History 103: US History I

In an effort to secure their own appointments to the U.S. Senate, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas squared off in a series of seven debates in 1858. Find out why Douglas might have won in the short term but Lincoln won in the long term.

Stephen Douglas

In the mid-1850s, America was facing a political crisis. Slavery was threatening to tear the nation apart, and what's worse, the Great Triumvirate - Senators Henry Clay, Daniel Webster and John Calhoun - who had brokered peace and compromise for decades, were all gone. It was time for a new generation of leaders, and the Democrats had a rising star: Senator Stephen A. Douglas, known to his detractors as the 'Little Giant.'

Douglas had worked with Henry Clay to win passage of the controversial Comprise of 1850, infamous for its fugitive slave law. But more importantly, Douglas had persuaded Americans to accept the idea of popular sovereignty, meaning new states would decide for themselves whether to accept or ban slavery. It all sounded so democratic, until it came time to put that theory into practice in Kansas. And as you've learned, the whole process was wracked with fraud and violence. Douglas' presidential aspirations were dashed, in both 1852 and 1856. Then came a terrible blow to the doctrine of popular sovereignty: the Dred Scott decision, in which the Supreme Court said that states could not ban slavery. Douglas threw himself into his campaign for re-election to the Senate. Thankfully for him (or so he thought), he was being opposed by the virtually unknown Republican, Abraham Lincoln.

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates

You might remember that at this time in U.S. history, Senators were chosen by state legislatures. So, Douglas couldn't exactly campaign for himself. But since 1858 was an election year for the Illinois State House, Douglas decided to enhance his own chances of being chosen by campaigning for Democratic legislators. If Democrats held the majority of seats in Illinois, they would choose him as their Senator. So with the help of a friend who ran the railroad, Douglas traveled the state giving speeches. But wherever he went, the annoying Republican candidate would show up two days later, give voters reasons not to trust Douglas and get the last word in. Finally, Douglas agreed to meet Abraham Lincoln face to face in a series of debates in the remaining Congressional districts in the state.

There were seven Lincoln-Douglas debates, in which the two candidates for Senate squared off against each other, challenging the other's ideas about many topics - but most importantly, slavery and its future in the United States. Even though these speeches were intended to help elect their respective parties' state legislators, the events attracted tens of thousands of people. The audience turned the debates into a sporting event, shouting out questions, cheering, booing and laughing. Reporters in Chicago transcribed the speeches, and thanks to the telegraph, the Lincoln-Douglas debates were reported by newspapers across the entire nation and followed closely by the American people.

Before the first debate even took place, Abraham Lincoln addressed a crowd in Chicago, known famously as the House Divided speech. In it, Lincoln attacked the doctrine of popular sovereignty, saying that it had clearly failed in its goal of ending conflict over slavery. Then, he went on to quote the Bible, saying:

'A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free...Either the opponents of slavery, will arrest the further spread of it...or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the states, old as well as new - North as well as South.'

Debates 1-3

As many as 12,000 people showed up in Ottawa to watch the first debate.

Douglas: You, sir, are a radical abolitionist who wants to turn Illinois into a colony for free blacks!

Lincoln: No, I'm not! You want to expand slavery across the entire nation!

An even bigger crowd came out to watch the second debate. Lincoln spoke first, mostly answering some direct questions that Douglas had asked him at the previous debate. Then, he posed four of his own questions, largely ridiculing Douglas for his continued support for the doctrine of popular sovereignty. In response, Douglas articulated what has become known as the Freeport Doctrine. Basically, Douglas argued that if the citizens of a state or territory didn't want slavery, it didn't really matter what the Supreme Court said. All they had to do was elect a legislature that wouldn't pass any laws that would enforce or protect it. The Freeport Doctrine was supposed to be a simple means around the Dred Scott decision. But this idea came back to bite Douglas in the presidential election two years later because Southern Democrats felt he had betrayed them.

A crowd of just 1,500 people, most of whom had relocated from slave states, showed up to the third debate to cheer on Douglas and jeer at Lincoln.

