California Teacher Credentialing Examination (CSET) 2026 – 400 Free Practice Questions to Pass the Exam

The concept of popular sovereignty posed a significant challenge in the context of new states by allowing the residents of those states to determine for themselves whether they would permit slavery. This principle created a situation where the admission of new states could lead to deep national divisions, particularly between free and slave states. As new territories sought statehood, the question arose: would they allow slavery or would they be free states? This led to intense political debates and conflicts, such as the events surrounding the Kansas-Nebraska Act, where violent confrontations, known as "Bleeding Kansas," erupted as pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions vied for control.

Understanding this context is crucial, as the admission of new states influenced the balance of power in Congress between the North and South. The struggle over whether new states could be slave-holding created a significant and ongoing national crisis, eventually contributing to the cultural and political tensions that culminated in the Civil War. Thus, the complexity surrounding the admission of new states based on slavery issues under the doctrine of popular sovereignty fundamentally shaped the trajectory of American history during that period.