Abraham Lincoln And Stephen Douglas: The Great Debates

Thesis: Slavery was the biggest issue during the election of 1860. There were four candidates in this presidential election. Abraham Lincoln, Stephen Douglas, John Breckinridge, and John Bell all campaigned for the presidency. Each of these men had completely different views of how they thought the issue of slavery should’ve been handled. This was one of the most historic elections in US history.

In 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected President. He won the presidential votes of the Republican Party. Lincoln ran against Stephen Douglas. In one of their campaigns in Hartford, Connecticut, Lincoln spoke on the Democratic bushwhacking (Doc F). Part of their campaign were to talk about the slavery. Though Lincoln, a republican, and Douglas, a democratic, their views on slavery were entirely different. Lincoln argued against the spread of slavery while Douglas argued that each territory should have the right

Douglas and John C. Calhoun. To being, Douglas was the brain child behind the development within the Compromise of 1850 of using popular sovereignty within the states to determine their stances of being free or slave states. As he belief was that slavery should only be decided by those individual within a state in a united front to choose what they want. Douglas attempted to pacify the South by allowing the Fugitive Slave Law, yet no matter what even with the agreement enacted it only helped to push the discomfort felt by both sides helping the push towards the Civil War. Whereas, the Southerner John C. Calhoun was very opposed of the very compromise as his viewpoint was that the institution of slavery was protected by the constitution itself, as within the document, the states retained their rights over any domestic institution like slavery.

"Douglas basically explained in the Freeport Doctrine his belief that the people in a new territory be able to decide whether or not they would allow slavery."(What Were the Results of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates?) The Freeport Doctrine was the subject Douglas spoke about. It made people uneasy."Lincoln argued that while he wanted to end the extension of slavery into US territories"(What Were the Results of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates?) It was important, and a historical debate time. As Lincoln spoke his famous quotes a nation cannot stand as a divided nation, and everyone had rights through the Declaration Of Independence.The problem also was extension to the different territories for slavery. The Debates were not to fix slavery, but to talk about what would make it better. What laws could change it, or stopping slavery from happening in many other

From 1861 to 1865, Lincoln and Davis oversaw different perspectives of their nation. We may well wonder how much of Kentucky these men took with them in their very different lives. Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis had a passion for their beliefs. Both men were willing to sacrifice all they had for their respective countries. Abraham fought for what he thought was right and what many other people thought were right, but he did at times override the Constitution when he felt it was necessary. As for Davis could be a cold and demanding leader.

Archaeologists have traditionally viewed the list of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas through the 1858 Illinois state voting campaign as amongst the most important declarations in American imperial history. Those concerns they addressed were not only of crucial significance to the regional dispute over states’ rights and slavery but also covered deeper into issues that would proceed to change political dialogue. What is usually neglected is that these contests were a component of the comprehensive campaign, that they were intended to achieve some main policy objectives, and that they showed the features of mid-nineteenth-century political speech . Douglas, being part of Congress as from 1843 and a famous nationwide spokesperson for the Democratic body, was contesting for another election for a third season in the Senate, whereas Lincoln was vying for the same seat as a Republican1. Due to Douglas’s political development, the campaign captivated nationwide attention.

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858 was a very influential event that occurred in American history and has much significance, even till this day. The debates were in contest for the United States Senate seat in Illinois. The main topic involved in the debates was based around slavery and the separation of the union because of it. Both Lincoln and Douglas refer to the U.S. Constitution in their remarks and state different opinions surrounding what they interpret the meaning of certain parts regarding slavery to be.

The sides had very different opinions about the election of Abraham Lincoln as President. They disagreed on how Lincoln made laws and how he felt the country should be run. Many people disagreed with Lincoln's views on slavery and the laws he wanted to put in place to control or end it. Another complication that made it difficult to agree on fixing problems were the issues around the right of individual states to determine how laws were put in place in their state. Disagreement about the role of the Government was another cause of the Civil War.

Lincoln's greatness can be seen from the very beginning of his presidency, even from the Great Debates

an abolitionist. Stephan A. Douglas, one of the other runners for the presidency said in a speech about Lincoln "... Mr. Lincoln invites, by his proposition, a war of sections, a war between Illinois and Kentucky, a war between the free States and the slave states, a war between the North and South" (Stampp, 80) Douglas believed Lincoln would cause war if he was elected because of his position in slavery. Lincoln, was elected president, but didn 't receive much popularvotes.

One debate lasted three hours while another in 1858 went seven. Postman guarrateeds that Douglas and Lincoln who wrote speeches in advance are pure print and they have the power of typography to get the audience attention because their language was clear. The audiences who attended the debate “must have had an equally extraordinary capacity to comprehend lengthy and complex sentences aurally” (45). Much of it seemed either blindingly obvious, or like the moanings of a killjoy who can’t bear that television is entertaining and that people are unable “to process it through the ear”, therefore

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates were one of the most significant events in American political history. It led to high tensions between the North and the South and it ended up being one of the main causes of the civil war. The Lincoln–Douglas Debates were a series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate for the United States Senate from Illinois, and incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas, the Democratic Party candidate. Lincoln first challenged Douglas to the debates in 1858. It consisted of seven, three hour public debates in total. Both republican and democratic citizens from all over the country came to watch the fascinating discussion between the two. Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas engaged in the prominent Lincoln-Douglas Debates during the election of 1860, for the public debates led to high controversy between Northerners and Southerners.

Another four years another presidential debate. Before I go on to the current debates let me state a few facts about past ones. The Lincoln and Douglas debate was in important because it started Lincoln presidential career. The Debates lasted from August 21 -- October 15. There where seven of them, with two days to two weeks in between. Each debate lasted three hours; first candidate spoke for one hour; the second for one and a half hours; the first replying for a half hour. Candidates alternated going first. The topics involved where primarily slavery and the Union. Other important debates were the '48 and '57. They were the only debates before 1960; there were no presidential debates between 1960 and 1976. In

The Lincoln Douglas debates were a series of several debates that took place all over the state of Illinois. In these debates, two men argued in order to express their beliefs and standpoints on certain issues, primarily slavery, in an attempt to be elected into a seat in the U.S. Senate. The two men that participated in these debates were

Policy Debate was the first debate established in the National Verbalization and Debate Sodality. In Policy Debate there are two teams in a room: The Affirmative Team and the Negative Team. This commenced the base affirmative versus negative in Lincoln Douglas. Two people are on each team just as most debates are. Three variants of verbalizations (Constructives, Cross-Examinations and Rebuttals) take place. Each debater gives all three verbalizations. The Constructives, which is eight minutes, start with the first Affirmative Constructive, withal kenned as the 1AC, which is the base case made afore every other verbalization that commences and has the substructure of what both side will be arguing. This is followed by the Cross Examination, which is three Minutes, of the 1AC, which is when the negative side questions the affirmative side and the affirmative must answer every question and is unable to ask any questions back. Then, the first Negative Constructive, withal kenned as the 1NC, is presented (this is identically tantamount thing as the affirmative constructive except conspicuously for the negative side), and the 1NC is Cross-Examined (this is when the negative side is asked and must answer and may not ask questions back). After all four verbalizers conclude their Constructive Verbalizations and are Cross-Examined, then the Rebuttals, which is five Minutes, commence. A rebuttal is when the affirmative or negative side is able to rebut any assailments made on their