The Lincoln-Douglas Joint Debates took place in seven towns in various
parts of Illinois between August 21 and October 15, 1858. The proposal
for these meetings was made by Lincoln in a note addressed to Douglas.
The length of each debate and the division of time between the speakers
are stated in the opening sentence of the speech given in the text.
The speeches, which were all extempore, as far as the actual form is
concerned, were later collected from the newspaper reports, and after
some slight revision by the authors were published in 1860 in Columbus,
Ohio. This volume, from which the present text is taken, contained in
addition a number of speeches delivered by Lincoln and Douglas earlier
in 1858 and two speeches made by Lincoln in Ohio in 1859. Lincoln's
statement at the close of a letter to the publishers, accompanying the
copy for the book, is characteristic and interesting: "I wish the
reprint to be precisely as the copies I send, without any comment
whatever." This Columbus issue was used as a Republican campaign
document and large numbers were sold.
The Freeport Debate, the second in the series, was held on the
afternoon of August 27. With the exception of the Galesburg Debate, it
was the most largely attended of the seven meetings, and in its effect
upon the campaign it is now regarded as the most important.
_Judge Douglas and myself_. In the informal speeches Lincoln
frequently committed errors of speech like this. Even during the
presidential period he shows a marked tendency to use the cleft
infinitive. But in the carefully written addresses the language is
almost always correct.
_Fugitive Slave law_. This statute was passed in 1850 for the stricter
regulation of the return of escaped slaves to their owners. In his
answer to this question Lincoln showed clearly that he was not an
Abolitionist, as that term was then understood.
_Question 2_. Douglas' reply to this question was as follows: "I
answer emphatically, as Mr. Lincoln has heard me answer a hundred times
from every stump in Illinois that in my opinion the people of a
territory can, by lawful means, exclude slavery from their limits prior
to the formation of a State Constitution." It is claimed that this
question was put by Lincoln in spite of the protests of several of his
friends, who believed that it would give Douglas an advantage. But
here, as in the equally feared Springfield Speech, Lincoln proved his
superior sagacity. Douglas' affirmative answer probably gained him the
senatorship, but it certainly lost him the presidency two years later.
_First Republican State Convention_. The reference is to a meeting
held in Springfield, which was addressed by Owen Lovejoy. Lincoln was
not present on this occasion. Recent investigation seems to show that
there was no foundation for the charge that this was exclusively a
meeting of Abolitionists, but that it included many men who held the
same political views as Lincoln. Douglas honestly believed that the
resolutions read by him at the Ottawa meeting were genuine and he was
greatly chagrined at the mistake.
_By an amendment_. This amendment was offered by Douglas.