Emma Williams Dr. Morris APUSH-4A 9 September 2015 The Life of Stephen A. Douglas Stephen Arnold Douglas (1813-1861) was a popular U.S. politician, leader of the Democratic Party, and well-known public speaker. “Heavyset and only five feet four inches tall, he was dubbed the “Little Giant” by his contemporaries” (Encyclopedia Britannica). Stephen received a basic education and was involved in both farm work and teaching. In the years to come he married Martha Martin, who then passed away after giving him two sons, leading him to remarry a woman named Adele Cutts. Throughout his life he contributed many things to American history like the Freeport Doctrine and the Kansas-Nebraska act, which both revolved around Stephen’s ideology of popular …show more content…
“If Stephen did not take it, the slaves would be sent to Africa, which they feared” (Bonner 50). Her father appointed Douglas property manager but with it came many difficulties. Because of this he hired a manager to operate the plantation in his place and used his 20 percent income to advance his political career. In the summer of 1847, Stephen and Martha made Chicago, IL their new home. Here they had two sons, Robert M. Douglas and Stephen Arnold Douglas, Jr. Martha died after the birth of their third child, a daughter, whom died as well just a few weeks later. On November 20, 1856, Douglas remarried to Adele Cutts who, with his permission, had his two sons baptized as Catholics. In 1858 Adele had a miscarriage, and the following year gave birth to a daughter who lived only a few …show more content…
The majority of American southerners at this time were for slavery, thus Douglas’ idea of popular sovereignty and his Freeport doctrine led to southern opposition of him becoming president. But Stephen Douglas was constantly attempting to avoid war at all costs and fought for sanctity of the Union. For example, “When slavery became a divisive political issue during the Mexican War, Douglas’s romantic nationalism faced a new challenge. Fearing that the issue might disrupt the Republic, he argued for the doctrine of popular sovereignty-the right of the people of a state or territory to decide the slavery question for themselves-as a Union-saving formula” (History.com). Furthermore, it can be concluded that, through various life experiences, Douglas forms unique beliefs about slavery and thus goes on to combine the issue with politics. This combination led to the instigation of many important historical proclamations that transformed American History into a modern
Douglas supported popular sovereignty because it would promote democracy in the region. It allowed the people to decide whether or not it would be a free or slave state, but often caused arguments between northerners and southern slave owners both in the same area, causing it to be unworkable because an agreement could not be made.
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
The late 1850's were a time of bitter debate throughout the United States. The issues of slavery, state's rights, and the use of tariffs were threatening to divide the nation and there was talk of secession by the Southern states. This dissension was not just between the individual states but spread as well to individual politicians throughout all the states. Probably one of the most widely recognized examples of this dissension were the debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas in their efforts to seek a Senate seat from the State of Illinois (Foner, 2010). Although the election of Senators in the 1850s was still the province of the state legislature the debates between Lincoln and Douglas still had a profound effect on the political affairs of the time and played a significant role in the outcome of the Presidential election held just two years later. Abraham Lincoln lost in his bid to be elected to the United States Senate but in losing he ultimately won as his debates with Douglas established him as a strong voice against slavery and catapulted him into the Presidency only two years later.
The Northern Democrats believed that slavery needed to be halted to the states they were already in. If it moved into new territory, it would throw off the balance of free and slave states. They also called for popular sovereignty. Popular sovereignty calls for a democratic government by the people and for the people. Stephen Douglas ran for the Northern Democrats and upheld their position on the matter of slavery expansion and popular sovereignty. As well, he upheld the prevention of disunion. The Northern Democrats were angered that the Southern Democrats were calling for the expansion of slavery to the new territories and that is what ultimately split them from the Southern Democrats.
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
Now, as mentioned before, the topic of debate was slavery, more specifically slavery expansion. Throughout the debates Douglas tried to get Lincoln to confess that he was an abolitionist, therefore explaining his opposition to slavery and basically defeating his opponent. But Lincoln claimed that if slavery expanded, the people are going against the Constitution which states that all men were created with equal rights no matter the race, intellect, size, moral development, or social standing. Douglas's opening speech questioned the audience whether they would want an African-American to have the same rights as a white man, as if it were something that would be terrible. To which Lincoln responded with the statement that all men were created equally. Douglas and Lincoln also discussed the Dredd Scott case, Douglas appealed the Dredd Scott decision because it deprived certain people of rights. Lincoln then challenged that another Dredd Scott case would expand slavery even to free states. Lincoln said Douglas did not care about whether slavery is voted up or down and challenged the Freeport Doctrine because it alienated Southerners. This proved to hurt Douglas because the Southerners would now vote for
At this time it seemed that the issue of slavery was the only problem in the United States, almost as if a slave was being forced down the throats of the freesoilers (Document F). Stephen Douglas drafted the Kansas-Nebraska Acts in hopes of adding two new states: Kansas and Nebraska. Although it seemed that one would be a slave state, and the other a free state, the slavery issue would be decided by popular sovereignty. Many opposed this decision but did not know how to deal with it. The reason they did not know was because the Constitution did not mention it. William Lloyd Garrison said “the Constitution which subjects them to hopeless bondage is one that we cannot swear to support” (Document E). He was trying to say that the constitution can’t answer the question of slavery because the words “slave” and “slavery” are not in the constitution.
