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Stephen Douglas
Stephen A. Douglas
In office
March 4, 1847 – June 3, 1861
Preceded by James Semple
Succeeded by Orville H. Browning
Election date
November 6, 1860
Born April 23, 1813
Brandon, Vermont
Died June 3, 1861 (aged 48)
Chicago, Illinois
Political party Democratic
Spouse Martha Martin
Adele Cutts

Stephen Arnold Douglas (April 23, 1813 - June 3, 1861) was an American politician from the western state of Illinois, and was the Democratic Party nominee for President in 1860. Illinois was admitted to the Union on December 3, 1818. Class II Class III Footnotes Events 51 - Nero, later to become Roman Emperor, is given the title Princeps iuventutis (head of the youth Year 1847 ( MDCCCXLVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Events 350 - Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, proclaims himself Roman Emperor, entering Year 1861 ( MDCCCLXI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common James Semple ( January 5, 1798 - December 20, 1866) was a United States Senator from Illinois. Orville Hickman Browning ( February 10, 1806 &ndash August 10, 1881) was a Republican Senator from Illinois The Democratic Party is one of two major Political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. The United States presidential election of 1860 set the stage for the American Civil War. Events 355 - Roman Emperor Constantius II promotes his cousin Julian to the rank of Caesar, entrusting him with Year 1860 ( MDCCLX) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year starting Events 215 BC - A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Year 1813 ( MDCCCXIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Brandon is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3917 at the 2000 census Vermont ( is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. Events 350 - Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, proclaims himself Roman Emperor, entering Year 1861 ( MDCCCLXI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. The State of Illinois ( roughly ill-i-NOY is a state of the United States of America, the 21st to be admitted to the Union. The Democratic Party is one of two major Political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. Events 215 BC - A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Year 1813 ( MDCCCXIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 350 - Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, proclaims himself Roman Emperor, entering Year 1861 ( MDCCCLXI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The State of Illinois ( roughly ill-i-NOY is a state of the United States of America, the 21st to be admitted to the Union. The History of the United States Democratic Party is an account of the oldest Political party in the United States and arguably TalkDemocratic The President of the United States is the Head of state and Head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by The United States presidential election of 1860 set the stage for the American Civil War. He lost to the Republican Party's candidate, Abraham Lincoln, whom he had defeated two years earlier in a Senate contest following a famed series of debates. The History of the United States Republican Party is an account of the second oldest currently existing Political party in the United States Abraham Lincoln (February 12 1809 &ndash April 15 1865 the sixteenth President of the United States, successfully led his country through its greatest internal The United States Senate is the Upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the Lower house being the House of Representatives The Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 were a series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate and the incumbent Stephen A He was nicknamed the "Little Giant" because he was short but was considered by many a "giant" in politics. Douglas was well-known as a resourceful party leader, and an adroit, ready, skillful tactician in debate and passage of legislation.

As chairman of the Committee on Territories, Douglas dominated the Senate in the 1850s. He was largely responsible for the Compromise of 1850 that apparently settled slavery issues. The Compromise of 1850 was a series of bills aimed at resolving the territorial and slavery controversies arising from the Mexican-American War (1846&ndash1848 Slavery in the United States began soon after English colonists first settled Virginia in 1607 and lasted until the passage of the Thirteenth However, in 1854 he reopened the slavery question by the highly controversial Kansas-Nebraska Act that allowed the people of the new territories to decide for themselves whether or not to have slavery (which had been prohibited by earlier compromises). The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opened new lands repealed the Missouri Compromise of The protest movement against this became the Republican Party.

