Abraham Lincoln Vs. Douglas Debates

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

He defends the South’s position on slavery which is a deeply grounded belief. Abraham Lincoln describes this situation as a disagreement on the definition of liberty in his “Address at Sanitary Fair, Baltimore” (1864). He explains that liberty may mean “for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor; while with others the same word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men” (Forner 287). It is easy to see how this disagreement was heading in a catastrophic direction as the South continued to fight for the whole reason they came to America in the first place. The Confederates were willing to fight to death to defend their definition of freedom because the North winning the war equated to the very same thing in their minds; the end of their lives.

He wondered how someone who hated slavery could promise to protect it in all southern states. He wondered how someone who insisted that blacks were human could support racism. Why would he want to follow Lincoln?

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.

Douglas takes an amoral stance upon the question of slavery within the union and is indifferent to the spread of it. He invokes a principle of popular sovereignty, allowing the American people to vote upon slavery. Popular sovereignty embraces a state of indifference, which does not spread nor exclude slavery within the union, but rather allows the people to decide and form laws upon it. Lincoln argued,

Although Lincoln was a Republican, his motives during his Presidency were similar to a Democrat President. Lincoln’s inaugural speech proposed peaceful actions during the Civil War. As mentioned in Lincoln and

In 1858 the Republican party of Illinois nominated Abraham Lincoln to be their candidate for the United States Senate. Lincoln accepted the nomination by giving what would become arguably the most famous acceptance speech for any office in this nation's history, the House Divided Speech. Between August 21 and October 15 the two candidates, Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas, engaged in a series of seven debates outlining their positions on slavery, equal rights, and the role of national government.

"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

Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass both had the same goal, to abolish slavery throughout the United States. By reading the speech, Second Inaugural Address, spoken by Lincoln and What to the slave is the Fourth of July by Douglass, one could see the goal that they both dreamed of. The nation, the United States, had achieved Lincoln’s goal of preserving the union but it did not achieve Douglass's goal of equality among everyone.

The first reason Lincoln?s ideals were superior to Douglass? is that he realized war over slavery was imminent. During Lincoln?s presidential campaign he delivered the now famous words, ?a house divided against itself cannot stand.? showing that he truly sought unity between the North and the

An even bigger crowd came out to watch the second debate. Abraham Lincoln spoke first, mostly answering some direct questions that Douglas had asked him at the previous debate. Then, he answered 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. Douglas basically said that if the citizens of a state or territory didn't want slavery, it didn't really matter what the Supreme Court said, and it didn't have to happen. All that they needed 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 haunt 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 them who had relocated from slave states, showed up to the third debate to cheer on Douglas and jeer at Lincoln. Another 12,000 people showed up to watch as Lincoln spoke first in the fourth

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 first of the two sources to be examined here is Allen Guelzo's House Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of 1858. This source took a more technical examination of not just the speeches and overall influence of Lincoln during this time, but also on where politics stood around the middle of the nineteenth century. To begin with, this source took a more critical examination at the Lincoln-Douglas race from the perspective of the complex political situation that was inherent during this time. That is to say, the campaigns that were waged were not merely about how viable each candidate was for office, but rather the philosophical differences between these individuals and many others, according to the source. This means that the source was able to take a closer look at why Abraham Lincoln, as well as Douglas, actually believed what they did. This retrospective aspect of the source allowed

The Lincoln-Douglas debates involved several issues dividing the nation, slavery versus free labor, popular sovereignty, and the legal and political status of black Americans.

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.