Abraham Lincoln to Stephen A. Douglas, 29 July 18581
Springfield July 29th 1858.Hon. S. A. DouglasDear Sir:Yours of the 24th in relation to an arrangement to divide time and address the same audiences is received;
and in apology for not sooner replying, allow me to say that when I sat by you at
dinner yesterday, I was not aware that you had answered my note, nor certainly, that
my own note had been presented to you.2 An hour after, I saw a copy of your answer in the Chicago Times; and reaching home, I found the original awaiting me.3
Protesting that your insinuations of attempted unfairness on my part are unjust; and
with the hope that you did not very considerately make them, I proceed to reply. To
your statement that “It has been suggested recently that an arrangement had been made
to bring out a third candidate for the U.S. Senate, who with yourself should canvass the State in opposition to me, &c.[etc],” I can only say that such suggestion must have been made by yourself, for certainly
none such has been made by, or to me, or otherwise to my knowledge.4 Surely, you did not deliberately conclude, as you insinuate, that I was expecting to draw you into an arrangement
of terms, to be agreed on by yourself, by which a third candidate and myself “in concert,
might be able to take
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the opening and closing speech in every case.”
As to your surprise that I did not sooner make the proposal to divide time with you,
I can only say I made it as soon as I resolved to make it.5 I did not know but that such proposal would come from you; I waited respectfully
to see. It may have been well known to you that you went to Springfield for the purpose
of agreeing on the plan of campaign, but it was not so known to me. When your appointments
were announced in the papers, extending only to the 21st of August, I for the first time considered it certain that you would make no proposal
to me; and then resolved that if my friends concurred, I would make one to you. As
soon thereafter as I could see and consult with friends satisfactorily, I did make
the proposal: It did not occur to me that the proposed arrangement could derange your
plan, after the latest of your appointments already made. After that, there was before
the election, largely over two months of clear time.6
For you to say that we have already spoken at Chicago and Springfield, and that on both occasions I had the concluding speech, is hardly
a fair statement. The truth rather is this: at Chicago, July 9th, you made a carefully prepared conclusion on my speech of June 16th;7 twenty-four hours after I made a hasty conclusion on yours of the 9th; you had six days to prepare, and concluded on me again at
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Bloomington on the 16th; twenty-four hours after I concluded on you again at Springfield. In the mean time you had made another conclusion on me at Springfield, which I did not hear, and of
the contents of which I knew nothing when I spoke; [so] that your speech made in daylight, and mine at night of the 17th at Springfield, were both made in perfect independence of each other. The dates of
making all these speeches will show, I think, that in the matter of time for preparation,
the advantage has all been on your side, and that none of the external circumstances
have stood to my advantage.8I agree to an arrangement for us to speak at the seven places you have named, and
at your own times, provided you name the times at once so that I, as well as you,
can have to myself the time not covered by the arrangement.9 As to other details I wish perfect reciprocity, and no more. I wish as much time
as you, and that conclusions shall alternate.10 That is all.
Your obedient Servant,A. LincolnAs matters now stand I shall be at no more of your exclusive meetings; and for about
a week from to-day, a letter from you will reach me at Springfield.A. L.11<Page 4>
1An unknown person wrote this letter save for the signature and postscript which are
in Abraham Lincoln’s handwriting. The original letter in Abraham Lincoln’s handwriting is also extant. Except for minor changes
in style and punctuation, this copy reflects the original version.
2In June 1858, the Illinois Republican Convention nominated Abraham Lincoln to challenge Stephen A. Douglas for the U.S. Senate. Lincoln wrote Douglas on July 24 inviting him to participate in a series of debates. That invitation set the stage for what would become one of the most famous local
political contests in U.S. history and a precursor to the 1860 presidential election. Prior to the seven debates between Lincoln and Douglas, Lincoln had already made
sixty-three speeches in 1858, and Douglas claimed to have made 130. Douglas, the incumbent
U.S. Senator from Illinois, was more widely known than Lincoln and had the numeric advantage of the Democrats in the General Assembly. He also represented a divided party and faced a growing population in northern Illinois
that was hostile to slavery. Lincoln, on the other hand, had the advantage of a united
Republican party, a growing antipathy toward slavery in the state, and a reputation for integrity.
Nevertheless, his views on racial issues were unpopular, as was his stand on the Mexican War. The debates would highlight the fundamental differences in the men’s characters
and focus on the main issues of the day, the expansion of slavery and racial equality.
While the immediate effect of the debates was the re-election of Douglas, the long-term
results were the opposite. Lincoln was catapulted to national prominence, allowing
him to run for president in 1860, and Douglas’s campaign against Lincoln diminished
his chances of future success. See 1860 Republican National Convention.
Douglas replied to Lincoln’s invitation on the same day, July 24, agreeing to the debates as long
as they were held at times and locations chosen by Douglas. See 1858 Federal Election; Lincoln-Douglas Debates.
Lincoln and Douglas had dined together at either Clinton or Decatur on July 28. Lincoln and Douglas met on the road about two miles from Monticello, Illinois, on July 29. Douglas was on his way to Bement while Lincoln was heading to Monticello for campaign speeches.
