Stephen A. Douglas: First Debate with Abraham Lincoln

( 1858 ) Commentary by Bradley A. Skeen, Ph.D.

“Why can it not exist divided into Free and Slave States? Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Madison, Hamilton, Jay, and the great men of that day, made this Government divided into Free States and Slave States, and left each State perfectly free to do as it pleased on the subject of slavery. Why can it not exist on the same principles on which our fathers made it?” - First Debate with Abraham Lincoln
“I would never consent to confer the right of voting and of citizenship upon a negro.” - First Debate with Abraham Lincoln
“I believe that this new doctrine preached by Mr. Lincoln and his party will dissolve the Union if it succeeds. They are trying to array all the Northern States in one body against the South, to excite a sectional war between the Free States and the Slave States, in order that the one or the other may be driven to the wall.” - First Debate with Abraham Lincoln

Stephan A. Douglas (Library of Congress)

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