Douglas, Stephen Arnold (1813-1861), was a popular and skillful American orator and political leader just before the American Civil War. He is best known for his debates with Abraham Lincoln on the question of slavery. These debates ranked as noteworthy events in the history of the United States. See Lincoln, Abraham (The debates with Douglas).
Douglas was born on April 23, 1813, on a farm near Brandon, Vermont. Politics interested him, and he wanted to become a lawyer. At the age of 20, he went to Illinois. He was admitted to the bar at Jacksonville, Illinois. Douglas, a Democrat, was elected prosecuting attorney for his district in 1835. The next year, he was elected to the state legislature. He was judge of the Supreme Court of Illinois from 1841 to 1843. Douglas was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1843 and became a member of the United States Senate in 1847.
Douglas was a short man, with a large head and broad shoulders. Because of his appearance, he received the nickname the Little Giant. He won respect in the Senate for his ability, energy, and fearlessness, and became chairman of the Senate committee on territories. More than any other person, Douglas helped win passage of the Compromise of 1850. This compromise was a series of laws that temporarily eased tensions over slavery. See Compromise of 1850.
The slavery controversy was the great issue of the mid-1800’s. As each territory applied for admission to the Union, a storm of debate arose in Congress as to whether the new state should be free or slaveholding. Douglas believed that the people of the territories should decide for themselves whether they wanted slavery. He called this principle popular sovereignty. It was also called squatter sovereignty (see Popular sovereignty). Douglas’s committee reported the famous Kansas-Nebraska Bill in 1854. The bill included the principle of popular sovereignty (see Kansas-Nebraska Act). Douglas was chiefly responsible for the passage of this much-disputed bill.
When Douglas ran for reelection to the Senate in 1858, his Republican opponent was Abraham Lincoln, a man then almost unknown outside Illinois. Douglas and Lincoln held a series of public meetings in which they debated the problem of slavery and its extension. These meetings attracted the attention of the entire country.
Douglas argued that the people must have the right to control slavery. Lincoln said that a nation half-slave and half-free could not exist. Douglas won his reelection to the Senate, but some of his speeches in the debates displeased Southern Democrats. Douglas was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1860, but only Northern Democrats supported him. The Democratic Party split its votes among three candidates. Douglas received only 12 electoral votes, though he achieved the second highest popular vote. The Republican candidate, Abraham Lincoln, won the election.
Douglas supported President Lincoln and the Union when the Civil War broke out. “There can be no neutrals in this war,” he declared, “only patriots—or traitors.” Douglas died a few months later, on June 3, 1861. He was buried in a small park in Chicago.
See also Lincoln-Douglas debates.
