Popular sovereignty in the United States

Popular sovereignty was a political doctrine in the United States that held that the people who lived in a state or region should decide the kind of government or laws that they should have.[1] Popular sovereignty allowed settlers of a territory to decide for themselves on the question of slavery without any interference from the federal government.[2] During 19th century, it was a compromise that was used to determine if a western territory or new state would accept or reject slavery within its borders.[3]

It was first promoted in the 1840s. Senator Stephen A. Douglas, one of the sponsors of the Kansas–Nebraska Act inserted it in the new law as a measure to balance slave states and free states.

However, Representative Abraham Lincoln was one of those who did not agree.[2] He thought Congress should regulate federal territories and ban slavery there.[2] The act was passed, but popular sovereignty proved to have deadly consequences.[3] When Kansas was being considered for statehood, there was a rush by both people who were for and against slavery to go to Kansas and vote on the issue of slavery.[3] That resulted in a great deal of fraud and violence in Kansas Territory[3] and led directly to Bleeding Kansas, the bloody border war over slavery.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Popular Sovereignty". u-s-history.com. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Lesson 3: The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854: Popular Sovereignty and the Political Polarization over Slavery". National Endowment for the Humanities. Archived from the original on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Zach Garrison. "Popular Sovereignty". Civil War on the Western Border. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
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