The arguments presented by Abraham Lincoln in his debates with Stephen A. Douglas have had a lasting effect on national politics. From 1858 through 1861, Lincoln’s arguments helped to shape the national discourse surrounding slavery and challenged the dominant narrative of the time. Lincoln's arguments helped to build a moral ground for the Republican Party and led to the establishment of the Republican Party as an anti-slavery party. The debates also brought Lincoln's name and reputation to a national stage and helped to pave the way for his election as President in 1860. The arguments about slavery presented by Abraham Lincoln in his debates with Stephen A. Douglas affected national politics as Abraham Lincoln was known nationally by the debates and the freeport doctrine had affected Douglas negatively. …show more content…
Lincoln's arguments, however, helped to bring the issue to the forefront of national politics and shift the conversation from one of compromise to one of confrontation. By doing so, he helped to make slavery a central issue in American politics and galvanize the anti-slavery movement.
The debates to establish Lincoln as a leading voice against slavery: During the debates, Lincoln presented a clear and forceful argument against the expansion of slavery, which helped to establish him as a leading voice against the institution. His argument that slavery was a moral wrong and that it was incompatible with the principles of the Declaration of Independence helped to inspire a generation of anti-slavery activists and paved the way for his eventual election as
The Infamous Lincoln-Douglas Disputations The Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 hold great significance in America's political history. These seven debates for Senate drew tens of thousands of attendees to several cities around Illinois. Its main arguments brought forth slavery's complex division in America as well as the separation of the union because of it. Although Lincoln did not win the election, these debates proved to be the platform for Lincoln's principles and helped his rise towards presidency.
In 1858 Stephen Douglas a spokesman for the Democratic Party, was seeking reelection to a third term in the U.S. Senate, and Abraham Lincoln was running for Douglas’s Senate seat as a Republican. Douglas and Lincoln traveled across the state of Illinois in a series of debates hitting seven of the nine Congressional Districts. Douglas and Lincoln each took turns discussing party politics, the future of the nation, and the most important topic slavery. Who won the debates, is the question that is still being asked in the year 2016. Through my own personal study and review of The Lincolns Douglas Debates, it is my personal opinion that Stephen Douglas not Abraham Lincoln won the debates because of how the election system was set up in 1858, by
Where a not so well known Republican, Abraham Lincoln, challenged the reputable Democrat, Stephen A. Douglas, to a series of seven open-air debates to be done throughout Illinois on the issue of slavery in territories. Douglas supported popular sovereignty, which is the allowing of inhabitants of a territory to vote for or against slavery in that territory. He also held that slavery was not immoral, but thought an unsuitable labor system for some places. Lincoln, on the other hand, held that slavery was immoral, and a labor system based on greed. The main difference between Lincoln and Douglas was that Douglas believed popular sovereignty would inevitably lead to slavery ceasing on its own, while Lincoln saw the only way to end slavery was through legislation.
During Abraham Lincoln’s presidency at the start of the 1860, an issue that had divided the nation was slavery. Lincoln’s election to presidency as a republic was not received well by the Southern slave states, as they thought that as a republican he was out to abolish slavery. In an effort to calm southern states and keep them from seceding from the United States, he attempts to ease them with his First Inaugural Address. In his First Inaugural Address his key points are to clam southern leaders of slave states, keep the states from seceding, and make them at ease as he enters presidency.
The Lincoln and Douglas Debates in 1858 were a series of important joint discussions that would determine the future of slavery in America. The Lincoln/Douglas Debates were also known as the Great Debates of 1858. Before the debates, Douglas had unusually defied President James Buchanan and the southern democratic leaders about admitting Kansas as a slave state under the Lecompton constitution. Those from the North that were against slavery, later known as Republicans, found interest in having Douglas reelected as a U.S. Senate. Lincoln and his allies had known Douglas for a long time and did not trust him.
