Political Debates

In-8 de IV et 268 pp.

Publisher’s brown cloth, spine lettered in gilt, boards decoratively stamped in blind.

233 x 157 mm.

Lincoln, Abraham. Political debates between Hon. Abraham Lincoln and Hon. Stephen A. Douglas, In the Celebrated Campaign of 1858, in Illinois; Including the Preceding Speeches of Each, at Chicago, Springfield, etc.; Also, the Two Great Speeches of Mr. Lincoln in Ohio, in 1859, As Carefully Prepared by the Reporters of Each Party, and Published at the Times of Their Delivery.

Columbus, Follett, Foster and Company, 1860.

First edition, later issue, of "Historically the most important series of American political debates" (Howes).

Howes, L 339 ; Sabin, 41156 ; Monaghan, 69.

Later issue (rule over publisher’s imprint on copyright page, no numeral “2” on page 17, numeral “2” at bottom of page 13).

In 1858, in Illinois, an antislavery lawyer named Abraham Lincoln ran for the U.S. Senate against the proslavery incumbent Stephen Douglas. Over a series of seven historic debates, the two candidates argued about the future of slavery. The encounters between the two candidates made history as the nation’s first truly public argument over slavery. Ultimately, the debates played a crucial role in Lincoln’s success in the 1860 presidential election, which led to the beginning of the Civil War.

The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act made clear to the North that the South would accept no limitations for slavery. The position of the Southern leaders, in which they had the substantial backing of their constituents, was that slaves were property and that the Constitution, guaranteed the protection of property to all the citizens of the commonwealth. The Northern opponents of Slavery refused to accept the view that later generations of American citizens were to be bound for an indefinite period by this error of Judgment on the part of the Fathers. They proposed to get rid of Slavery.

"After an unsuccessful campaign for the senatorship (1855), [Lincoln] became a Republican at the formation of the new party, and at the state convention (1856) was a leading figure because of his adroit and earnest dealing with the problem of slavery. As the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate (1858), he delivered in the party convention his famous speech declaring, 'A house divided against itself cannot stand.' He challenged his opponent, Stephen Douglas, to seven debates in which he showed the Democrat's inconsistency in favoring both popular sovereignty and the Dred Scott decision, and stressed a conservative attitude toward antislavery, thus winning many followers who disliked outright Abolitionism. Although Douglas won the election, Lincon's fame was greatly enhanced. In his Cooper Union speech (Feb 27, 1860), as a potential presidential candidate, he spoke against slavery in the territories, and through his conservative and dignified attitude increased his power in the East. He was elected to the presidency in 1860 by a considerable electoral majority over Douglas and Breckinridge, although he lacked the popular vote." (The Oxford Companion to American Literature, Sixth edition, page 376).

An attractive copy preserved in its publisher’s cloth, as issued.