Under popular sovereignty, the decision whether or not to allow slavery in a territory was made by?

Question

a. Congress.
b. the voters of the territory.
c. the Supreme Court.
d. the President.

Answer 1

B.

Assuming you want some explanation or support. . . .

This idea was first suggested by Democratic Presidential candidate Lewis Cass before the 1848 election. In the 1850s Stephen Douglas, the Democratic Senator from Illinois, became its leading proponent. The idea was to solve the federal debate over slavery by taking it OUT of Congress and handing it off to the people of the territory to decide, and to do so on the basis of the appealing notion of the PEOPLE deciding for themselves.

This "doctrine" was most clearly embodied in Douglas's "Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. Unfortunately, it led to efforts from North and South to flood the territory of Kansas with settlers or at least voters (many Missourians did not become Kansas residents, but crossed the border simply to vote for slavery) and soon into violent conflict (known as "Bleeding Kansas").

The Dred Scott decision (1857) disallowed any laws against slavery in a territory. But Douglas (under pressure from Lincoln in their famous debates) tried to salvage the notion in the form of his "Freeport Doctrine". He argued that the people of a territory could effectively keep slavery out, if they should wish to, simply by not voting for the sort of laws needed to protect slavery.

This form of popular sovereignty so incensed many Southerners that they refused to support Douglas, the leading candidate, and his positions in the 1860 Democratic Presidential Convention. A group of them tried to force a platform DEMANDING states and territories fully support slavery in their laws (the "Alabama Platform"). When they lost this fight, they walked out of the convention -- the main group nominated Douglas, the minority nominated their own candidate (Breckenridge). This party split, as expected, handed the election to the Republican candidate, Abraham Lincoln, and set up Southern secession.

Answer 2

b

Answer 3

B