The Seven Lincoln Douglas Debates

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 Political Disputes of 1820-1860 compromised and then broke down.In the 1800’s slavery was the main conflict between the states. The compromise began to break down when slavery began in the North and the South. The Anti-Slavery Convention report that an American citizen who owns a human being into involuntary and is forced to be his property is a Man Stealer, which means immoral people. (Doc.B) Senator Henry Clay said that it is impossible that South Carolina ever desired a moment to become a separate and independent state.(Doc.A). Senator Daniel Webster’s Judgment is that the South is right and the North is wrong.(Doc.C). Georgia thinks all northern, and especially the New England, states are devoid of society fitted for well-bred Southern gentlemen.(Doc.E) Abraham Lincoln ambitious Northern politicians. (Doc.F) Henry Clay, National

As a result of the Compromise of 1850, California was admitted as a free state, the territory disputed between Texas and New Mexico was surrendered to New Mexico, the slave trade was abolished in the District of Columbia, the Mexican Cession was open to popular sovereignty, and a stronger Fugitive Slave Law was enacted. In a speech to the Senate on March 7, 1850, Senator Daniel Webster stated his opinion that the North is wrong for not obeying the Fugitive Slave Law and that succession is amiss [Document D].The tone of Webster’s speech is objective as he attempts to see both sides- the North and the South. Webster is unbiased because as a Northern man, he agrees with the South. The peace was only temporary. The Fugitive Slave Law upset Northerners and the Underground Railroad became more active, peaking between 1850 and 1860. Massachusetts went so far as to making it a penal offense for a state official to enforce the act. The act also brought the issue of slavery into the limelight before the entire nation. In fact, by 1858, there was no avoiding the subject of slavery. During the Lincoln-Douglass Debates in a speech at Alton, Illinois on October 15, 1858, Abraham Lincoln stated that slavery was no longer just a political issue [Document G]. Slavery was splitting the nation and during the Second Great Awakening, even churches split over the issue. Lincoln’s speech is

In The Fate Of Their Country: Politicians, Slavery Extension, And The Coming Of The Civil War, Michael F. Holt effectively shows how the Civil War was caused by partisan politics and the slavery extension issue. The decisions made by northern and southern politicians from 1844 to 1861 in relation to the slavery extension issue caused the Civil War. I accept Holt’s thesis and believe that he makes a believable case. His book convinced me that foolish, selfish, and deceptive politicians made decisions that caused frustration in the lives of northern and southern Americans, which created an environment prone to civil war. It was not a disagreement over slavery itself, rather a disagreement over whether expansion into new territories would involve slavery.

In 1820, a politician by the name of Henry Clay decided to help work out a compromise that would keep the balance the North and South. Clay suggested that Congress should admit Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state. The official proposal was passed in March of 1820 and prohibited slavery from any territories in the Louisiana Purchase that was North of 36°30’ latitude. (The American Journey Page 320,437, and 438) Almost thirty years later, a dispute over slavery broke out in Congress because a bill was introduced by Illinois senator Stephen Douglas. Douglas originally wanted to run for president but in order to do that he needed the support of the Southern Democrats. With Douglas trying to win over both northerners and southerners, the Kansas-Nebraska act proclaimed that Kansas and Nebraska territories would have the choice to be a free or slave state. Douglas was basically saying that “they” being Congress would repeal the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and would rely on “popular sovereignty” which is letting the people decide. He figured that because Kansas and Nebraska becoming slave

The Lincoln-Douglas debates have been regarded as an event that led the discussion involving state rights as well as slavery. It ultimately defined the way politics in America functioned and the role the people played in it. Both Lincoln and Douglas were running for a U.S. Senate position for Illinois. Their rivalry runs deep from from their initial debate revolving the repeal of the Missouri compromise in 1854 to even both of them being attracted to Mary Todd. Nonetheless, the instability behind the divide in the democratic party for Douglas and republicans lending their support to Douglas instead of Lincoln, led to a critical moment that would shape political direction of the United States.

When Abraham Lincoln gave his Cooper Union Address it is doubtful that he knew its impact on the country and ultimately the future of the Union. In his Cooper Union Address, future president Abraham Lincoln thoroughly rebuked the southern Democrats Stephen A. Douglas’ statements about the Republicans’ slavery stance by using not only the oppositions wording against them, he supported his arguments with true examples sited from the signatories of the Constitution and their past voting record, from information gleaned during his career as a lawyer, and from his sense of honor and ethics. Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party had some very strong constituents, mainly those with very strong Free Soil tendencies. For this reason along with personal beliefs on Lincoln’s part the Republicans, led by Lincoln in the presidential election, were strongly against the expansion of slavery into the territories

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.

Following in the tradition of Daniel Webster and Henry Clay, President Abraham Lincoln established himself as a stout pragmatic unionist during his tenure in office, that is, he was an ardent supporter of the union of the states, and this primary desire trumped and dictated each of Lincoln’s other, secondary, policies during the Civil War. Consequently, the relationship between Lincoln’s desire to free the slaves and his desire to win back the union of the states through war becomes tenuous and deceptive, as Lincoln never desired solely the abolition of slavery. Instead, Lincoln, ideologically opposed to slavery yet never inclined to act upon this inclination before 1862 as the preservation of the union was more important, favored using the slavery issue as a weapon to weaken the Confederacy and to strengthen the Union; it was his proverbial axe with which he planned to end the rebellion.

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.

Douglas provides an understanding of the United States that satisfies Kant’s “definitive” criteria for perpetual peace. In the Lincoln and Douglass debate of 1858, Douglass clearly sides with slavery. His discourse was a speech meant to unite the country and to prevent future conflicts over the issue of slavery. Douglas meant to persuade the people to accept slavery as a nationalize institution. This may have seemed morally wrong, however, Douglas understood that slavery was essential towards the country’s economic prosperity. In addition, Douglass understood that Lincoln’s speech in opposition of slavery was going to divide the house and bring war where many people would die. As a result, Douglas made clear that he believed in popular sovereignty, where the people had the right to choose if they wanted slavery or not (Johannsen, p. 24). More specifically, Douglas thought white people had the right to choose if blacks were to be slaves or not. This demonstrates that Douglas speech was also meant to separate politics and morality since his ideals removed the moral condemnation of slavery by its efforts to spread slavery over the new territories of the United States. Therefore, Douglas satisfies Kant’s definitive criteria for perpetual peace. According to Kant, no treaty of peace shall be made if it leaves space for future wars since peace signifies the end of all fighting (Kant, p. 107). In other words, Kant thinks that all actions must be taken in order to prevent war. It

In sequence with these events, Abraham Lincoln returned to politics in 1854 because of the success of Douglas’ Kansas-Nebraska act, and he quickly became the voice of the newly formed Republican Party. Shortly after he accepted the nomination from his party he said, “A housed divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free.” This quote is very important because Americans became aware that they would soon have to choose either to favor or oppose slavery, there was no middle ground. In Abraham Lincoln’s eyes, freedom meant the opposition to slavery. Unfortunately for the Republican party, Lincoln lost the election of 1858 and Douglas was reelected, but Lincoln would soon be back.

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.

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.

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