Abraham Lincoln to Stephen A. Douglas; Abraham Lincoln to Stephen A. Douglas; Stephen A. Douglas to Abraham Lincoln; David M. Potter and Don E. Fehrenbacher, The Impending Crisis, 1848-1861 (New York: Harper & Row, 1976), 332-33; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:458, 486-87, 556-57; Allen
C. Guelzo, “Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of 1858,”
The Journal of American History 94 (September 2007), 392; George Fort Milton, "Lincoln-Douglas Debates," Dictionary of American History, rev. ed. (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1976), 4:155-56; The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln, 28 July 1858, https://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-07-28;29 July 1858, https://thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-07-29.
3Several other Illinois newspapers published Lincoln’s invitation and Douglas’s answer,
including the Chicago Daily Press and Tribune and the Illinois State Journal.
Chicago Daily Press and Tribune (IL), 28 July 1858, 1:2, Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 29 July 1858, 2:2.
4Lincoln references the recent split of the Democratic Party into pro-James Buchanan and pro-Douglas factions. The split occurred after Douglas, in December 1857, spoke
out against the Lecompton Constitution and criticized President Buchanan for supporting it. See Bleeding Kansas.
This accusation of Douglas that Lincoln had found a Buchanan/National Democratic candidate
and would insist on his inclusion in the proposed debates was pure fiction.. A rumor
of the possibility of the candidacy of Sidney Breese did appear in several Republican newspapers, but Lincoln had no connection to the
idea. Understandably, Douglas was actively trying to avoid being labeled a coward,
as the Republican Chicago Daily Press and Tribune seemed primed to do. In their July 26 edition, the Press editors noted that such debates between political opponents, “is the usual, almost
universal western style of conducting a political campaign, and it has been justly
held that the candidate who refused to speak in that way had no better reason than
cowardice for declining the challenge.”
Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, 1:445, 484; The Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 21 July 1858, 1:7; Chicago Daily Press and Tribune (IL), 26 July 1858, 1:1; 4 August 1858, 2:5.
5The Democratic Chicago Times echoed Douglas’s sentiment, asking why Lincoln had not challenged Douglas earlier.
The Daily Illinois State Journal published the response of the Chicago Daily Press and Tribune which described Douglas’s letter as a “long-winded, pettifogging reply” and noted
that, “Lincoln’s challenge was given as soon after Douglas returned home as good taste
would justify, and more than a quarter of a year before the campaign will be closed,
which is long enough in all conscience for anybody.”
Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, 1:484; The Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 4 August 1858, 4:5.
6Tuesday, November 2 served as election day in 1858.
Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, 1:545.
7Douglas responded to Lincoln’s “A house divided against itself cannot stand” speech,
delivered on June 16, 1858, on Friday, July 9 in Chicago. He commented on the now-famous
phrase, “He (Lincoln) therefore invites each section of the Union to arm itself with powder and ball and march against,
and extinguish the institutions of the other.”
Douglas went on to attack Lincoln’s “house divided” statement in all seven of the
Lincoln-Douglas Debates, accusing Lincoln of threatening the very existence of the institution of slavery
and of fomenting a war between the northern and southern states.
Report of Speech at Springfield, Illinois; Report of Speech at Springfield, Illinois; Fragment of A House Divided: Speech at Springfield, Illinois; Chicago Daily Press and Tribune (IL), 12 July 1858, 2:1; Edwin Erle Sparks, ed., The Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858, vol. 3 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library: Lincoln Series, Vol. 1, (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1908), 93, 178, 223-24, 254-55,
301-2, 345, 369, 416, 453.
8Early in the campaign, Lincoln had followed Douglas on the stump, delivering speeches
either later in the evening after Douglas finished, or the next day. Both Republicans
and Democrats criticized this strategy. This also posed challenges, moreover, as
many spectators were unwilling to devote long hours or days to campaign events.
Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life , 1:483-85; Report of Speech at Springfield, Illinois; Report of Speech at Springfield, Illinois; Fragment of A House Divided: Speech at Springfield, Illinois; Report of Speech at Chicago, Illinois; Report of Speech at Chicago, Illinois; Report of Speech at Chicago, Illinois; Speech at Springfield, Illinois; Report of Speech at Springfield, Illinois; Report of Speech at Springfield, Illinois.
9Douglas proposed the following schedule: Ottawa on August 21, Freeport on August 27, Jonesboro on September 15, Charleston on September 18, Galesburg on October 7, Quincy on October 13, and Alton on October 15.
10The debates followed a format of one candidate speaking for an hour, followed by a
one and a half hour response by the other candidate, and finally a half hour rebuttal
by the first speaker. Douglas and Lincoln would alternate who spoke first, with Douglas
speaking first at the odd numbered debates and Lincoln at the even. Lincoln concluded
the second, fourth, and sixth debates, while Douglas concluded the first, third, fifth,
and seventh debates.
Paul M. Angle, ed., The Complete Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858 (Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press, 1991), 285-402; Stephen A. Douglas to Abraham Lincoln.
Handwritten Letter Signed, 4 page(s), Stephen A. Douglas Papers, University of Chicago (Chicago, IL),