How did Northerners feel about Douglas pro posal?

Northerners were generally divided in their response to Stephen A. Douglas's proposal for the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which allowed for popular sovereignty to determine the status of slavery in those territories. Many anti-slavery advocates viewed the proposal as a betrayal of the Missouri Compromise and a threat to the balance between free and slave states. However, some Democrats supported Douglas's vision of westward expansion and believed it could promote economic growth. Overall, the proposal intensified sectional tensions and contributed to the rise of the Republican Party.