The Kansas-Nebraska Act
popular sovereignty was an unworkable solution for the territories of Kansas and Nebraska
'Popular Sovereignty' was the term coined by Stephen Douglas for a local vote on slavery in each new state as it joined the Union. It was the basis of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which was first tested - disastrously - when Kansas was admitted as free soil. This followed the unsuccessful Compromise of 1850, which did not involve Popular Sovereignty.
The Kansas-Nebraska of 1854 allowed the territories of Kansas and Nebrask to vote on whether to allow slavery, which is what "popular sovereignty" or "squatter sovereignty" meant.
The senator who proposed the concept of popular sovereignty was Stephen A. Douglas. He introduced this idea during the debates over the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, advocating that the settlers of a territory should determine whether to allow slavery or not. This approach aimed to resolve the contentious issue of slavery's expansion in the United States by allowing local decision-making.
Popular sovereignty was used before the Civil War to determine if the state wanted slavery or not. Nebraska and Kansas voted on these issues.
Popular Sovereignty
popular sovereignty
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 called for "popular sovereignty."
Stephan A. Douglas proposed the Kansas Nebraska Act in 1854.
In the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, popular sovereignty was proposed as a way to allow the settlers of new territories to decide for themselves whether to permit slavery. This approach aimed to ease tensions between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions by deferring the contentious issue to local populations instead of Congress. However, this strategy ultimately led to increased conflict and violence, particularly in Kansas, as both sides rushed to influence the outcome.
Kansas-Nebraska Act