USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -popular sovereignty, also called squatter 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.

Detailed explanation-2: -The idea of popular sovereignty as it pertains to the extension of slavery to the territories in the antebellum era was a political concept that allowed the residents of the territories themselves, rather than Congress, to determine whether to permit or prohibit slavery.

Detailed explanation-3: -Popular sovereignty is government based on consent of the people. The government’s source of authority is the people, and its power is not legitimate if it disregards the will of the people. Government established by free choice of the people is expected to serve the people, who have sovereignty, or supreme power.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Democratic standard bearer, Lewis Cass of Michigan, coined the term “popular sovereignty” for a new solution that had begun to emerge. The premise was simple. Let the people of the territories themselves decide whether slavery would be permitted.

Detailed explanation-5: -Popular sovereignty was put to the test by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. The residents of each territory were to determine the status of enslavement in their territory.