Douglas supported the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision of 1857, and denied that it was part of a Southern plot to introduce slavery in the Northern states; but also argued it could not be effective when the people of a territory declined to pass laws supporting it. Dred Scott (1799 – September 17, 1858) was a slave in the United States who sued unsuccessfully for his freedom in the famous Dred Scott v Sandford —whether or not they were slaves—could never be Citizens of the United States, and that the United States Congress The Southern United States &mdashcommonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South &mdashconstitutes a large distinctive As a social-economic system slavery is a legal institution under which a Person (called "a slave" is compelled to work for another The Northern United States is a large geographic region of the United States of America. [1] When President James Buchanan and his Southern allies attempted to pass a Federal slave code, to support slavery even against the wishes of the people of Kansas, he battled and defeated this movement as undemocratic. James Buchanan Jr (April 23 1791 – June 1 1868 was the fifteenth President of the United States (1857–1861 Kansas ( is a Midwestern state in the central region of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the American " This caused the split in the Democratic Party in 1860, as Douglas won the nomination but a breakaway southern faction nominated their own candidate, Vice President John C. Breckinridge. John Cabell Breckinridge (January 16 1821 &ndash May 17 1875 was a lawyer U Douglas deeply believed in democracy, arguing the will of the people should always be decisive. Democracy is a form of government in which the supreme power is held completely by the people under a free electoral system [2] When Civil War came in April 1861, he rallied his supporters to the Union with all his energies, but he died a few weeks later. Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty-three

Contents

Earlier Career

Born in Brandon, Vermont, Stephen Arnold Douglas came to Illinois in 1833, was an itinerant teacher, studied law, and settled in Jacksonville. Brandon is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3917 at the 2000 census Jacksonville is a city in Morgan County, Illinois, United States. By the end of the year, he told his Vermont relatives, "I have become a Western man, have imbibed Western feelings principles and interests and have selected Illinois as the favorite place of my adoption. " He served as Morgan County State's Attorney from 1834-36 Within a decade, he was elected to the state legislature, and was appointed register of the Springfield Land Office, Illinois Secretary of State, and an associate justice of the Illinois Supreme Court in 1841, at age 27. The Illinois General Assembly is the Legislative branch of the Government of the state of Illinois in the United States, created by the Springfield is the capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 116482 (U The Supreme Court of Illinois is the highest judicial court of the state of Illinois. A leader of the majority Democratic Party, he was elected twice to Congress (1842 and 1844), where he championed expansion and supported the Mexican War. The History of the United States Democratic Party is an account of the oldest Political party in the United States and arguably TalkDemocratic The United States House of Representatives is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress; the other is the Senate. Elected by the legislature to the U.S. Senate in 1847, he was reelected in 1853 and 1859. The United States Senate is the Upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the Lower house being the House of Representatives He was challenged for his Senate position in 1858 by Abraham Lincoln, who had served with Douglas in the legislature, in a series of nationally famous debates which significantly boosted Lincoln's reputation despite his loss to Douglas. Abraham Lincoln (February 12 1809 &ndash April 15 1865 the sixteenth President of the United States, successfully led his country through its greatest internal

Douglas chiefly designed the Compromise of 1850,however Henry Clay's support was needed and therefore receives much of the credit. The Compromise of 1850 was a series of bills aimed at resolving the territorial and slavery controversies arising from the Mexican-American War (1846&ndash1848 The omnibus bill containing it did not pass Congress. Each point separately had majority support, but Northerners and Southerners combined to vote the bill down for their own reasons. Douglas passed the Compromise by dividing it into separate bills, and arranged a different majority for each. [3] He moved to Chicago, gaining wealth by marriage to a Mississippi woman who inherited a slave plantation. Mississippi ( is a state located in the Deep South of the United States An avid promoter of westward expansion, he devised the land grant system that enabled the funding of the Illinois Central railroad. A land grant is a gift of Real estate - land or privileges - made by a government or other authority as a Reward for services The Illinois Central, sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad carrier in the central United States, with its primary routes

Douglas always had a deep and abiding faith in democracy. "Let the people rule!" was his cry, and he insisted that the people locally could and should make the decisions about slavery, rather than the national government. He was passed over for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1852 and 1856. The United States presidential election of 1852 was in many ways a replay of the election of 1844. The United States presidential election of 1856 was unusually heated [4]

A deeply religious man, but one also dedicated to the enterprise of higher education, Stephen Douglas founded a Baptist Seminary in Chicago which was called the University of Chicago in 1857. However, the University was largely destroyed by fire in 1886, leading to its closing. The Old University of Chicago was replaced in 1890 by a newly chartered university, funded largely by the Rockefeller family. The University of Chicago, now known as the Old University of Chicago, was a Baptist college founded in 1857 by Stephen Douglas. Rockefeller is a surname and may refer to Rockefeller family John D The current University of Chicago later added the alumni from the previous incarnation to its graduation roles, thereby linking to two separate institutions. The University of Chicago is a Private university located principally in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. Currently, the old Stephen Douglas founded seminary's sole remnant is a brick which is located between Weiboldt Hall and the Classics Building on the Hyde Park campus of the University.

