Abraham Lincoln

Stephen Douglas

The Lincoln-Douglas (Illinois Senate)Debates, 1858

The Lincoln-Douglas (Illinois Senate)Debates, 1858

A House divided against itself, cannot stand.

A House divided against itself, cannot stand.

Lincoln – Douglas Debates:

BACKGROUND

In 1858, Lincoln challenged incumbent Douglas for his seat in the Senate.

(Incumbent – the holder of an office or position)

• A series of 7 face-to-face debates held throughout Illinois.

Abraham Lincoln (left) and Stephen Douglas (right)

Lincoln – Douglas DebatesDebates were as much about the men as it was about slavery.

“The Little Giant”“Honest Abe”

● Elected twice to HOR and 3 times in the Senate.

• Married into wealth – wife inherited a Mississippi plantation

Resume –

STEPHEN DOUGLAS

• Crafted the Compromise of 1850

● KS-NE Act

• Ran (unsuccessfully) twice for US Senate but served in HOR

• Outspoken critic of the Mexican War

• Organized the Republican Party– originally sided with the Whig Party, which dissolved in 1856

Resume –

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

• Self-taught lawyer

• Douglas believed that each territory should be able to decide on its’ own whether or not to allow slavery by using popular sovereignty.

VIEW ON SLAVERY

Stephen Douglas:

• Lincoln was wrong for wanting to end slavery.

• If Lincoln tried to end slavery, the U.S. could face a civil war.

• Lincoln believed that slavery was a “moral wrong" and should be kept out of new territories.

• He did not believe in ending slavery where it already existed, but nevertheless believed that African Americans were guaranteed “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” as stated in the DOI

VIEW ON SLAVERY

Abraham Lincoln:

Lincoln’s Senatorial Campaign Speech

LINCOLN (quoting the Bible):

'A house divided against itself cannot stand.' I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided. Either theopponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new -- North as well as South.“

ONE OF HIS MOST FAMOUS QUOTES!!!!

• Lincoln argued that it was the national government’s role to prevent the expansion of slavery

• Douglas was conflicted re: popular sovereignty because the Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional to take away slaveholder’s property

• When asked by Lincoln if he thought pop sov could overrule the Supreme Court, Douglas said:

“The people have the lawful means to introduce it or exclude it as they please.”—

Freeport Doctrine

Lincoln Gains the Advantage—FREEPORT DEBATE

• Freeport Doctrine • Could the people of a territory legally

exclude slavery before achieving statehood?• Douglas replied that the people could exclude

slavery by refusing to pass laws protecting slaveholders’ rights

• 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.

• This sentiment would be taken as betrayal to many southern Democrats and would come back to haunt Douglas in his bid to become President in the election of 1860.

Freeport Doctrine (Freeport, IL Debate)

• However, Lincoln became well known throughout the nation.

• More than 30,000 copies of the transcripts of the debates were sold in the West and North.

• Douglas failed in his presidential campaign to even get nominated, while Lincoln won the support of the new Republican Party (leftovers from the Whigs and Free Soil), and eventually won the presidency in 1860.

Lincoln – Douglas Debates - RESULTS

• Douglas won the election by a slim margin – at that time, the state legislature chose their senators, not the people.

John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry, 1859

• After the 1858 Congressional elections, Southerners began to feel threatened by growing Republican power

• In late 1859, an act of violence greatly increased their fears

• After John Brown’s raid, his execution became a rallying point for abolitionists.

• When Southerners learned of Brown’s connection to abolitionists, their fears of a great northern conspiracy against them seemed to be confirmed.

John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry, 1859

• Very religious and anti-slavery background

• Witnesses a young slave boy get beaten when he was 12, which would haunt him for years to come

• Advocated for violent means to end slavery

• Assisted in the Underground Railroad

• Pottawatomie Creek Massacre

Harper’s Ferry• The town sits on the fork of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, on

the border of Virginia, Maryland, and now West Virginia, in the Appalachian Mountains

• It was home to one of two U.S. Armories, and a large rifle manufacturing plant

• On Oct 16, 1859, Brown and 21 followers took possession of the arsenal

• This event occurred while

Buchanan was President

Harper’s Ferry• John Brown received economic support from the “Secret Six”

(most of them fled after the failed attack for fear of being put on trial)

• As John Brown and his men marched into town, only one guard stood on duty (who thought the men were playing some kind of joke)

• As the men took the guard hostage, a train came by and the men panicked, making two grave mistakes: they shot an African-American railroad worker and they let the train go

Harper’s Ferry• Meanwhile, a few others, led by Brown, showed up at

Colonel Lewis Washington’s door to take from him a sword that the king of Prussia had given to the first President. – To Brown it symbolized the fight for American freedom

• Many people believed Brown was insane because, although he planned the raid for months, he brought with him no food and kept his plans secret….meaning he forgot to tell the slaves to rise up and rebel

Harper’s Ferry• Once the U.S. Army and Marines arrived, Brown and his

men were quickly captured

• During the trial, Brown justified his attack on the basis that he was God’s chosen one to end slavery

• Sectionalism was on full display during the trial– North considered Brown a martyr – South considered him a dangerous man; however, used his raid

to gain support for secession

Harper’s Ferry• Brown was executed on December 2, 1859

– Carrying his coffin was John Wilkes Booth, TJ Jackson and Edmund Ruffin

“I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land

will never be purged away but with blood.”