Stephen Douglas

Author : Reg Ankrom
Publisher : McFarland
Page : 238 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 2015-04-13
Category : History
ISBN : 9780786498079

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Stephen A. Douglas by Reg Ankrom Pdf

When newly elected Illinois State Representative Abraham Lincoln first saw 5'4" Stephen A. Douglas, he sized him up as "the least man I ever saw." With the introduction of Douglas's first bill in 1834, Lincoln soon thought differently. The General Assembly not only passed the bill, it appointed the 21-year-old Douglas State's Attorney of Illinois' largest judicial district, replacing John J. Hardin, one of Lincoln's most powerful political allies. It was the first of many Douglas-Lincoln contests in the decade ahead. Struggles over banking, internal improvements, party organizations, the seat of government and slavery--even romantic rivalry--put them on opposing sides long before the 1860 presidential election. These battles were Douglas's political apprenticeship and he would use what he learned to obstruct Lincoln--his friend and nemesis--while becoming the most powerful Democrat in the nation.

Author : Martin H. Quitt
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2012-09-24
Category : History
ISBN : 9781139536936

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Stephen A. Douglas and Antebellum Democracy by Martin H. Quitt Pdf

This thematic biography demonstrates how Stephen Douglas's path from a conflicted youth in Vermont to dim prospects in New York to overnight stardom in Illinois led to his identification with the Democratic Party and his belief that the federal government should respect the diversity of states and territories. His relationships with his mother, sister, teachers, brothers-in-law, other men and two wives are explored in depth. When he conducted the first cross-country campaign by a presidential candidate in American history, few among the hundreds of thousands that saw him in 1860 knew that his wife and he had just lost their infant daughter or that Douglas controlled a large Mississippi slave plantation. His story illuminates the gap between democracy then and today. The book draws on a variety of previously unexamined sources.

Author : Reg Ankrom
Publisher : McFarland
Page : 380 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2021-04-23
Category : History
ISBN : 9781476673769

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Stephen A. Douglas, Western Man by Reg Ankrom Pdf

It didn't take long for freshman Congressman Stephen A. Douglas to see the truth of Senator Thomas Hart Benton's warning: slavery attached itself to every measure that came before the U.S. Congress. Douglas wanted to expand the nation into an ocean-bound republic. Yet slavery and the violent conflicts it stirred always interfered, as it did in 1844 with his first bill to organize Nebraska. In 1848, when America acquired 550,000 square miles after the Mexican War, the fight began over whether the territory would be free or slave. Henry Clay, a slave owner who favored gradual emancipation, packaged territorial bills from Douglas's committee with four others. But Clay's "Omnibus Bill" failed. Exhausted, he left the Senate, leaving Douglas in control. Within two weeks, Douglas won passage of all eight bills, and President Millard Fillmore signed the Compromise of 1850. It was Douglas's greatest legislative achievement. This book, a sequel to the author's Stephen A. Douglas: The Political Apprenticeship, 1833-1843, fully details Douglas's early congressional career. The text chronicles how Douglas moved the issue of slavery from Congress to the ballot box.

Author : Robert Walter Johannsen
Publisher : University of Illinois Press
Page : 1012 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 1973
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 0252066359

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Stephen A. Douglas by Robert Walter Johannsen Pdf

BIOG Johannsen's 1983 biography won the Francis Parkman Prize of the Society of American Historians. Though most know Douglas for his famous debates with Abraham Lincoln, Johannsen reveals him to be one of the most powerful and formidable politicians of his time. This edition contains a new introduction.-

Author : Douglas R. Egerton
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 406 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2010-10-04
Category : History
ISBN : 9781608193516

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Year of Meteors by Douglas R. Egerton Pdf

“Egerton tells the story of the dissolution of the Union as it should be told, not from the perspective of those looking back on the crisis, but from the clouded vision of those who lived through it.” -Carol Berkin, author of A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution and Civil War Wives In early 1860, pundits across America confidently predicted the election of Illinois senator Stephen A. Douglas in the coming presidential race. Douglas, after all, was a national figure, a renowned orator, and led the only party that bridged North and South. But his Democrats fractured over the issue of slavery, creating a splintered four-way race that opened the door for the upstart Republicans, exclusively Northern, to steal the Oval Office. Dark horse Abraham Lincoln-not the first choice even of his own party-won the presidency with a record-low share of the popular vote. His victory instantly triggered the secession crisis. With a historian's keen insight and a veteran political reporter's eye for detail, Douglas R. Egerton re-creates the cascade of unforeseen events that confounded political bosses, set North and South on the road to disunion, and put not Stephen Douglas but his greatest rival in the White House. Year of Meteors delivers a vibrant cast of characters-from the gifted, flawed Douglas to the Southern “fire-eaters,” who gleefully sabotaged their own party, to the untested Abraham Lincoln-and a breakneck narrative of this most momentous year in American history.