Douglas instead stuck with Congressional responsibilities on U.S. territories. The annexation of Texas sparked an idea among Southerners that by doing so would “benefit all white Americans by draining westward and southward their black populations into Latin America by way of Texas.” (Pg. 28). Douglas came to his decision on southward expansionism after the United States and Mexico came to war. Once Texas became a part of the Union, Douglas claimed that by being at war with Mexico had “justified the nation’s course and exposed his hope of that the hostilities would eventuate further U.S. territorial growth.”
Frederick Douglas were an African social rebel, abolitionist, author, and after he escaped from slavery in Maryland, he became a chief (leader) of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York,he gained note for his great speaking and his concise antislavery writings. In Douglas’s time he was described by the other abolitionists as a living kind of thing to slaveholders arguments that slaves lacked the intelligent space to function as on one’s own American citizens. Northern people at the time found it hard to believe that such a great speaker had once been a slave.
Frederick Douglas was a social reform who wanted to get things accomplished without aggression or violence, and many of his contemporaries did not, such as Martin Luther King. He wanted everyone to coexist peacefully and counted as an equal. He was undoubtedly a heroic social leader because of this. Douglas was an integrationist and believed in one American society based upon the promises of the founding fathers of America that all men were created equal and had the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Later on in history, the civil rights movement of the 1950's & 1960's most likely couldn't have happened without him and our country is far better for it.
From August 21 until October 15, Stephen Douglas battled Abraham Lincoln in face to face debates all around the state. The prize they sought to win was a seat in the Senate. The debates were to be held at 7 locations throughout Illinois. During the debates, Douglas still advocated "popular sovereignty," which meant to maintain the right of the citizens of a territory to permit or prohibit slavery. It was, a sacred right of self-government, or so he said. Lincoln proceeded to point out that Douglas's position directly challenged the Dred Scott decision. This in which decreed that the citizens of a territory had no such power. In what became known as the Freeport Doctrine. Douglas replied that whatever the Supreme Court decided was not as important as the actions of the citizens. If a territory refused to have slavery, no laws, no Supreme Court ruling, would force them to permit it. Over and over again, Lincoln made that point that "a house divided could not stand. " Douglas refuted this by saying that the founders, "left each state perfectly free to do as it pleased on the subject. " Lincoln felt that blacks were entitled to the rights enumerated in the Declaration of Independence, which include "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. " Douglas argued that the founders
Lincoln had said that “a house divided against itself cannot stand” (Douglas as cited by Dudley and Chalberg 155). However, with popular sovereignty in place, the federal government doesn’t have to fight over slavery as the states are the decision makers. Douglas has a quote stating that “laws and institutions which would be well adapted to the beautiful prairies of Illinois would not be suited to the mining regions of California”. What this means is a law passed in Illinois cannot become a blanket law that applies seamlessly to the whole country(Douglas as cited by Dudley and Chalberg 155). He goes on to explain that the founding father’s realized with a republic as large as the Union, there must a large amount of specific laws for specific areas. He then makes the statement that “the various states were not allowed to complain of, much less interfere with, the policy of their neighbors”, which means that one state cannot infringe upon another with it’s laws (Douglas as cited by Dudley and Chalberg 155). Another interesting quote of Stephen Douglas is as
Douglas being a Democrat and Mr. Lincoln being a Republican, it was inevitable that they would have differing views on how to handle the issue of slavery. Slavery may have been a much deeper issue than those of the ones we have today, but popular sovereignty should still be the way that one sees to be the right choice to solve slavery. Many could say that both men were right in their own ways, however, one should be able to see that Mr. Douglas’s arguments were stronger and better proven to be
1). In 1935 Douglas ran federally for the CCF and won a seat representing the Weyburn
He was a strong believer in popular sovereignity. Since he felt so strongly about it, he agreed that popular sovereignity would decide whether or not Kansas and Nebraska would be free states or slave states. This decision caused a huge disagreement between the North and South because this would allow slavery north of the Mason-Dixon dividing line created in the Missouri Compromise. The president at the time, Franklin Pierce, supported Douglas’ bill and passed it on May 30th, 1854.