As we entered the 21st century, the presidency became very different from the one created in 1878. The constitution limited the presidency so it wouldn’t become a monarchy. However, the limitations subsided because of the attitudes of the founding fathers, and the next two presidents. Washington, Adams and Jefferson shaped the presidency into more of a positively influenced position in the 1800s. But, from that time until about the 1930s, Congress was the most dominant office in the executive branch.
Lincoln and Douglass participated in seven debates throughout Illinois, one in each of the state’s congressional districts. Lincoln believed slavery was wrong and wanted slavery to end. He preserved the union during
Stephen Douglas, an advocate of popular sovereignty, and Abraham Lincoln, a Republican candidate, were both running to represent Illinois in the United States Senate. These two men met in a sequence of seven debates before they battled for office of presidency in the election of 1858. Slavery eventually became the main issue discussed repeatedly in each of the debates, due to the Mexican War adding new territories left to be assessed as free soil or not. During this time, the Compromise of 1850 was a temporary fix to the sectional issues for the states that made the decision to participate in the extension of slavery. However, the Missouri Compromise of 1854 brought the issue back up again.
Lincoln felt that it would surely it would allow for expansion of slavery to run rampant through the country and into new territories. Still, the country was divided by anti-slavery advocates and slaveholders and the divide grew larger with each debate. In Lincoln’s “House Divided” speech, he emphasized that this division could not last for long. For the sake of the country and its union, Americans needed to pick a side.
His speech on the slavery question and the preservation of the Union lasted more than two hours. The speech was circulated as an addendum to the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, and helped Lincoln establish a strong position for the Republican Party in the 1860 election. After Lincoln defeated Douglas in the presidential election of 1860, he returned
These debates established a firm ground for the rest of his political career. Abraham held his own against a very important politician, this exposure would be the reason Abraham Lincoln wins the presidential election of 1860. In the political cartoon titled “Douglas Hatches a Slavery Problem” the author illustrates key points in the rising tension of slavery. Such as, “popular sovereignty”, “free kansas”, “equal justice” and “Dred Scott”. During a debate in August that took place in Springfield, Illinois Lincoln expressed his fears about the ruling in Dred Scott v. Sanford.
In 1858, Abraham Lincoln ran for senator but lost to Stephen A. Douglas. Yet, Lincoln developed a national reputation as a result of his debate with Douglas, which helped him win the Republican nomination for president in 1860. Slavery and state rights were the key election-related issues. Lincoln shaped the Republican Party into a potent force. On his political position, Lincoln opposed the spread of slavery in the territories.
President Lincoln stated that: “if I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it,..., and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would do it.”. This quote clearly shows that the freedom of slaves was not his concern and unnecessary if it did not help the Union; as the result, slavery still exists if there is no war. Free slave from bondage should be a Great Emancipator’s primary goal and he will do his best to achieve it no matter what, but president Lincoln’s thought differed from that because all he cares was the Union. Although he had many times admitting himself an anti-slavery but his words and thoughts obviously prove that he is
Abraham Lincoln ended slavery by standing up against Stephen Douglas; he fought for senate seating he gave speeches, and he destroyed Douglas’ credibility. Abraham fought for senate seating seating in 1885. He fought for seating to embrace equal rights. “A house divided against itself cannot stand”(Abraham Lincoln). The debaters each had 90 minutes to speak about slavery, and the society of the slaves
Since Abraham’s knowledge on slavery was very strong, he joined the Republican Party two years later. A year later, the Supreme Court supplied decisions made from Scott v. Sanford, announcing African Americans were not real citizens and hadn’t any rights given to them. Abraham had the strong feeling that African Americans weren’t as equal to whites, he also had the feeling that the founders stated that all men were put on this earth with specific rights. Lincoln being as confident as he is, took on U.S. Senator Stephen Douglas to take his spot in office. Six years passed and Illinois had organized a campaign to help Abraham Lincoln win the presidency.