Lincoln-Douglas debates

Cultural  

1. A series of debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas in 1858, when both were campaigning for election to the United States Senate from Illinois. Much of the debating concerned slavery and its extension into territories such as Kansas. The debates transformed Lincoln into a national figure and led to his election to the presidency in 1860.

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Lincoln-Douglas debates

In the previous weeks, the candidates had barnstormed across District 14 in their own version of the Lincoln-Douglas debates — but even more bitter.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2024

Also sold at Saturday’s auction was a Lincoln-signed first edition of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, which fetched nearly $594,000.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 25, 2023

The Lincoln-Douglas debates appear as a struggle over Black civil rights and citizenship in the old Northwest Territory, one precipitated by the Black codes and the civil rights movement they triggered.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 22, 2021

The third volume of Blumenthal’s monumental biography covers the Lincoln-Douglas debates and lays the groundwork for Lincoln’s ascent to power.

From New York Times ● Sep. 3, 2019

Beginning with the Lincoln-Douglas debates, Abraham Lincoln became and remained a national figure.

From Lincoln, the Politician by T. Aaron Levy