The principal topic of the Lincoln-Douglas debates was slavery. Specifically, Lincoln thought that all the territories (the parts of the United States that were not yet States) should be free of slavery, and that eventually, the federal government should outlaw slavery everywhere in the U.S., while Douglas thought that each territory should decide for itself whether it wanted to allow slavery or not.
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The Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858 were a series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate for Senate in Illinois, and incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas, the Democratic Party candidate. Although Lincoln was a candidate for the Senate in Illinois, the debates were not directly related to an election of office. At the time, Illinois' Senators were elected by the Illinois Legislators, so the purpose of the debates was to represent their parties (Lincoln for the Republicans and Douglas for the Democrats) in a bid to win control of the Illinois Legislature. The main issue discussed in all seven debates was slavery.
The Illinois seat was open in the US Senate and Lincoln (Republican) And Douglas (Democrat) were running against each other for said seat.Both Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln were campaigning for one of the two United States Senator seats from Illinois in 1858.They participated in a total of seven debates across the state.Issues in the debates ranged from states' rights to the spread of slavery into the expanding territories.
There were seven debates between Lincoln and Douglas. The rules for each debate would be the same. One man would speak for an hour. His opponent would speak for an hour and a half. Then the first man would speak for half an hour and the debate would end. Douglas spoke first at the first debate.
Abraham Lincoln led our country in the civil war to help free slaves. he argued about the spread of salver in a series of seven debates called the Lincoln-Douglas debates. They were held in seven different towns in Illinois, including Charlestown.
He married, lived in Springfield and traveled up and down the state as a lawyer. He served a term in Congress , his law practice grew and he became a leader in the new Republican party. He ran for Senate in Illinois and engaged in a series of seven debates that attracted national attention and put him on track for the Presidential nomination.