ID: Popular Sovereignty (Antebellum)
When: 1840s-1860s
Who:
- Advocates: Abraham Lincoln, Stephen Douglas, Northern Whigs and Republicans
- Opponents: Southern Democrats, Pro-Slavery advocates
What:
Popular sovereignty was the idea that residents of a territory should decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery. It was championed as a compromise solution to the escalating conflict over slavery’s expansion. This concept was put into practice through the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854.
Impact:
- Fueling the Civil War: Popular sovereignty failed to resolve the issue of slavery’s expansion. Instead, it led to violence and bloodshed in Kansas (Bleeding Kansas), as pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces clashed. This conflict further divided the nation and contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War.
- Rise of the Republican Party: The Kansas-Nebraska Act and the resulting turmoil in Kansas led to the formation of the Republican Party, which was opposed to the expansion of slavery. The Republican Party’s rise signaled a shift in American politics and paved the way for the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860.
- Erosion of Compromise: The idea of popular sovereignty, initially seen as a compromise, ultimately proved to be unsustainable. It failed to address the fundamental moral and political questions surrounding slavery, exacerbating tensions between the North and South.