The Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858, also known as The Great Debates of 1858, were seven different political debates. These debates were between the Republican candidate, Abraham Lincoln and the Democratic Party candidate, Stephen A. Douglas. During this period of time, United States senators were elected by the state legislatures. Due to the fact the state legislatures elect the United States senator, both Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas are fighting for themselves to prove to the Illinois legislatures that they deserve the spot.
Each and every one of the different seven debates dealt with both of these men in a campaign for one of Illinois' two United States Senate seats. They both had to agree upon debating in seven of the nine Illinois Congressional Districts. They chose the seven specific areas to debate because they wanted somewhere that
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Douglas would start the debate with one hour to state whatever it is they want. The other person, that didn’t speak first, would then be given and hour and a half to say what they want. It then goes back for thirty more minutes to the person who spoke first to give their rebuttal. Due to the fact there was an odd number of debates one of them went first one more time than the other person. Stephen A. Douglas was the guy who went first four times meaning Abraham Lincoln only went first 3 times.
Even tho Illinois was a free state, the main issue they discussed was slavery in the United States, particularly stopping the expansion of slavery in the territories. In the First debate, in Ottawa, as many as twelve thousand people showed up. Douglas mainly stated, “You, sir, are a radical abolitionist who wants to turn Illinois into a colony for free blacks!” Lincoln’s main argument was, “No, I'm not! You want to expand slavery across the entire nation!” In the second debate, Lincoln spoke first, he started off by answering some direct questions that Douglas proposed in the first debate. Lincoln then