Senator Stephen A. Douglas

Definition

Senator Stephen A. Douglas was a prominent American politician in the mid-19th century who played a significant role in shaping the events leading up to the Civil War. He is best known for introducing popular sovereignty as a principle in the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Related terms

Popular Sovereignty: The concept that allows residents of a territory to decide whether they want to permit or ban slavery through voting.

Kansas-Nebraska Act: An 1854 law proposed by Senator Stephen A. Douglas, which allowed settlers in Kansas and Nebraska territories to determine whether they would allow slavery within their borders based on popular sovereignty.

Missouri Compromise: An 1820 agreement that maintained the balance between slave states and free states by admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state while banning slavery north of latitude 36°30' in future territories.