III. Lincoln/Douglas
Debates
A. Who Are They?
1. Abraham Lincoln
– 4 terms in Illinois
Legislature
– 1 term in US Congress
– Left Whig party to
become a Republican in
1856
– Supported stopping the
spread of slavery
2. Stephen Douglas
– Democratic Senator
from Illinois
– Been in Senate since
1847
– Worked on the
Kansas-Nebraska Act
B. Why Debate?
1. Election of 1858
– Lincoln challenges
Douglas for the Illinois
Senate seat
– Lincoln ran as a
Republican
– Douglas ran as a
Democrat
2. Lincoln’s Nomination Speech
– Gave an important speech when he accepted the
Republican nomination for the Senate
– “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
– “I believe this government can not endure,
permanently half slave and half free.”
– Speech was seen as most radical stance against
slavery taken by a Republican
C. The Debates
1. The Format
– 7 debates across Illinois
– Each lasts about 3 hours
– Each would give a
“speech” and then the
other would respond
– Thousands came to the
debates to see the two
men speak
2. Lincoln’s Views
– Slavery was wrong
– Said Democrats wanted to
spread slavery across the
US
– Wanted to stop the spread
of slavery into new states
and territories
– African Americans were
“entitled to all natural
rights.”
3. Douglas’ Views
– Warned that Republicans wanted to make all
states free
– Warned that Lincoln wanted Whites and Blacks to
be socially and politically equal
4. The Outcome
– Douglas wins the election and keeps his Senate
seat
– Lincoln lost but becomes a leader in the
Republican Party
IV. 1860 Election
A. Four Parties Running
1. Republican Party
– Candidate: Abraham Lincoln
– States they won: Northern
States
– 39.8% of the Vote
– 180 Electoral Votes
2. Northern Democrats
–
–
–
–
Candidate: Stephen Douglas
States they won: Missouri
29.5% of the vote
12 Electoral Votes
3. Southern Democrats
– Candidate: John C.
Breckenridge
– States they won: Southern
States
– 18.1% of the Vote
– 72 Electoral Votes
4. Constitutional Union Party
– Candidate: John Bell
– States they won: Border
States
– 12.6% of the vote
– 39 Electoral Votes
B. Secession
1. President Lincoln
– Southerners worried
Lincoln will abolish
slavery
– Believe this would
ruin the south
– Lincoln said he would
not abolish it though
2. South Carolina
– 3 days after election state legislature gathers
– Dec 1860, SC votes to dissolve its union with the
United States
– First state to leave the union
3. Confederate States of America
– By Feb 1861: Mississippi, Florida, Alabama,
Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, and South Carolina
have all seceded
– Feb 4, seceded states send delegates to Alabama
to form the CSA
– Draft a constitution much like the US’s but it
guaranteed the right to own slaves
– Jefferson Davis is elected president of the
Confederacy