popular sovereignty

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popular sovereignty; U.S. presidential election of 1856

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popular sovereignty

historical United States political doctrine

Also known as: squatter sovereignty

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Mar 7, 2024 • Article History

popular sovereignty; U.S. presidential election of 1856

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Category: Geography & Travel

Also called:: squatter sovereignty

Related Topics:: United States; U.S. state; slavery in the United States

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popular sovereignty, in U.S. history, a controversial political doctrine according to which the people of federal territories should decide for themselves whether their territories would enter the Union as free or slave states. Its enemies, especially in New England, called it “squatter sovereignty.” It was first applied in organizing the Utah and New Mexico territories in 1850. Its most crucial application came with the passage of U.S. Sen. Stephen A. Douglas’s Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which repealed the prohibition of slavery north of latitude 36°30′ (established in the Missouri Compromise of 1820). The violent struggle that followed for control of ...(100 of 131 words)

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