Popular Sovereignty Popular sovereignty is government based on consent of the people. Popular Sovereignty - US History - Facts - Major Event - Popular Sovereignty - Definition - American - US - USA - Popular Sovereignty - America - Dates - United States - Kids - Children - Schools - Homework - Important - Facts - Issues - Key - Main - Major - Events - History - Interesting - Popular Sovereignty - Info - Information - American History - Facts - Historical - Major Events - Popular Sovereignty. The American Revolutionaries exchanged the rule of King George III with a rule composed of the people. Two examples of popular sovereignty in the constitution are and tenth amendments to the constitution saying 'The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people' and 'The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the … All political power is vested in and derived from the people. Ex: When people go to the polls to vote, that is an example of popular sovereignty. The Idea of Popular Sovereignty and the Declaration of IndependenceThe idea and concept of Popular Sovereignty is the belief that the authority, legality and legitimacy of the government is created by the will or consent of its people. ... Matt Riffe is a museum programs demonstrator at the National Constitution Center. The American people are sovereign. google_ad_width = 300; Popular Sovereignty and SlaveryThe idea of Popular Sovereignty was also used a Pre-Civil War doctrine that asserted the right of the people living in a new territory to decide by vote of their territorial legislature whether or not slavery would be permitted. Tetra Images / Henryk Sadura / Brand X Pictures / Getty Images. Popular Sovereignty is basically a principle stating that the people have a say. The Constitution (September 17, 1787) The first and most important example of popular sovereignty is the Constitution itself. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 was based on the idea—that people have a right to "property" in the form of enslaved people. Thomas Hobbes wrote The Leviathan in 1651, during the English Civil War, and in it, he laid out the first basis of popular sovereignty. The government’s source of authority is the people, and its power is not legitimate if it disregards the will of the people. Significantly, if a king or ruler breaks the terms of the "contract"—by taking away rights or taking away property without an individual's consent—it is the right of the people to offer resistance and, if necessary, depose him. Kelly, Martin. The Sovereign Constitution Returning to Lincoln, his understanding was that in an important sense American sovereignty rested in the Constitution. POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY. What Is the Common Good in Political Science? google_ad_region= "test"; Government established by the free choice of the people is expected to serve the people, who have sovereignty, or supreme power. According to his theory, human beings were selfish and if left alone, in what he called a "state of nature," human life would be "nasty, brutish, and short." Popular sovereignty definition, the doctrine that sovereign power is vested in the people and that those chosen to govern, as trustees of such power, must exercise it … ", The words in the Declaration of Independence replaced government by the rule of Hereditary Monarchy with that of a Sovereign State government based on the principle of Popular Sovereignty. Definition and Examples, The Leviathan, or the Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill. It is the people's right to have a say in the happenings of the country. google_ad_height = 250; Learn popular sovereignty with free interactive flashcards. The principle of Popular Sovereignty states that all political power resides with the people. In Hobbes' opinion, an absolute monarchy provided the best form of security. //-->,