Personal and Family

Adele Cutts
Adele Cutts

In person Douglas was conspicuously short (at 5 foot 4 inches and 90 pounds), but his large head and massive chest and shoulders gave him the popular sobriquet "The Little Giant". Though his voice was strong and carried far, he had little grace of delivery, and his gestures were often violent.

Douglas moved to a farm near Clifton Springs, New York and studied at Canandaigua Academy in 1832-33 (where he was honored posthumously in 1996 as a "Graduate of Distinction". Clifton Springs is a Village located in Ontario County, New York, United States. ) He then moved to Illinois as an itinerant teacher and soon rose in Democratic party politics. Douglas briefly courted Mary Todd (who married Abraham Lincoln instead). Mary Ann Todd Lincoln ( December 13, 1818 &ndash July 16, 1882) was the wife of the 16th President of the United States, Abraham In March 1847 he married Martha Martin, the daughter of wealthy Colonel Robert Martin of North Carolina. North Carolina ( is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States She brought to Douglas the new responsibility of a large cotton plantation in Lawrence County, Mississippi worked by slaves. Lawrence County is a County located in the US state of Mississippi. To Douglas, an Illinois senator with presidential aspirations, the management of a Southern plantation with slave labor presented a difficult situation. However, Douglas sought to escape slaveholding charges by employing a manager for his Mississippi holdings, while using the economic benefits derived from the property to advance his political career. His sole lengthy visit to Mississippi came in 1848, with only brief emergency trips thereafter. [5] The newlyweds moved their Illinois home to fast-growing Chicago in the summer of 1847. Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. Martha Douglas died on January 19, 1853, leaving the Senator with two small sons (one of whom was Robert M. Douglas). Events 1419 - Hundred Years' War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England completing his reconquest of Normandy. Year 1853 ( MDCCCLIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Robert Martin Douglas (1849-1917 was a North Carolina Supreme Court justice and political figure On November 20, 1856, he married 20 year-old Adele Cutts, the daughter of James Madison Cutts and a great-niece of former U. Events 284 - Diocletian was chosen as Roman Emperor. 762 - Bögü Khan of the Uyghurs, Year 1856 ( MDCCCLVI) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year S. First Lady Dolley Madison. Dorothea Payne Todd "Dolley" Madison (May 20 1768 &ndash July 12 1849 was the wife of the 4th President of the United States, James Madison, and was [6]

Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854

Forcing Slavery Down the Throat of a Freesoiler
Forcing Slavery Down the Throat of a Freesoiler

An 1856 cartoon depicts a giant free soiler being held down by James Buchanan and Lewis Cass standing on the Democratic platform marked "Kansas", "Cuba" and "Central America". James Buchanan Jr (April 23 1791 – June 1 1868 was the fifteenth President of the United States (1857–1861 Lewis Cass ( October 9, 1782 – June 17, 1866) was an American military officer and Politician. The Democratic Party is one of two major Political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. Kansas ( is a Midwestern state in the central region of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the American " The Republic of Cuba (ˈkjuːbə or) consists of the island of Cuba (the largest and second-most populous island of the Greater Antilles) Isla de la Franklin Pierce also holds down the giant's beard as Douglas shoves a black man down his throat.

Douglas set off a tremendous political upheaval by proposing the Kansas Nebraska Act in 1854. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opened new lands repealed the Missouri Compromise of New laws were needed to allow for the settlement of the Nebraska territory. Illinois was Douglas's home state, so naturally he had invested in Chicago land, which would be made more valuable by railroads from Chicago that would serve the region, as it had been by the Illinois Central. The Illinois Central, sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad carrier in the central United States, with its primary routes The Missouri Compromise had guaranteed slavery would not exist there (because it was north of the 36°30' compromise line), and the Compromise of 1850 had reaffirmed this. The Missouri Compromise was an agreement passed in 1820 between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States Congress, involving

