Stephen A Douglass Impact On Freedom Essay

Stephen A. Douglas’s Impact on Freedom Stephen A. Douglas had a major impact on freedom. He was a prominent political figure in American politics in the mid-1800s. He played a significant role in shaping the landscape of politics. He had a major impact on slavery, territorial expansion, sectionalism, and the civil war. He was from Illinois and served as a senator in Illinois. Douglas was also a strong proponent of popular sovereignty. His impact on freedom stemmed from several compromises he was involved with. He grew up in poverty and lived a complicated life. Douglas earned the nickname “Little Giant” from his actions and character. He asserted himself and earned his spot in history, despite the controversy created by his views. To understand

Douglas’s impact on freedom through compromises had a controversial and complex effect on the United States at the time. He was involved in many compromises, one of the most significant being the Compromise of 1850. This compromise was intended to de-escalate tensions between the North and South at the time. The main conflict the compromise set out to settle was slavery. The Compromise of 1850 allowed California to enter the Union as a free state, allowed territories such as New Mexico and Utah to decide to allow slavery through popular sovereignty, and included the Fugitive Slave Act. The Fugitive Slave Act required citizens to assist in the capturing of escaped slaves and return them to their “owners.” The excerpt from The Journal of Supreme Court History titled “Lincoln and the Constitution: A Unionist for the Sake of Liberty” sheds a bit of light on many compromises and stances that Stephen A. Douglas takes in his political career. For Southerners, the journal states, “liberty meant the right of a slaveholder to deprive a black man of his freedom simply on the basis of race” (Morel 213). The definition of liberty is “the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views.” Douglas’s approach to solve the conflict, as mentioned before, was popular sovereignty which would allow the people of the states to vote on whether slavery would be allowed or not. Douglas aimed to keep the Southerner's “liberty” intact and avoid a civil war from breaking out. The Compromise of 1850 was very controversial. Douglas was credited with drafting and negotiating this compromise. This compromise directly impacted freedom, as it maintained the Southerner's “liberty” of keeping slavery but also prevented the freedom of African–American