Background of the Debates

Background of the Debates. Looking for Lincoln. Young Abraham Lincoln "lost his taste" for politics and was content with his thriving law practice after having served four terms in the Illinois Legislature in the 1830's and a term in Congress in the 1840's. However, several national events stirred his moral conscience and spurred him into action. U.S. Senator Stephen A. Douglas' Kansas-Nebraska Act stated that the choice of slavery was up to the citizens of the each new state - or "popular sovereignty." The Dred Scott decision in 1857 claimed that slaves are property, and the book Uncle Tom's Cabin caused abolitionists to pressure Congress to outlaw slavery. Lincoln didn't promote abolishing existing slavery, but he followed the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which allowed for an equal number of slave and free states in new territories. He challenged incumbent Douglas to debate him and allowed Douglas to debate him and allowed Douglas to select the sites of Ottawa, Freeport, Jonesboro, Charleston, Galesburg, Quincy, and Alton. At the Jonesboro debate Douglas stated, "…the negro is not and never ought to be a citizen of the United States." , Karl Kelpe painted this mural in 1940 as an employee of the Federal Art Project. This and other Kelpe murals originally originally hung in the Wheeler Library, Southern Illinois (Normal) University, Carbondale. They were removed around 1960. The University Museum acquired them in the early 1970's. The Lincoln-Douglas Debate is the only restored mural. Oral histories report that Kelpe painted himself into the mural as the figure in the lower left, holding a rolled object. Original dimensions are: 107" high by 106" wide., Jonesboro was a sleepy town, and the city of Anna was only four years old in 1858. Douglas chose Union County for the site of this debate because of strong Southern sympathies here, hoping Lincoln would express abolitionist views. Douglas had said he wanted to "trot Lincoln down to Egypt," a common name for Southern Illinois. Douglas believed this strongly Democratic county, under the leadership of John S. Hacker, would support him. The party was split, however, with one group of Democrats calling themselves "Danites." They were led by John Daugherty (later to be Lt. Gov. of Illinois). David L. Phillips, a friend of Lincoln who was campaigning against John A. Logan for a seat in Congress, encouraged Lincoln to come to Jonesboro and stay at his home in Anna, which is still standing today.