About Those States…

The Lincoln-Douglas debates immediately followed the "House Freeport Divided" speech, and pitted the up-and-coming Free Soiler Lincoln against Mr. Popular Sovereignty Douglas. There were seven debates in total, but the one in Freeport is particularly well-remembered because Douglas issued what became known as the Freeport Doctrine.

These speeches are pretty long—they're not like today's debates. In Lincoln's opening at Freeport he put four questions to Douglas, about how he sees his policy of popular sovereignty working, especially given the recent Dred Scott decision forbidding Congress to have any say in slavery's existence.

Douglas goes through Lincoln's questions and gives his answers. The answer to Lincoln's second question is the one that got its own name:

The next question propounded to me by Mr. Lincoln is, Can the people of a Territory in any lawful way, against the wishes of any citizen of the United States, exclude slavery from their limits prior to the formation of a State constitution? I answer emphatically …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 matters not what way the Supreme Court may hereafter decide as to the abstract question whether slavery may or may not go into a Territory under the Constitution, the people have the lawful means to introduce it or exclude it as they please, for the reason that slavery cannot exist a day or an hour anywhere, unless it is supported by local police regulations. (Source)

Basically, he says that if people don't want slavery, but technically can't ban it, they'll pass other indirect laws, or use other means of enforcement or non-enforcement to keep the institution out of their state. He goes on to hold up the Kansas-Nebraska Act as the embodiment of this idea (bold move, Steve-o).

Lincoln Believes In Equality? The Horror!

Douglas continues refuting Lincoln's questions and claims, and taking jabs at his opponent when possible. He discusses how the Chase amendment to the Kansas-Nebraska Act (wording giving the state government explicit permission to ban slavery) was just a political ploy to make the bill look bad.

The ability to ban slavery was there, all along, if they only were willing see it (cue cheesy inspirational music).

Then Douglas sort of dances around Lincoln's question of whether Douglas would accept a Supreme Court decision striking down any bans on slavery, by declaring how preposterous it was to think the court would do such a thing. He also says he would support any expansion of the U.S., leaving the slavery decision up to the territories.

After refuting Lincoln's questions, Douglas goes on to attack Lincoln's supposedly abolitionist policies. This is where it gets ugly.

Douglas paints Lincoln as someone who thinks Black people and whites should have equal social standing—which, in 1858, was not a popular opinion. Douglas is sly about it though:

All I have to say on that subject is, that those of you who believe that the negro is your equal and ought to be on an equality with you socially, politically, and legally, have a right to entertain those opinions, and of course will vote for Mr. Lincoln. (Source)

You can practically hear the condescending judgement when you read it. His main example of this is a recent occasion where Frederick Douglass and family members were driven to an event in a fancy carriage. Ye gads!

This was an idea that Douglas repeatedly invoked against Lincoln in the debates. Painting Lincoln as a super-abolitionist—which Lincoln then had to try and deny—was one of Douglas' big strategies.

In this speech, Douglas also claims that Lincoln was the leader in a conspiracy to "Abolitionize" and destroy the wonderful old Whig party, in order to set up what Douglas repeatedly calls, the "Black Republican" Party. Paranoid much? The senator goes on to read resolutions of the Republican Party, and accuses Lincoln of not upholding his own party platform. For example, he brings up how Lincoln backed away from the resolution to repeal the Fugitive Slave Act, or prevent any new slave states from entering the union.

Douglas' response at Freeport today is primarily remembered for the Freeport Doctrine, which summed up Douglas' approach to the slavery question. The rest is a good example of the content of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, which were a mixture of serious political discussion and your standard political mud-slinging.