Douglas: You say the country cannot exist half slave and half free? Well, it seems to me that the Founding Fathers designed it that way, and that the country has not only survived in this condition, but has grown. When you say that we have to be all slave or all free, why, thems' fightin' words!

Then, Douglas played to his crowd's racist beliefs:

'I hold that a negro is not and never ought to be a citizen of the United States. I hold that this government was made on the white basis, by white men, for the benefit of white men and their posterity forever, and should be administered by white men and none others...At that time, every one of the 13 colonies was a slaveholding colony, every signer of the Declaration of Independence represented a slaveholding constituency and we know that not one of them emancipated his slaves, much less offered citizenship to them when they signed the Declaration...My friends, I am in favor of preserving this government as our fathers made it.'

Lincoln: When the Declaration of Independence was signed, everyone thought slavery was dying. Remember the Northwest Ordinance? The Founding Fathers didn't let slavery into new territories! We should go back to that model, and just let it die out on its own.

Debates 4-7

Another 12,000 spectators showed up to watch as Lincoln spoke first in the fourth debate, firmly repudiating Douglas's charge that he believed in racial equality. It might surprise you to hear Lincoln's words:

'I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races, that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together, there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race.'

After clarifying his position on race, Lincoln revived his earlier accusation against Douglas from the first debate.

Lincoln: You are part of a government conspiracy to expand the institution of slavery! I can prove it. Remember the Missouri Compromise, way back in 1820? It drew a line across the nation and said nothing above that line could ever have slaves in it. But then you came along and said slaves should be allowed above that line if the people want it. Before long, Illinois will be a slave state, too!

Douglas: Sir, there is no conspiracy. And Mr. Lincoln thinks blacks and whites should be equal!

More tremendous crowds turned out for the fifth debate, in which Douglas and Lincoln recapped points that they had made before. But in the sixth debate, in Quincy, Illinois, Lincoln and Douglas finally hit upon the big question: Was slavery wrong? The argument sounded very much like the modern debate over abortion.

Lincoln: Slavery is a moral, social and political wrong! I can't do anything about it where it already exists, but it is wrong and should not be allowed to spread into any new territory. How do you feel about it?

Douglas: It doesn't matter how I feel about it! It would be wrong for me - or my state - to impose our beliefs on anyone else and make that decision for them. The citizens of every state have to decide for themselves whether slavery is right or wrong for them. Popular sovereignty was clearly what the founders had intended, since it leaves decision-making in the hands of local and state governments. You, Mr. Lincoln, are trying to increase the power of the federal government.

The final debate brought no surprises and a mere 5,000 attendees. Both candidates hammered the other on what they felt were their strongest points. Douglas attacked Lincoln on the House Divided speech and emphasized his belief in the democracy of popular sovereignty. Lincoln reiterated that slavery was wrong, that the Declaration of Independence applied to all men and that Douglas was undermining the earlier policies of the U.S. government.

Significance of the Debates

On election day, neither Lincoln nor Douglas was technically elected to the Senate. But the voters did choose a Democratic majority for the state of Illinois, which sent Stephen Douglas back to the Senate for another term. However, Republicans actually garnered more total votes in the state; they just didn't win the most voting districts. And the debates themselves had important consequences for the candidates. While Abraham Lincoln was thrust into the national spotlight and helped generate momentum for the Republican Party, Stephen Douglas actually angered many of his fellow Democrats and helped divide the party, dooming his chances in the 1860 presidential election.

Lesson Summary

Let's review. In the mid-19th century, Senator Stephen Douglas seemed to be the nation's greatest hope for keeping the peace through the slavery crisis, and he was hoping to become president. But when his doctrine of popular sovereignty didn't work out as well as planned, Douglas focused his efforts at being sent back to the Senate. His Republican challenger was Abraham Lincoln. In an effort to have their party gain a majority in the state legislature, the two men faced off in a series of seven debates throughout the state. Even before they began, Lincoln delivered his famous House Divided speech, in which he claimed that the nation could not continue to be half slave and half free, a point that his opponent continued to ridicule throughout most of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. All of their major topics related to the issue of slavery. Although the Democrats won the state election and sent Douglas back to the Senate, the debates divided the Democrat Party and brought Lincoln into the national spotlight.