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The Life And Accomplishments Of Stephen A. Douglas

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Stephen A. Douglas was born in Brandon Vermont in 1813. Douglas grew up and studied law in New York before moving to Illinois in 1833. In Illinois, Douglas helped to organize a Democratic party. He played a large part in the setup and and organization of said party, introducing many useful features such as committees and regularity of meetings. Stephen Douglas held many positions during his time, including several state offices, a seat on the House of Representatives, and the position of United States Senator. However, one notable position Douglas did not hold was that of president, despite his many great achievements in his other places of office.

Douglas is famous for his many achievements during his time in office in Congress especially. He fought for the Compromise of 1850, which helped to balance slave with free states, by admitting California to the Union as a free state, and Utah and New Mexico would decide for themselves free …show more content…

That is why he so fervently supported the idea of popular sovereignty; it would not be him deciding the issue of slave state or not, but rather the settlers of said territories. However, in doing this he did lose some support from both the north and the south. He gained back a little support when he stood against James Buchanan who had attempted to make Kansas a slave state by rigging the voting and other such skullduggery. When running for the position of United States Senator in Illinois, Douglas faced opposition from candidate Abraham Lincoln. After separately touring the state and making speeches, the two candidates decided to come together in what is known as the Lincoln Douglas debates. During these debates, Lincoln tried to force Douglas into being more decisive, eventually getting him to make what is now called the Freeport

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