Definition of popular sovereignty
1
: a doctrine in political theory that government is created by and subject to the will of the people
2
: a pre-Civil War doctrine asserting the right of the people living in a newly organized territory to decide by vote of their territorial legislature whether or not slavery would be permitted there
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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Time Traveler for popular sovereignty
The first known use of popular sovereignty was in 1848
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