Author : Damon Wells
Publisher : University of Texas Press
Page : 374 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 2014-09-10
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781477303221

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Stephen Douglas by Damon Wells Pdf

Stephen Douglas and the old Union lived out their last years together. It was the most critical time in the life of both the Illinois senator and his country. During most of the period 1857–1861 the American nation could still choose between adjustment of its sectional differences and civil war, and the man they called the Little Giant seemed the one statesman most likely to lead the country onto a course of compromise and reconciliation. But Douglas' intense involvement with the American political scene—his great accomplishments in enacting the Compromises of 1850 and 1854, and his victory in the senatorial campaign of 1858—tended at times to disguise a growing alienation from the mainstream of American political life. By 1857 that alienation had reached acute proportions. In part, Douglas fell victim to his own virtues. He sought to be a nationalist in an age of sectionalism; he preached the value of compromise when most Americans questioned its worth. In other respects, Douglas' political failures are less excusable. His attempt to convert an apparently amoral attitude toward slavery into a principle—popular sovereignty—found him dismissed by antislavery citizens as immoral and by proslavery citizens as unreliable. For too long, Douglas, professing to "care not" about the future of slavery, overlooked how much Americans could care once their consciences had been aroused or their way of life supposedly threatened. Douglas failed to win the presidential campaign of 1860 largely because he could satisfy neither the proponents nor the enemies of slavery. Yet if the last years of Douglas' life were marred by failure, he was not ultimately the tragic figure some historians have suggested. During the campaign of 1860 a profound change began to take place in Stephen Douglas. The outmoded nationalism he had preached for so long began to give way to Unionism. In his eventual support of Lincoln and his defense of the Union, Douglas at last found a policy worthy of his great talents. Damon Wells first became interested in Stephen Douglas in 1959 after seeing a Broadway dramatization of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates. Later, his studies convinced him that playwright and historian alike were often unfair to Douglas. If Lincoln was to be a hero, then Douglas had to be cast as a villain. This study fills the need for a fresh and dispassionate look at Douglas and provides a fairer assessment than can be reached by simply endorsing contradictory views of apologists and critics. It places particular emphasis on the Little Giant's struggle with President James Buchanan, the debates with Lincoln, the presidential campaign of 1860, Douglas' complex relationship with the South, and a careful analysis of the elusive and at times exasperating principle of popular sovereignty.

Author : Damon Wells
Publisher : University of Texas Press
Page : 375 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 1990-09-01
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780292776357

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Stephen Douglas by Damon Wells Pdf

Stephen Douglas and the old Union lived out their last years together. It was the most critical time in the life of both the Illinois senator and his country. During most of the period 1857–1861 the American nation could still choose between adjustment of its sectional differences and civil war, and the man they called the Little Giant seemed the one statesman most likely to lead the country onto a course of compromise and reconciliation. But Douglas' intense involvement with the American political scene—his great accomplishments in enacting the Compromises of 1850 and 1854, and his victory in the senatorial campaign of 1858—tended at times to disguise a growing alienation from the mainstream of American political life. By 1857 that alienation had reached acute proportions. In part, Douglas fell victim to his own virtues. He sought to be a nationalist in an age of sectionalism; he preached the value of compromise when most Americans questioned its worth. In other respects, Douglas' political failures are less excusable. His attempt to convert an apparently amoral attitude toward slavery into a principle—popular sovereignty—found him dismissed by antislavery citizens as immoral and by proslavery citizens as unreliable. For too long, Douglas, professing to "care not" about the future of slavery, overlooked how much Americans could care once their consciences had been aroused or their way of life supposedly threatened. Douglas failed to win the presidential campaign of 1860 largely because he could satisfy neither the proponents nor the enemies of slavery. Yet if the last years of Douglas' life were marred by failure, he was not ultimately the tragic figure some historians have suggested. During the campaign of 1860 a profound change began to take place in Stephen Douglas. The outmoded nationalism he had preached for so long began to give way to Unionism. In his eventual support of Lincoln and his defense of the Union, Douglas at last found a policy worthy of his great talents. Damon Wells first became interested in Stephen Douglas in 1959 after seeing a Broadway dramatization of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates. Later, his studies convinced him that playwright and historian alike were often unfair to Douglas. If Lincoln was to be a hero, then Douglas had to be cast as a villain. This study fills the need for a fresh and dispassionate look at Douglas and provides a fairer assessment than can be reached by simply endorsing contradictory views of apologists and critics. It places particular emphasis on the Little Giant's struggle with President James Buchanan, the debates with Lincoln, the presidential campaign of 1860, Douglas' complex relationship with the South, and a careful analysis of the elusive and at times exasperating principle of popular sovereignty.