Leading Southern Senators had met with Douglas, and had insisted on popular sovereignty as a condition for their support of the bill. Douglas's first bill had only enacted it to a limited extent, by providing that Nebraska and Kansas could enter the Union free or slave as the residents might decide; but the Southerners insisted, and Douglas discovered a "clerical error", and revised the bill. Nebraska ( is a state located on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States and Kansas ( is a Midwestern state in the central region of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the American " [7]

Douglas argued that the people of the territory should decide the slavery question by themselves, and that soil and climate made the territory unsuitable for plantations; which last reassured his northern supporters it would remain free. Douglas defended his doctrine of popular sovereignty[8] as a means of promoting democracy and removing the slavery issue from national politics, lest it threaten to rip the nation apart, but it had exactly the opposite effect.

Douglas and Abraham Lincoln aired their disagreement on this topic in Peoria, Illinois, on October 16, 1854. [1] Although Mr. Lincoln's three hour "Peoria Speech"[2], presented thorough moral, legal and economic arguments against slavery,[3] it did not stop the Act from passing. Abraham Lincoln's Peoria speech was made in Peoria Illinois on October 16 1854

The act was passed by Southern votes, Democratic and Whig alike, and Douglas had little to do with the final text. The Whig Party was a Political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. This was the first appearance of the Solid South, and the opponents of the Act saw it as the triumph of the hated Slave Power and formed the Republican Party to stop it. The Slave Power (sometimes referred to as the " Slaveocracy " was a term used in the Northern United States (primarily in the period 1840-1875 to characterize [9]

Presidential Aspirant

In 1852, and again in 1856, Douglas was a candidate for the Presidential nomination in the national Democratic convention, and though on both occasions he was unsuccessful, he received strong support. When the Know Nothing movement grew strong he crusaded against it, but hoped it would split the opposition. The Know Nothing movement was a Nativist American political movement of the 1850s In 1858 he won significant support in many former Know-Nothing strongholds. [10] In 1857, he broke with President James Buchanan and the "administration" Democrats, and lost much of his support in the Southern United States, but partially restored himself to favor in the North – especially in Illinois – by his vigorous opposition to the method of voting on the Lecompton constitution, which he saw as fraudulent, and (in 1858) to the admission of Kansas into the Union under this constitution. James Buchanan Jr (April 23 1791 – June 1 1868 was the fifteenth President of the United States (1857–1861 The Southern United States &mdashcommonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South &mdashconstitutes a large distinctive The Lecompton Constitution was the second of four proposed Constitutions for the state of Kansas (it was preceded by the Topeka Constitution and followed [11]

Stephen A. Douglas
Stephen A. Douglas

In 1858, when the United States Supreme Court – after the vote of Kansas against the Lecompton constitution – had decided that Kansas was a "slave" territory, thus quashing Douglas' theory of "popular sovereignty", he engaged in Illinois in a close and very exciting contest for the Senate seat with Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate, whom he met in a series of seven famous debates which became known as the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Year 1858 ( MDCCCLVIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. Popular sovereignty or the sovereignty of the people is the belief that the legitimacy of the State is created by the will or consent of its people, who Abraham Lincoln (February 12 1809 &ndash April 15 1865 the sixteenth President of the United States, successfully led his country through its greatest internal The Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 were a series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate and the incumbent Stephen A In the second of the debates, Douglas was led to declare that any territory, by "unfriendly legislation", could exclude slavery, no matter what the action of the Supreme Court. Having already lost the support of a large element of his party in the South, his association with this famous Freeport Doctrine made it anathema to many southerners, including Jefferson Davis, who would have otherwise supported it. The Freeport Doctrine was articulated by Stephen A Douglas at the second of the Lincoln-Douglas debates on August 27, 1858, in Freeport Jefferson Finis Davis ( June 3, 1808 &ndash December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as President of the

Statue of Douglas at the site of the 1858 debate in Freeport, Illinois.
Statue of Douglas at the site of the 1858 debate in Freeport, Illinois. Freeport is the County seat of Stephenson County, Illinois, United States.

