The Lincoln-Douglas Debates: Major Causes Of The Civil War

The Democratic Party split in 1860 over the slavery issue. The Democrats from the Northern states were against slavery or at least the expansion of slavery in the new territories while the Democrats from the Southern states wanted to preserve slavery in their states and were for extending it in the new territories. On April 23, 1860, the Democrats met in Charleston, South Carolina with the goals of finalizing their platform and nominating a presidential candidate. In the North the Democratic candidate was the moderate Stephen Douglas. Voters in the South chose John Breckenridge, a defender of "Southern rights". The Southern Democrats hated Douglas, although he was not completely opposed to slavery in the West, he wanted to limit the institution 's use in the territories, by initiating popular sovereignty. A key play by Lincoln in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates in 1858 helped the Southerners realize this. Because the Democrats were split between different candidates and the Republican Party was united behind Abraham Lincoln, they won more electoral votes. Therefore, Lincoln became president.

The debates between Lincoln and Douglas were conducted over several months at seven different locations throughout the state of Illinois and they attracted large crowds at every location and, eventually, drew interest from newspapers throughout the country. Although there were a variety of issues discussed during these debates, the primary issue revolved around the issue of

On June 16, 1858, the start of Illinois's greatest political contests took place, otherwise known as the race for the U.S. Senate between Democratic Douglas and Republican challenger Abraham Lincoln. That same night, Lincoln launched his campaign by saying that the United States could not survive for long with such a deep gulf between the North and South. He said either the opponents of slavery will stop the spread of it, or the advocates will push it forward until it is a law in all of the states. As the campaign progressed, Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of seven open-air debated to be held through Illinois on the issue of slavery in the territories. Douglas believed deeply in allowing the residents of a territory to vote for or against

First we see the causes of the debates. Both Lincoln and Douglas were running for a place in the United States Senate

The debates were a controversial time, which the proslavery, and antislavery rights people argued over. Both wanted a seat in the senate, but had many problems with people choosing who was fit to take that senate seat. The debates took a long time, and was a period of seven debates. The important subjects in the paper are causes of the debates, content of the debates, and the results of the debates. The causes of the debates were not only disagreement of Lincoln and Douglas, but also the big changes happening in the nations.

The causes of the Lincoln-Douglas debates was in the year of 1846, Stephen A. Douglas was first elected to the United States Senate. Douglas was looking for reelection for a third term. During the time that he was in the Senate, the issue of slavery was raised several times, mainly with the respect of the Compromise of 1850. When Douglas was a chairman of the committee on territories, Douglas did not agree for an approach to slavery called popular sovereignty, giving the local territories to choose slavery. In 1854, Stephen A. Douglas was successful with the passage of the Kansas–Nebraska Act. Abraham Lincoln was just like Douglas, he was also elected to Congress in 1846. Lincoln served one two-year term in the House of Representatives.

When Lincoln was running for the Senate seat in Illinois. He had to participate in series of debates called the Lincoln Douglas debates, which made both Lincoln and Douglas famous around the nation. Both, Lincoln and Douglas, traveled around the state discussing major issues such as slave. During the debate, Lincoln stated, “I desire no concealment of my opinions in regard to the institution of slavery. I look upon it as a great evil… A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.” (Doc. 4) His beliefs brought him into the national stoplight. His beliefs made him be favored by northerners while southerners did not favor him because they believed he was threat to slavery. This furthered divided the North and the

The debates were reported by newspapers across the entire nation followed by all Americans. As many as 12,000 people showed up for the first debate in Ottawa. More people came to watch the second debate in Freeport and just 1,500 people showed up to the third debate in Jonesboro. (Lutz 2) The Illinois Senate race of 1858 had a major impact on the presidential campaign of 1860. Lincoln became a national figure and a contender for the Republican nomination in 1860. The debates weakened Douglas in the South. According to Douglas, the essence of Democracy means process, which creates a happy, free, and prosperous society. Democracy should enable people to get happiness, freedom and prosperity in their life but for Lincoln, Democracy was principle. Douglas accused Lincoln that his aim was to dissolve the Whig party and the Democratic Party and combine them into an Abolition party and make it under the name of the Republican

In terms of politics, Lincoln ran for the Illinois legislature in 1832. However, this was an unsuccessful campaign. He ran again and won the election. He ended up serving four terms. Lincoln’s party at the time was the Whig Party. In his second term, he was chosen for the Whig Party’s floor leader. Lincoln saw himself as an “anti-Jackson” in politics (Clack, 21). He was attracted to the Whig Party, because of government-sponsored banks and internal improvements. Lincoln was also a lawyer and served one term as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He opposed the Mexican War and the expansion allowing slavery into new areas. He supported the Wilmot Proviso, which stated that slavery would be illegal in any territory gained after the

Abraham Lincoln's position on slavery was the belief that the expansion of it to Free states and new territories should be ceased and that it eventually be abolished completely throughout the country. He believed simply that

Before watching the debate, read through this section twice. The first time will give you the gist of what is presented, while the second time will allow you to see if you can actually do as it instructs.

In 1854, Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas created a bill known as the Kansas-Nebraska act

In 1858 he carried out his campaign to be elected as Senator for Illinois. During this period, he held a series of debates against his opponent Stephen A. Douglas. His speeches came in for criticism because he was against slavery and its expansion across the U. S. Unfortunately, the slave-holding states of the South totally disagree with the abolition of the slavery. As a result, he lost this election.

The Civil War was the war that divided the young American nation into two opposing sides. One side being the North, also called the Union, and the second side being the South, also called the Confederacy. The root cause of why the South seceded from the Union has been debated and argued since the beginning of the war in 1861. Most people argue that the argument, between the North and the South, over slavery was the main reason why the South left the Union. However, the issue has to be more complex than just the issue with slavery. The root cause of the of the South secession from the Union was a combination of the South’s aggravation and fear over their dependence on the North for their economic prosperity and their dependence on slavery for a highly profitable economy.

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