The Lincoln-Douglas Debates

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The Lincoln-Douglas debates were a series of seven debates between Republican Abraham Lincoln and his democratic opponent Senator Stephen A. Douglas. The debates were about the slaver line which was supposed to have been settled by the Missouri Compromise. However, after the Mexican War added new territories the issue was brought up again in the 1840s. The compromise of 1850 only temporarily fixed the dispute, but when the Kansas-Nebraska act was brought about by Stephen Douglas repealing the Missouri compromise the country was in chaos. This act was the reason the Republican Party came into existence, it was formed to keep slaves out of the western territory. This debate was much more than just two men talking, it was addressing the problem …show more content…
The debates were each three hours long, and took place in the following locations Ottawa(august21), Freeport (august 27), Jonesboro ( September 15), Charleston (September 18), Galesburg (October 7), Quincy (October 13), and Alton ( October 15). Douglas kept trying to brand Lincoln as an unstable radical who wanted racial equality. However, Lincoln really just had moral standards and addressed how the Kansas-Nebraska act earned Kansas the name “Bleeding Kansas”. “The point upon Judge Douglas is this. The bill that went into his hands had the provision in it for a submission of the Constitution to the people; and I say its language amounts to an express provision for a submission, and that he took the provision out. He says it was known that the bill was silent in this particular; but I say, Judge Douglas, it was not silent when you got it. It was vocal with the declaration when you got it, for a submission of the Constitution to the people. And now, my direct question to Judge Douglas is, to answer why, if he deemed the bill silent on this point, he found it necessary to strike out those particular harmless words.” (Abraham Lincoln) At the …show more content…
Douglas was reelected to the senate in January 1859. Even though Lincoln was defeated, Republicans received more popular votes than the Democrats. This debate cased Lincoln to gain a good reputation in the North, and to be known as an eloquent speaker. He really needed this political shift to later win the election for presidency. Doulas further alienated the south, and was soon stripped of his power in the senate which led to the division of the democrat party. Personally I really don’t see how Lincoln lost this debate. Maybe it was because he was fairly new to the political world, whereas his opponent was more accustomed to it. In my eyes Lincoln won it, because he fought for equality. In the end it really doesn’t matter who won the debate because Lincoln was elected as president and abolished
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