Popular Sovereignty Research Paper

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Under popular sovereignty states can become too powerful and can become too divided. For example, if popular sovereignty was in place and two neighboring states disagreed on a crucial topic, such as slavery, conflict could break out. The Kansas-Nebraska Act shows this situation clearly. “Bleeding Kansas” was the result of abolitionists who went to Kansas to support a vote against slavery while the supporters of slavery from Missouri came to vote even though they didn’t live there. This all led to extreme violence. Another case of popular sovereignty not working can be seen when two separate states have laws that contradict each other. An example of this is the Fugitive Slave Law that resulted from the Compromise of 1850, which required all

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