USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Stephen A. Douglas (1813-1861) was a U.S. politician, leader of the Democratic Party, and orator who espoused the cause of popular sovereignty in relation to the issue of slavery in the territories before the American Civil War (1861-1865).

Detailed explanation-2: -In 1854, Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, the chief proponent of popular sovereignty.

Detailed explanation-3: -Popular sovereignty served as the core of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and Douglas believed that popular sovereignty was the best way to alleviate the crisis over slavery in the territories.

Detailed explanation-4: -Douglas favored the doctrine of popular sovereignty in the territories, a policy in which settlers themselves-not the federal government, decided the status of slavery.

Detailed explanation-5: -Douglas then undid his own handiwork by promoting the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. Designed to promote expansion into western territories, the act further divided the nation over the issue of slavery, spurred the creation of the modern Republican Party, and hastened the rise of Abraham Lincoln.