STEPHEN DOUGLAS’ POLICY OF

ABOLISHMENT OF SLAVERY
Oct 26th, 2022
POLITICIANS

Stephen Douglas was an American politician who became famous for being a broker of
the Compromise of 1850. He advocated for popular sovereignty, stating that specific
territories should be provided with the freedom to determine whether slavery should be
permitted within their borders. Douglas was a western politician, and he made a claim
when the country could not find a consensus regarding slavery issues, which became
known as the sectional crisis (Locke and Wright, 344). The controversies referred to the
fact that different opinions regarding slavery existed in America. Enslaved workers were
essential for the American economy, while these individuals were not satisfied with their
living and working conditions, which made them resist the existing state of affairs. One
can suggest that Stephen Douglas contributed to the complete abolishment of slavery
that occurred in 1865 because popular sovereignty allowed to ban of slavery in individual
territories, which demonstrated positive consequences for society.
The bank war is the term in American history, and it describes the conflict between
President Andrew Jackson and Nicholas Biddle, who was the President of the Bank of the
United States. The reason for the struggle was that Jackson advocated for the existence
of the only national bank in the country. This process took place in the mid-19th century
when President Jackson wanted to prevent a limited elite group from gaining power and
public control. The bank war also included a political battle between Jackson and some
Republicans, Daniel Webster and Henry Clay, who offered support to Biddle. The conflict
became the topical issue of the 1832 presidential election. Jackson won the battle and
made an effort to ensure that the bank would not exist, which is significant because it
demonstrated that the American banking system should not be controlled by limited elite
groups.

WORK CITED
Locke, Joseph, and Ben Wright, editors. The American Yawp: A Massively Collaborative
Open U.S. History Textbook, vol. I: to 1877. Stanford University Press, 2019.