Author : Gardner William
Publisher : Hardpress Publishing
Page : 180 pages
File Size : 42,9 Mb
Release : 2016-06-21
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1318745144

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The Life of Stephen A. Douglas by Gardner William Pdf

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Author : James L. Huston
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 244 pages
File Size : 46,6 Mb
Release : 2007
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 0742534561

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Stephen A. Douglas and the Dilemmas of Democratic Equality by James L. Huston Pdf

In this engaging new biography, James L. Huston explores the political life of Stephen A. Douglas and his definition and promotion of the ideal of democratic equality. By placing Douglas in the current historiographical controversies of the antebellum period, Huston updates our understanding of Douglas and the battles that he fought over the meaning democracy and its institutional framework in the building of the Democratic party, the struggle over slavery's extension into the West, the meaning of popular sovereignty and the legitimacy of peaceful secession from the Union.

Author : Louis Howland
Publisher : Palala Press
Page : 364 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 2016-05-18
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1357114001

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Stephen A. Douglas by Louis Howland Pdf

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Author : Alex David
Publisher : Enslow Publishing, LLC
Page : 64 pages
File Size : 45,7 Mb
Release : 2020-07-15
Category : Young Adult Nonfiction
ISBN : 9781978515116

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Examining Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas's Senate Debates by Alex David Pdf

Today we think of candidates debating before being elected. It is a normal part of the election process. However, before Abraham Lincoln and Illinois senator Stephen Douglas, debates did not occur. Their debates were later published in a book, and Americans could read each candidate's thoughts on slavery. Lincoln wanted to end slavery but Douglas wanted each state to decide for itself if slavery should exist. The ensuing debates pinpoint a critical time in American history. Were people going to vote to allow this inhumane institution to continue or would they agree with Lincoln and abolish it?

Author : Michael E. Woods
Publisher : Civil War America
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 2024-02
Category : History
ISBN : 1469679213

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Arguing Until Doomsday by Michael E. Woods Pdf

As the sectional crisis gripped the United States, the rancor increasingly spread to the halls of Congress. Preston Brooks's frenzied assault on Charles Sumner was perhaps the most notorious evidence of the dangerous divide between proslavery Democrats and the new antislavery Republican Party. But as disunion loomed, rifts within the majority Democratic Party were every bit as consequential. And nowhere was the fracture more apparent than in the raging debates between Illinois's Stephen Douglas and Mississippi's Jefferson Davis. As leaders of the Democrats' northern and southern factions before the Civil War, their passionate conflict of words and ideas has been overshadowed by their opposition to Abraham Lincoln. But here, weaving together biography and political history, Michael E. Woods restores Davis and Douglas's fatefully entwined lives and careers to the center of the Civil War era. Operating on personal, partisan, and national levels, Woods traces the deep roots of Democrats' internal strife, with fault lines drawn around fundamental questions of property rights and majority rule. Neither belief in white supremacy nor expansionist zeal could reconcile Douglas and Davis's factions as their constituents formed their own lines in the proverbial soil of westward expansion. The first major reinterpretation of the Democratic Party's internal schism in more than a generation, Arguing until Doomsday shows how two leading antebellum politicians ultimately shattered their party and hastened the coming of the Civil War.

Author : Jeannette Covert Nolan
Publisher : Julian Messner
Page : 191 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 1964
Category : Legislators
ISBN : 0671267507

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The Little Giant, Stephen A. Douglas by Jeannette Covert Nolan Pdf

A biography of the United States Senator who debated Abraham Lincoln during the 1860 presidential campaign.

Author : Louis 1857-1934 Howland
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 390 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 2016-08-28
Category : History
ISBN : 1372005447

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STEPHEN A DOUGLAS by Louis 1857-1934 Howland Pdf

Author : Fergus M. Bordewich
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 496 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2013-04-16
Category : History
ISBN : 9781439124611

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America's Great Debate by Fergus M. Bordewich Pdf

Chronicles the 1850s appeals of Western territories to join the Union as slave or free states, profiling period balances in the Senate, Henry Clay's attempts at compromise, and the border crisis between New Mexico and Texas.