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. Popular sovereignty allowed settlers of a territory to decide for themselves on the question of slavery without any interference from the federal government. 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. 

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. He thought Congress should regulate federal territories and ban slavery there. The act was passed, but popular sovereignty proved to have deadly consequences. 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. That resulted in a great deal of fraud and violence in Kansas Territory and led directly to Bleeding Kansas, the bloody border war over slavery.

 References 

Category:19th century in the United States
Category:Bleeding Kansas
Category:Origins of the American Civil War
Category:United States law