He believed that the right of African Americans to vote was a matter for states to decide.
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Stephen Douglas believed in the principle of popular sovereignty, which allowed settlers of a territory to decide whether or not to allow slavery. He was a prominent politician and the Democratic Party nominee for President in 1860. Douglas was known for his role in the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise and sparked further tensions over the issue of slavery.
Stephen Douglas supported popular sovereignity, also called squatter sovereignity, which stated that each territory had the right to determine if they would accept slavery or not.
Stephen Douglas believed in the doctrine of popular sovereignty, which allowed residents of new territories to decide for themselves whether they wanted to allow slavery. He was a key figure in promoting this idea during the tumultuous time leading up to the Civil War in the United States.
Stephen Douglas was pro-slavery in the sense that he believed in popular sovereignty, allowing new territories to decide for themselves whether to allow slavery or not. He was not necessarily advocating for slavery but believed that the decision should be left to each individual state or territory.
Stephen Douglas proposed the idea of popular sovereignty, which allowed residents in each territory to vote on whether or not to allow slavery. He believed this approach would prevent the federal government from imposing its views on the territories and let the residents decide for themselves.
If Stephen Douglas believed in popular sovereignty, he would have supported allowing individual states and territories to decide for themselves whether to permit slavery. This stance was a key aspect of his political platform during his debates with Abraham Lincoln over the expansion of slavery in the United States. Douglas's belief in popular sovereignty was based on the principle of self-determination and state rights.