Stephen A. Douglas to Abraham Lincoln, 30 July 18581
Bement, Piatt Co., Ill., July 30, 1858.Dear Sir:—Your letter, dated yesterday, accepting my proposition for a joint discussion at one prominent
point in each Congressional District, as stated in my previous letter, was received this morning.2
The times and places designated, are as follows:
| Ottawa, LaSalle County............. | August | 21st, | 1858. |
| Freeport, Stephenson County,.... | do[ditto] | 27th, | do |
| Jonesboro, Union County.......... | September | 15th, | do |
| Charleston, Coles County........... | do | 18th, | do |
| Galesburgh, Knox County.......... | October | 7th, | do |
| Quincy, Adamas County............ | do | 13th, | do |
| Alton, Madison County.............. | do | 15th, | do |
I agree to your suggestion that we shall alternately open and close the discussion.
I will speak at Ottawa one hour, you can reply, occupying an hour and a half, and
I will then follow for half an hour. At Freeport, you shall open the discussion and
speak one hour, I will follow for an hour and a half, and you can then reply for half
an hour. We will alternate in like manner in each successive place.3
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,S. A. Douglas.1The Illinois State Journal published this letter from Stephen A. Douglas to Abraham Lincoln. A version in Douglas’s handwriting has not been located.
The Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 4 August 1858, 2:1.
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, 1858, 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. Lincoln agreed on July 29. See 1858 Federal Election; Lincoln-Douglas Debates.
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; Abraham Lincoln to Stephen A. Douglas; Abraham Lincoln to Stephen A. Douglas; Stephen A. Douglas to Abraham Lincoln; Abraham Lincoln to Stephen A. Douglas; Abraham Lincoln to Stephen A. Douglas.
3The 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.
Printed Transcription, 1 page(s), Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana, Library of Congress (Washington, DC).