Before and during the debates, Douglas repeatedly invoked racist rhetoric, claiming Lincoln was for black equality and saying at Galesburg that the authors of the Declaration of Independence did not intend to include blacks. Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, in the United States. The United States Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4 1776 announcing that the thirteen American colonies then "This Government was made by our fathers on the white basis . . . made by white men for the benefit of white men and their posterity forever," he said. [12] Lincoln pointedly denied Douglas' assertion that the Declaration of Independence did not include minorities. [13]

Much of the debate was about the redefinition of republicanism. Republicanism is the Value system of Governance that has been a major part of American civic thought since the American Revolution Lincoln advocated equality of opportunity, arguing that individuals and society advanced together. Douglas, on the other hand, embraced a democratic doctrine that emphasized equality of all citizens (only whites were citizens), in which individual merit and social mobility was not a main goal. [14] Douglas won the senatorship by a vote in the legislature of 54 to 46, but the debates helped boost Lincoln into the presidency.

Douglas waged a furious battle with President Buchanan for control of the Democratic party. Although Douglas was not reappointed chairman of the Senate committee on territories, he bested Buchanan throughout the North and headed into 1860 as the front runner for president. [15]

In the 1860 Democratic National Convention in Charleston, South Carolina, the failure to adopt a slave code to the territories in the platform brought about the withdrawal from the convention of delegations from Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina, Florida, Texas and Arkansas. The 1860 Democratic National Convention was one of the main events prior to the American Civil War. Charleston is a city in Charleston county in the US state of South Carolina. Slave codes were laws each US state had defining the status of slaves and the rights of masters the code gave slave owners near-absolute power over the right of their Alabama (formally the State of Alabama;) is a State located in the southern region of the United States of America. Mississippi ( is a state located in the Deep South of the United States The State of Louisiana ( or, État de Louisiane, pronounced) is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America South Carolina ( is a state in the southern region ( Deep South) of the United States of America. Florida ( is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State. Arkansas ( is a state located in the southern region of the United States. The convention adjourned to Baltimore, Maryland, where the Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and Maryland delegations left it, and where Douglas was nominated for the presidency by the Northern Democrats. The Commonwealth of Virginia ( is an American state North Carolina ( is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States Tennessee ( is a state located in the Southern United States. The Commonwealth of Kentucky ( is a state located in the East Central United States of America. He campaigned vigorously but hopelessly, boldly attacking disunion, and in the election of 1860, though he received a popular vote of 1,376,957 (2nd at 29%) he received an electoral vote of only 12 (4th and last at 4%) - Lincoln receiving 180. The United States presidential election of 1860 set the stage for the American Civil War. The Electoral College consists of 538 popularly elected representatives who formally select the President and Vice President of the United States. His support in the North came from the Irish Catholics and the poorer farmers; in the South the Irish Catholics were his main supporters. Irish Americans (Gael-Mheiriceánach are citizens of the United States who can claim ancestry originating in Ireland. [16]

Douglas urged the South to acquiesce to Lincoln's election, and made efforts to arrange a compromise which would persuade the South to remain in the Union. As late as Christmas 1860, he wrote Alexander H. Stephens, offering to annex Mexico as a slave state as a sweetener; Mexico had abolished slavery in 1829. This is an article about the Confederate Vice President For the shipbuilding company see Alexander Stephen and Sons Alexander Hamilton Stephens ( The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. [17] At the outbreak of the Civil War, he denounced secession as criminal, and was one of the strongest advocates of maintaining the integrity of the Union at all hazards. Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South Secession (derived from the Latin term secessio is the act of withdrawing from an organization union or especially a political entity At Lincoln's request he undertook a mission to the border states and to the Midwest to rouse the spirit of Unionism; he spoke in West Virginia, Ohio and Illinois. West Virginia ( is a state in the Appalachian Upland South, and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, bordered by Ohio ( is a Midwestern state of the United States. As part of the Great Lakes region, Ohio has long been a cultural and geographical crossroads

Douglas's tomb
Douglas's tomb

Historical Disputes

For a century and a half, historians have debated whether or not Douglas opposed slavery,[18] and whether or not he was a trimmer and compromiser or a devotee of principles. [19]

