Final answer:
Douglass envisioned Kansas voting for or against slavery based on popular sovereignty but faced skewed proslavery influences and the Lecompton Constitution, before the true antislavery majority was revealed in separate elections.
Step-by-step explanation:
Stephen A. Douglas assumed that the settlers in the Kansas territory would vote based on popular sovereignty, believing that elections free from outside influence would reflect the majority's preference on the issue of slavery. However, due to deliberate interference such as fraudulent votes from proslavery 'border ruffians' and a biased Lecompton Constitution vote, there was a notable contest surrounding whether Kansas would be a free or slave state. The resulting chaos contributed to the period known as Bleeding Kansas. Douglas, despite pressure from President Buchanan, took a stand against the administration to support what he believed was the true will of the Kansas settlers, which evidently favored the antislavery Free Soil position by a ratio of two-to-one in separate elections held for each party.