Douglas proposed that the people within each new territory should decide the slavery question for themselves without regard to the rest of the country, known as Popular Sovereignty.
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He called it Popular Sovereignty, and it sounded quite reasonable. But the first time it was tried (in Kansas), it encouraged armed raiders to invade the state and intimidate voters. By the way, Stephen Douglas is not double 's'.
popular sovereignty
Stephan A. Douglas , Democrat, was probably the most flexible on the slavery question. He proposed popular sovereignty -- letting the people of a state or territory decide by an election whether of not to allow slavery in their state.
Abraham Lincoln
Stephen Douglas proposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act that opened lands for settlement. He believed that if the government allowed the white settlers in those states to decide through popular sovereignty whether they want to be slave state or free would end the debates.