Douglas married into a slaveholding family (as did Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant), but the issue is whether he supported slavery as a matter of public policy. Ulysses S Grant, born Hiram Ulysses Grant (April 27 1822 &ndash July 23 1885 was an American general and the eighteenth President of the United States In his "Freeport Doctrine" of 1858 he repeatedly insisted that he did not care whether slavery was voted up or down, but only that the people had the right to vote it up or down. He denounced as sacrilegious and undemocratic the petitions signed by thousands of clergymen in 1854 who said the Nebraska Act offended God's will. [20] He rejected the Republican notions that slavery was condemned by a "higher law" (Seward's position) or that the nation could not long survive half slave and half free (Lincoln's position). William Seward can refer to William H Seward, United States Secretary of State 1861-1869 William H He disagreed with the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision that Congress had to protect slavery in the territories, regardless of what the people there thought. Dred Scott v Sandford —whether or not they were slaves—could never be Citizens of the United States, and that the United States Congress When Buchanan supported the Lecompton Constitution and thus adopted the pro-slavery position on Kansas, Douglas fought him relentlessly in a long battle that gave.

Historian Allan Nevins was harsh on Douglas, "When it [slavery] paid it was good," wrote Nevins, "and when it did not pay it was bad. " Nevins consequently judged that Douglas did not "regard a slaveholding society as one whit inferior to a free society. " All in all, Nevins rather brutally assessed what he called Douglas's "dim moral perceptions. "[21] Graham Peck finds that several scholars have given brief opinions to the effect that Douglas was personally opposed to slavery, none of them with "extensive arguments to justify the conclusion". He cites some more recent scholarship as (equally briefly) finding Douglas "insensitive to the moral repugnance of slavery" or even "proslavery". He himself finds, however, that Douglas was the "ideological [and] practical head of the northern opposition to the antislavery movement" and questions whether Douglas "opposed black slavery for any reason, including economics". Harry Jaffa thought Douglas was tricking the South with popular sovereignty—telling Southerners it would protect slavery but believing the people would actually vote against it. Johannsen found Douglas "did not regard slavery as a moral question; at least, he never condemned the institution in moral terms either publicly or privately. " However he "privately deplored slavery and was opposed to its expansion (and, indeed, in 1860 was widely regarded in both North and South as an antislavery candidate), he felt that its discussion as a moral question would place it on a dangerous level of abstraction. " [22]

Death and Legacy

Douglas died in Chicago from typhoid fever on June 3, 1861. Typhoid fever, also known as enteric fever, bilious fever, Yellow Jack or commonly just typhoid, is an illness caused by the Bacterium Events 350 - Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, proclaims himself Roman Emperor, entering Year 1861 ( MDCCCLXI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common He was buried on the shore of Lake Michigan. Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America, and the only one located entirely within the United States. The site was afterwards bought by the state, and an imposing monument with a statue by Leonard Volk now stands over his grave. The Stephen A Douglas Tomb and Memorial or Stephen Douglas Monument Park is located at 800 E Leonard Wells Volk ( November 7, 1828 - August19, 1895 was an American sculptor.

Today, there are Douglas Counties in Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington and Wisconsin. Douglas County is the eighth most populous of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. Douglas County is a County located in the US state of Georgia. Douglas County is a County located in the US state of Illinois. Douglas County (county code DG) is located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. Douglas County is a County located in the US state of Minnesota Douglas County is a County located in the US state of Missouri. Douglas County is a County located in the US state of Nebraska. Douglas County is a County located in the northwestern part of the U Douglas County is a county located in the US state of Oregon. Douglas County is a County located in the US state of South Dakota. Douglas County is a County located in the US state of Washington. Douglas County is a county located at the north-west corner of the U There is Fort Douglas (Utah) in Salt Lake City, and the city of Douglas, Georgia is also named for him, but it is not located in his namesake county; the city of Douglas is found in Coffee County. Camp Douglas was established in 1862 as a small military garrison about three miles east of Salt Lake City, Utah, for the purpose of protecting the overland mail Salt Lake City is the Capital and the most populous city of the U Douglas is a city in Coffee County, Georgia, United States. The population was 10639 at the 2000 census and 11209 as of estimates conducted Coffee County is a County located in the US state of Georgia. The county seat of Georgia's Douglas County is, fittingly, Douglasville. A county seat is a term for an Administrative center for a County, primarily used in the United States. The City of Douglasville is the County seat of Douglas County Georgia, United States.

In Wyoming (the Equality State), the County Seat of Converse County, is named in honor of him. Located in east/central Wyoming on the banks of the North Platte River, Douglas, Wyoming has consistently been recognized as one of America's 100 Best Small Cities. Douglas is a city in Converse County, Wyoming, United States.

