How did the Kansas-Nebrasksa Act contribute to tension between the North and the South?

The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 intensified tensions between the North and South by allowing the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether to allow slavery through popular sovereignty. This effectively repealed the Missouri Compromise, which had previously maintained a balance between slave and free states. The act led to violent conflicts, known as "Bleeding Kansas," as pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers rushed into the territories to influence the outcome. Consequently, it deepened the sectional divide and set the stage for the Civil War.