Stephen A. Douglas: Difference between revisions

==Presidential aspirant==

In 1852 and 1856, Douglas was a candidate for the Presidential nomination in the national Democratic convention; although he was unsuccessful, he received strong support on both occasions. When the [[Know Nothing]] movement grew strong, he crusaded against it, but hoped it would split the opposition. In 1858 he won significant support in many former Know-Nothing strongholds.<ref>Hansen and Nygard</ref> In 1857, Douglas broke with President [[James Buchanan]] and the "administration" Democrats, and lost much of his support in the [[Southern United States]]. He partially regained favor in the North &ndash; especially in Illinois &ndash; 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.<ref name="Johannsen 1973">Johannsen (1973)</ref>

In 1858, the [[Supreme Court of the United States|United States Supreme Court]] &ndash; after the vote of Kansas against the Lecompton constitution &ndash; had decided that Kansas was a "slave" territory, thus quashing Douglas' theory of "[[popular sovereignty]]". In Illinois he engaged 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 debates which became known as the [[Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858|Lincoln-Douglas debates]]. In the second of the debates, Douglas said that any territory, by "unfriendly legislation", could exclude slavery, no matter what the action of the Supreme Court. Having already lost the support of much 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. [[File:Freeport Il Debate Square4.JPG|thumb|right|Statue of Douglas at the site of the 1858 debate in [[Freeport, Illinois]].]]

Before and during the debates, Douglas repeatedly invoked [[racist]] rhetoric, claiming Lincoln was for black equality. At [[Galesburg, Illinois|Galesburg]], he said that the authors of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] did not intend to include blacks. "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.<ref>David Donald, ''Lincoln''. (1995) p. 222</ref> Lincoln denied his opponent's assertion that the Declaration of Independence excluded blacks.<ref>Donald, 222</ref>

In the [[1860 Democratic National Convention]] in [[Charleston, South Carolina]], the failure of the delegates to include a [[slave codes|slave code]] to the territories in the platform brought about the withdrawal of delegations from [[Alabama]], [[Mississippi]], [[Louisiana]], [[South Carolina]], [[Florida]], [[Texas]] and [[Arkansas]]. The convention adjourned to [[Baltimore, Maryland]], where the [[Virginia]], [[North Carolina]], [[Tennessee]], [[Kentucky]] and [[Maryland]] delegations left it. Douglas was essentially nominated for the presidency by the Northern Democrats. He campaigned vigorously, attacking disunion, and in the [[United States presidential election, 1860|election of 1860]], though he received a popular vote of 1,376,957 (2nd at 29%) he received an [[United States Electoral College|electoral vote]] of only 12 (4th and last at 4%) - Lincoln receiving 180. His support in the North came from the [[Irish Americans|Irish Catholics]] and the poorer farmers; in the South, the Irish Catholics were his main supporters.<ref name="Johannsen 1973"/>

 

 

[[File:Stephen Arnold Douglas tomb.jpg|right|thumb|150px|Douglas's tomb]]