The Success of Popular Sovereignty in the United States

Success cannot be measured using a simple scale, success in most all forms is "cloudy"; the party that was successful, the level or degree of success, and the definition of success, are all important points to take into consideration. Popular sovereignty was a political theory that enabled the settlers of the United States federal territories to decide amongst themselves, whether to be admitted into the Union as a free or slave state. Popular sovereignty was effective in areas which it was expected to be (i.e. territories with a large pro-slavery population), however the application of popular sovereignty lacked the element of surprise. While it was intended to be innovative and radical in its settlement of the dispute between anti-slavery and pro-slavery advocates, with minimal exception, the idea of popular sovereignty did not impact the slavery issue in the territories.