Lincoln-Douglas Debates Essay

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Throughout the history of America, there have been many different turning points. They have shaped the foundations of American history through the years. One of the many important turning points in American history came because of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. The debates changed the direction that America was headed. The debates launched Lincoln into national prominence when he took a stand that struck a chord with many Americans. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates were seven joint debates that took place during the 1858 senatorial election campaign in Illinois. The debates attracted a great amount of national attention because many considered them high-risk topics. The debates were between two representatives who had opposite views on a number of the hot-button issues of the time. Stephen Douglas was a Jacksonian Democrat who supported the expansion of slavery, states rights and mass democracy. Abraham Lincoln was an ex-Whig who, before the debates, had a conservative view on slavery, which was to leave it where it was but expand it no further. He also supported a strong national government and was wary of mass democracy. The two had very different views that were supported by two very different groups of people. Lincoln started off his campaign very strong. On June 16, 1858 Lincoln made his famous “House Divided” speech in which he publicly took a more radical stance on the issue of slavery. In the speech he said that the states could not compromise and that slavery should be made to reach “ultimate extinction“(Lincoln, 1858). Lincoln stated that the issue of slavery was tearing apart the country and something definite had to be done to fix it. Douglas also started his campaign out strong on July 9, 1858 in Chicago. He had just returned from his Senate seat where he was arguing against the admittance of Kansas as a slave state under the Lecompton

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