Lincoln-Douglas Debates

The debates between Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln were held during the 1858 campaign for a U.S. Senate seat from Illinois. The debates were held at seven sites throughout Illinois, one in each of the seven Congressional Districts. Douglas, a Democrat, was the incumbent Senator, having been elected in 1847. He had chaired the Senate Committee on Territories; he helped enact the Compromise of 1850; he was a proponent of Popular Sovereignty; and he was responsible for the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, legislation that led to the violence in Kansas, hence the name "Bleeding Kansas". Lincoln was a relative unknown at the beginning of the debates. In contrast to Douglas' Popular Sovereignty stance, Lincoln stated that the United States could not survive as half-slave and half-free states. The Lincoln-Douglas debates drew the attention of the entire nation. Although Lincoln would lose the Senate race in 1858, he would beat Douglas out in the 1860 race for the Presidency.




LIST OF DEBATES
1. Washington Square, Ottawa, Illinois

2. Freeport, Illinois.Over 15,000 people attended the original debate in Freeport, then a town of 5,000. The Freeport Doctrine, which was the result of the debate, states people had the right to choose whether or not to exclude slavery from their limits.

3. Union County Fairgrounds, Jonesboro, Illinois. The only debate held south of the Mason-Dixon Line, the subject split families into Confederate and Union factions.

4. Coles County Fairgrounds, Charleston, Illinois. This was area was very familiar to Lincoln. His father had lived and died here. Lincoln's stepmother and many relatives and friends lived here also. Lincoln had a thriving law practice in the community. A majority of the townspeople had come from Kentucky and Tennessee, moving north to avoid competition with slave labor. Most were poor and believed they had no chance to win out in the competition with slave labor.

5. Old Main, Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois. The east side on East South St. between Cedar and South Cherry Streets was the site of the original debate. This location has the only currently remaining structure from the original debates.

6. Washington Park, Quincy, Illinois

7. Broadway & Market Streets, Alton, Illinois