The Gadsden Purchase of 1853
The Gadsden Purchase was made in 1853-1854 and was an agreement made between the US and Mexico. The US had agreed to pay $10 million dollars for the area south of the Gila Mexico that would later become New Mexico and Arizona. It was mainly done to build a southern transcontinental railroad and resolve conflicts that lingered after the Mexican-American War. This only delayed the Civil War.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act 1854
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was made on May 30, 1854 and allowed Kansas and Nebraska to choose whether or not they will be a slave or a free state. This repealed the long ruling Compromise of 1820 which prohibited slavery past the latitude of 36’39’ rule. Although the government was hesitant about it, espically with their cautious views of Popular Sovereighnty. Though it still went on resulting to be the basis for the Bloody Kansas incident and the Brooks-Sumner Affair.