Douglas and Abraham Lincoln

1. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln Debate of 1858 Presented by http://schoolofresearch.org/ http://schoolofresearch.org/

2. Background • Stephen A. Douglas was a Democrat incumbent in the election for a seat in the U.S. Senate, since he had earlier been elected a senator in the year 1948. • Abraham Lincoln was relatively unknown, despite serving a single term in the United States House of representatives from 1847 to 1849. • United States constitution, as originally drafted, provided for the election of United States Senators by the state legislatures, rather than the general electorate. • Douglas and Lincoln were conducting campaigns for the election of state representatives. • Elected representatives would later support their respective candidates for the senator’s seat. http://schoolofresearch.org/

3. Features of the debate • On slavery, Lincoln made a call for Republicans to unite against what he expressed as a slave power conspiracy in his speech, “House Divided”. • He portrayed Douglas as the chief conspirator who aimed at extending slavery throughout the territories and the states of the Union. • Douglas defended his struggle to keep slavery out of Kansas by citing the “great principle of self-government”, on which his political beliefs were based. • He held beliefs that people of each state and territory had a right to decide for themselves the domestic institutions that they wanted, including slavery. http://schoolofresearch.org/

4. Features of the debate • The Missouri Compromise, enacted in 1820, kept featuring in the Douglas and Lincoln debate. • Was a series of laws that limited slavery in parts of the Louisiana Purchase. • Stated that slavery could not be permitted in the lines north of the southern border of Missouri. • Douglas had led Senators from the south in repealing the section of the Missouri Compromise that had limited the spread of slavery. • The action had given the residents of Kansas and Nebraska popular sovereignty. http://schoolofresearch.org/

5. Features of the debate • Lincoln had argued that the Declaration of Independence and its Equality clause meant that all people in America were equal regardless of race • Need of eliminating the slavery of African Americans. • Douglas had argued that Lincoln’s appeals on the Equality clause were misplaced as the signers of the Independence Declaration never meant to include blacks in the Equality clause. http://schoolofresearch.org/

6. Features of the debate • Douglas believed that freeing the slaves could lead to a civil war. • He had warned Lincoln to stop campaigning for the abolishment of slavery. • Douglas emphasized that the people in every state and territory had the right to choose for themselves their domestic institutions, including slavery. http://schoolofresearch.org/

7. Features of the debate • The Lecompton constitution, drawn up in 1857 by the proslavery Kansas state to admit the territory into the United States as a slave state, was another focus of the debate. • Douglas’ opposition to the constitution made him popular with some Republicans in Illinois. • The situation disappointed Lincoln, as he did not want Douglas to influence the Republican Party. • The development further influenced Lincoln to challenge Douglas for the United States senate seat. http://schoolofresearch.org/

8. Fallout from the Debate • Resulted in divisions between the states over the slavery question, which was the main subject of debate in Illinois. • Democrats, led by Douglas, were viewed by Republicans as being responsible for the spread of slavery across the United States. http://schoolofresearch.org/

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