Douglas's concerns in debate of 1858?

Answer 1

Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln were opponents in the race for United States Senator from Illinois in 1858. They engaged in seven debates during the campaign, focused on the gripping national question of the day, slavery: whether it should be ended entirely, or limited to certain states only, or allowed to exist in whichever states wanted it, and various positions in between. Douglas was in favor of "popular sovereignty", allowing each new state to decide for itself to whether or not to allow slavery. Lincoln was against the spread of slavery, though he also said that "a house divided against itself could not stand." Douglas was favored in the 1858 Senate election - he held the position already, had had national impact as a Senator, and was a much more experienced and polished politician than Lincoln - and won as expected. Douglas was also trying in the 1858 election campaign to position himself to win the Presidential election in 1860. He thought that his reasonable compromise position - neither abolishing slavery nor allowing it in territories in which a majority was against slavery, but permitting it where it was wanted - could appeal to everyone. Instead, however, because feelings on both sides of the issue were so strong, he alienated Northerners who favored abolition of slavery entirely or at least any spread of slavery, and also strongly pro-slavery Southerners, who did not believe that new states should be allowed to prohibit slavery.