In 1854, Senator Stephen Douglas saw his chance at running for President. For his run for presidency, Stephen Douglas wanted the support of southern Democrats. Due to the political party’s platform, Stephen Douglas had to appeal to it to get their support. So when there was another question of slavery with new states, Stephen Douglas suggested a solution. This suggestion was called the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The Kansas-Nebraska Act supported popular sovereignty, which gave the power of deciding the issue of slavery in the states to the people. The proposal of the Kansas-Nebraska Act would appeal to southerners, which would increase his chance at running for presidency. Even though southerners favored the act, northerners disagreed with it due do to it making the the Missouri Compromise…show more content… The Republicans were firm in their opposition to Stephen Douglas and his proposals that they were able to sustain their political party. During this time, Stephen Douglas continued to fight for popular sovereignty. His popularity as a political figure increased due to his involvement in the Illinois state election campaign of 1858. During the state election campaign of 1858, Stephen Douglas became known by his famous debates with Abraham Lincoln. Stephen Douglas blamed the dispute over slavery on abolitionists in the North and “disunionists” in the South. He believed that slavery should be treated neutral as a question of public policy. Even though, he secretly thought slavery was wrong and hoped it would be gone someday. At the same time, he saw in popular sovereignty an extension of local self-government and states’ rights and used to try to secure a position as President. Over time, Stephen Douglas’s popularity decreased as the party system fell apart due to the slavery question. Eventually, he was proposed as the Democratic candidate for president in 1852 and 1856, he did not win his party’s nomination until
