DOUGLAS, STEPHEN ARNOLD
Stephen Arnold Douglas achieved prominence as a U.S. senator and as the originator of the
policy known as Popular Sovereignty. He was born on April 23, 1813, in Brandon, Vermont.
He pursued legal studies and was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1834.
In 1843 Douglas entered the legislative branch of the federal government as a member
of the U.S. House of Representatives. Four years later, he was elected to the U.S. Senate and served until 1861.
During his lengthy tenure as senator from
Illinois, Douglas became an outspoken leader in
the SLAVERY controversy, and his many debates
and innovative policies earned him the name
“Little Giant.” He was presiding officer of the
Committee on Territories, a forum for the dis-
cussion of whether slavery should be allowed in
the new territories.
Douglas was instrumental in the formula-
tion of the bills which constituted that section
of the COMPROMISE OF 1850 that allowed the
residents of Utah and New Mexico to decide
whether or not their states would institute slav-
ery. This freedom of choice became known as
the policy of Popular Sovereignty. Four years
later, Douglas again attempted to apply this pol-
icy to the slavery issue involved in the admission
of Kansas and Nebraska to the Union. The plan
was not successful, however, for the proslavery
and antislavery forces in Kansas clashed in a vio-
lent action. Two separate governments were
established, the Lecompton, or proslavery, fac-
tion and the abolitionist faction. Douglas vehe-
mently opposed the Lecompton Constitution,
and criticized President James Buchanan’s sup-
port of such a measure. After much violence and
debate, Kansas was admitted as a free state.
