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Popular sovereignty

By: Jeffrey Phillips

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Popular sovereignty is a view of the people that their authority is formed when they decide who the source of political power is. The American people also went a step ahead of applying the concept of popular sovereignty as it was applied in the European context. This concept of popular sovereignty had principles that stated that power did not belong to either a single individual or monarch but to the whole people.

Before this revolution people in America believed that decisions where made, decided and implemented by the monarch only. So the revolution gave Americans some freedom that they had been lacking.

By the year 1945 this term popular sovereignty started to gain roots in America. Issues about slavery started to emerge during the Mexican-American war. The term popular sovereignty started being applied as one way of taking care for the interests of the slaves. As the war was coming to an end Americans had acquired land from the Mexicans.

The acquisition of land from the Mexicans raised many questions. It was seen as one way of extending slavery. To resolve this problem became complex and complicated.

It was argued that the issues concerning slavery should involve all states within America. They further said that it’s the people from each state who could determine the destiny of slavery. It was the people of the territories who were left to decide on the expansion of slavery in the United States.

The major causes of the civil war were the differences between the north and south. The north and south became divided mainly because of tariffs, states, rights, and due to slavery. By 1808 the constitution had banned the importation of slaves. And by the 1820 issues arose of allowing Missouri to the union. Missouri had been allowed to enter into the union as a slave state. At this same time Maine had also entered the union as a free state. By this time there was a balance between Free states and slave state within the senate. But from this time onwards slavery was done away with in Missouri.

A debate about Mexican-American war was greatly concerned with doing away with slave trade due to the outcomes of the war. The issue of slavery was to be revisited once more. The braska act facilitated the creation of the Republican Party in 1854; this was a part that greatly opposed slavery. But after realizing that abolishing slavery was not possible, still the issue of extending slavery was considered. The republicans greatly opposed slavery but it never ended.
The supreme courts case in the year 1857 of Dred Scott vs Sanford brought greater differences on the two sides. The issues about the rights of white people and black were under debate which brought rise to more differences. In Kansas matters were worse and attempt to include it in the union failed. Also in 1858 the case of slavery was considered by Lincoln Douglas where he supported the government for trying to prevent the extension of slavery.

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