Douglas was a conspicuous leader. The
Democrats boasted that they were the only really national party
and contended that their rivals, the Whigs and the Know-Nothings,
were merely the representatives of localities or classes.
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