Download The Lincoln-Douglas Debates: The History and Legacy of America's Most Famous Debates AudioBook Free
" I carry that New York had just as much right to abolish slavery as Virginia must continue it, and that every state of the union is a sovereign power, with the right to do as it pleases upon this question of slavery, and upon all its home corporations." (Stephen Douglas) "This announced indifference, but, as I have to think, covert real zeal for the spread of slavery, I cannot but hate. I hate it as a result of monstrous injustice of slavery itself. I hate it...especially because it pushes so many really good men among ourselves into an open up war with the very fundamental concepts of civil liberty- criticizing the Declaration of Freedom, and insisting that there is no right concept of action but self-interest." (Abraham Lincoln) The most well-known debates in American history were placed over 150 years ago, and despite their popularity, no recognized transcripts were ever taken. Through the entire semester of 1858, US Senate individuals Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas participated in seven three-hour debates throughout Illinois. This unprecedented method of campaigning drew nationwide attention, the one which is still often idealized, right now, among those who feel politics is too bitterly partisan. The main theme of the debates was this issue being discussed across the land: slavery. When Congress created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska in 1854, it allowed the individuals of these territories to vote if the new state governments would be free state governments or slave state governments. This idea of allowing the individuals to vote was known as "popular sovereignty", and it was championed by the "little giant", Stephen Douglas.