See Also

Further Reading

Notes

  1. ^ McPherson, pp. 177-8
  2. ^ Dean (1994)
  3. ^ McPherson
  4. ^ Dean 1995
  5. ^ Clinton 1988
  6. ^ Clinton 1988
  7. ^ McPherson, Battle Cry, pp. 121-122.
  8. ^ Senator Lewis Cass, a leading Democrat from Michigan and the Democratic presidential nominee in 1848, had coined the idea of popular sovereignty. Lewis Cass ( October 9, 1782 – June 17, 1866) was an American military officer and Politician. Michigan ( is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. The United States presidential election of 1848 was an open race
  9. ^ Nichols 1956, who concludes thus (p. 212):"It was but a few steps onward to secession, the Confederacy, and the Solid South. The great volcano of American politics was in a state of eruption. In the midst of the cataclysm, one sees Douglas crashing and hurtling about, caught like a rock in a gush of lava. Two new masses were prominent on the political landscape, the Republican party and the Solid South. Solid South refers to the electoral support of the Southern United States for Democratic Party candidates for nearly a century from 1877 the end of the Reconstruction Douglas had disappeared. "
  10. ^ Hansen and Nygard
  11. ^ Johannsen (1973)
  12. ^ David Donald, Lincoln. (1995) p. 222
  13. ^ Donald, 222
  14. ^ Stevenson 1994
  15. ^ Johannsen (1973)
  16. ^ Johannsen (1973)
  17. ^ Kagan, Dangerous Nation, p. 243
  18. ^ Nichols (1956)
  19. ^ Dean (1995)
  20. ^ Huston 1997
  21. ^ Nevins (1947) 2:107-8, quoted in Peck (2005)
  22. ^ Peck (2005); Peck cites (footnote 2, and associated text) Johannsen, Stevens, Milton, Capers, Wells, Baker, Potter and David Donald as believing Douglas opposed slavery; on the other side, he cites Morrison, Richards and Glickstein.

Primary sources

Text supplemented from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica

External links


Political offices
Preceded by
Alexander P. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The Biographical Directory of the United States Congress is a Biographical dictionary of all present and former members of the United States Congress as Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to Digitize, archive and distribute Cultural works Field		 Secretary of State of Illinois
1840 – 1841		 Succeeded by
Lyman Trumbull
United States Senate
Preceded by
James Semple		 Senator from Illinois (Class 2)
March 4, 1847 – June 3, 1861
Served alongside: Sidney Breese, James Shields, Lyman Trumbull		 Succeeded by
Orville H. Browning
Party political offices
Preceded by
James Buchanan		 Democratic Party presidential candidate¹
1860		 Succeeded by
George McClellan
Notes and references
1. The Secretary of State of Illinois is the keeper of the official records laws and Great Seal of Illinois. Lyman Trumbull ( October 12, 1813 &ndash June 25, 1896) was a United States Senator from Illinois during the The United States Senate is the Upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the Lower house being the House of Representatives James Semple ( January 5, 1798 - December 20, 1866) was a United States Senator from Illinois. Illinois was admitted to the Union on December 3, 1818. Class II Class III Footnotes Sidney Breese ( September 7, 1800 &ndash June 27, 1878) was a U This article is about the US Senator. For the Pitcher, see James Shields (pitcher. Lyman Trumbull ( October 12, 1813 &ndash June 25, 1896) was a United States Senator from Illinois during the Orville Hickman Browning ( February 10, 1806 &ndash August 10, 1881) was a Republican Senator from Illinois James Buchanan Jr (April 23 1791 – June 1 1868 was the fifteenth President of the United States (1857–1861 This is a list of the candidates for the offices of President of the United States and Vice President of the United States of the modern Democratic Party of the United The United States presidential election of 1860 set the stage for the American Civil War. George Brinton McClellan ( December 3 1826 October 29 1885) was a major general during the American Civil War. The Democratic Party split in 1860, producing two presidential nominees. Douglas was nominated by Northern Democrats; John C. Breckinridge was nominated by Southern Democrats. John Cabell Breckinridge (January 16 1821 &ndash May 17 1875 was a lawyer U
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