You can mark you interesting snippets of text that will be available through a unique link in your browser.


popular sovereignty

Translation
popular sovereignty
1. the doctrine that sovereign power is vested in the people and that those chosen to govern, as trustees of such power, must exercise it in conformity with the general will.
2. Amer. Hist. (before the Civil War) a doctrine, held chiefly by the opponents of the abolitionists, that the people living in a territory should be free of federal interference in determining domestic policy, esp. with respect to slavery.
[1840-50, Amer.]

* * *

Political doctrine that allowed the settlers of U.S. federal territories to decide whether to enter the Union as free or slave states.

It was applied by Sen. Stephen A. Douglas as a means to reach a compromise through passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Critics of the doctrine called it "squatter sovereignty." The resulting violence between pro-and antislavery factions (see Bleeding Kansas) showed its failure as a workable compromise. See also Dred Scott decision.

* * *

▪ political doctrine
also called  Squatter Sovereignty,  

      in U.S. history, a controversial political doctrine that 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its most crucial application came with the passage of Senator Stephen A. Douglas' Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which repealed the prohibition of slavery north of latitude 36°30′ (established in the Missouri Compromise of 1820 (Missouri Compromise)). The violent struggle that followed for control of the Kansas Territory (see Bleeding Kansas) illustrated the failure of popular sovereignty as a possible ground for agreement between proslavery and antislavery factions in the country. See also Dred Scott decision.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

  
Share  

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Popular sovereignty — or the sovereignty of the people is the political principle that the legitimacy of the state is created and sustained by the will or consent of its people, who are the source of all political power. It is closely associated with Republicanism and …   Wikipedia

  • popular sovereignty — noun Date: 1848 1. a doctrine in political theory that government is created by and subject to the will of the people 2. a pre Civil War doctrine asserting the right of the people living in a newly organized territory to decide by vote of their… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • popular sovereignty — Юридический термин: народный суверенитет …   Универсальный англо-русский словарь

  • Popular Republican Movement — Mouvement Républicain Populaire President Maurice Schumann (1944 49) Jean Lecanuet (1963 65) …   Wikipedia

  • Popular sovereignty in the United States — The American Revolution marked a departure in the concept of popular sovereignty as it had been discussed and employed in the European historical context. With their Revolution, Americans substituted the sovereignty in the person of the English… …   Wikipedia

  • sovereignty — /sov rin tee, suv /, n., pl. sovereignties. 1. the quality or state of being sovereign. 2. the status, dominion, power, or authority of a sovereign; royalty. 3. supreme and independent power or authority in government as possessed or claimed by a …   Universalium

  • Popular Front of Moldova — For the political movement formed at the end of the 1960 s, see National Patriotic Front. The Popular Front of Moldova (Romanian: Frontul Popular din Moldova) was a political movement in the Moldavian SSR, one of the 15 union republics of the… …   Wikipedia

  • Sovereignty — Sovereign redirects here. For other uses, see Sovereign (disambiguation). The frontispiece of Thomas Hobbes Leviathan, depicting the Sovereign as a massive body wielding a sword and crozier and composed of many individual people. Sovereignty is… …   Wikipedia

  • Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico — Infobox American Political Party party name = Popular Democratic Party party articletitle = Republican Party (United States) party chairman = Anibal Acevedo Vila senateleader = José Luis Dalmau houseleader = Héctor Ferrer foundation = June 22,… …   Wikipedia

  • Sovereignty of the Falkland Islands — The sovereignty of the Falkland Islands ( Islas Malvinas in Spanish) [http://www.wordreference.com/es/translation.asp?tranword=Falklands B10=Buscar dict=enes] WordReference, English Spanish Dictionary. Falklands: the Falklands, las (islas)… …   Wikipedia