How we cite our quotes: (Section.Sentence)
Quote #1
And Be it further enacted, That the executive power and authority in and over said Territory of Nebraska shall be vested in a Governor who shall hold his office for four years, and until his successor shall be appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed by the President of the United States. (2.1)
Noticeably absent from this document is any mention of the word "she." We're not trying to start a pronoun war or anything, but it totally bites that a "she" wasn't even thrown in as a maybe. Women holding public office? Not today, Kansas and Nebraska.
Quote #2
And be it further enacted, That every free white male inhabitant above the age of twenty-one years who shall be an actual resident of said Territory, and shall possess the qualifications hereinafter prescribed, shall be entitled to vote at the first election, and shall be eligible to any office within the said Territory […] (5.1; 23.1)
Looks like voting and running for office are strictly for the twenty-one-and-over crowd. The free, white, male, legal resident twenty-one-and-over crowd, that is. Sorry, women, Native Americans, African Americans, and all the rest of you who aren't white and/or are too poor to be a legal resident of anywhere.
Quote #3
And Be it further enacted, That the provisions of an act entitled "An act respecting fugitives from justice, and persons escaping from the service of their masters," approved February twelve, seventeen hundred and ninety-three, and the provisions of the act entitled " An act to amend, and supplementary to, the aforesaid act," approved September eighteen, eighteen hundred and fifty, be, and the same are hereby, declared to extend to and be in full force within the limits of said Territory of Nebraska. (10.1)
So even if Nebraska (or Kansas, as lined out in Section 28) decides to vote no on slavery, they still have to help return escaped slaves to their rightful owners, regardless of how they feel about the whole thing. Guess 'popular sovereignty' doesn't overrule federally institutionalized caste-ness. That's right, caste-ness. It's a word now.
Quote #4
[…] it being the true intent and meaning of this act not to legislate slavery into any Territory or State, nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States […] (14.4; 32.4)
This sounds okay on the surface, all democratic and freedom-loving, until we realize that being free to not have slavery also means there's an option of having slavery, which really isn't a "free" thing at all, is it?
And then another d'oh happens when we realize that the Constitution they speak of here didn't yet include crowd-pleasers like the 13th Amendment, 14th Amendment, 15th Amendment, 19th Amendment… You see where we're going here. A lot of groups of people weren't feeling "perfectly free" to do much of anything.
Quote #5
And be it further enacted, That all treaties, laws, and other, engagements made by the government of the United States with the Indian tribes inhabiting the territories embraced within this act, shall be faithfully and rigidly observed, notwithstanding any thing contained in this act; and that the existing agencies and superintendencies of said Indians be continued with the same powers and duties which are now prescribed by law, except that the President of the United States may, at his discretion, change the location of the office of superintendent […] (37.1)
So just in case you guys get any crazy ideas, Kansas and Nebraska, the feds are here to let you know that treaties between said feds and any and all Indian tribes will be obeyed. By you guys. And the Indians. Maybe not by us feds, though. We'll keep you posted.