The Complete Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858

The Complete Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858
Author: Abraham Lincoln
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 474
Release: 1991-05-28
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780226020846

The Lincoln-Douglas debates remain our culture's model of what public political debate ought to be. This new edition of the complete transcripts of the debates and eyewitness interpretations of them (previously published under the title Created Equal?) includes a new Foreword by David Zarefsky. Zarefsky analyzes the rhetoric of the speeches, showing how Lincoln and Douglas chose their arguments and initiated a debate that shook the nation. Their eloquent, statesmanlike discussion of the morality of slavery illustrates the masterful use of rhetorical strategies and tactics in the public forum: a form of discourse that has nearly disappeared from the political scene today.

Lincoln and Douglas

Lincoln and Douglas
Author: Allen C. Guelzo
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 595
Release: 2010-05-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 1416564926

From the two-time winner of the prestigious Lincoln Prize, a stirring and surprising account of the debates that made Lincoln a national figure and defined the slavery issue that would bring the country to war. In 1858, Abraham Lincoln was known as a successful Illinois lawyer who had achieved some prominence in state politics as a leader in the new Republican Party. Two years later, he was elected president and was on his way to becoming the greatest chief executive in American history. What carried this one-term congressman from obscurity to fame was the campaign he mounted for the United States Senate against the country’s most formidable politician, Stephen A. Douglas, in the summer and fall of 1858. As this brilliant narrative by the prize-winning Lincoln scholar Allen Guelzo dramatizes, Lincoln would emerge a predominant national figure, the leader of his party, the man who would bear the burden of the national confrontation. Lincoln lost that Senate race to Douglas, though he came close to toppling the “Little Giant,” whom almost everyone thought was unbeatable. Guelzo’s Lincoln and Douglas brings alive their debates and this whole year of campaigns and underscores their centrality in the greatest conflict in American history. The encounters between Lincoln and Douglas engage a key question in American political life: What is democracy's purpose? Is it to satisfy the desires of the majority? Or is it to achieve a just and moral public order? These were the real questions in 1858 that led to the Civil War. They remain questions for Americans today.

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates and the Making of a President

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates and the Making of a President
Author: Timothy S. Good
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2014-11-21
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0786483563

The Lincoln-Douglas senatorial debates of 1858 marked a significant crossroads in the political career of Abraham Lincoln. Though he lost the Unites States senate seat for Illinois to Stephen A. Douglas, the debates launched Lincoln into political prominence and eventually contributed to his successful run for the presidency. This work reveals Lincoln's political evolution during the debates through a narrative approach, evaluating his debate strategy and seemingly inconsistent views on slavery and racial inequality. Organized chronologically, the book examines each of the seven debates individually, acknowledging Lincoln's disappointing turns at Jonesboro and Charleston but celebrating his powerful comeback at Alton in the final senatorial debate.

Lincoln, Douglas, and Slavery

Lincoln, Douglas, and Slavery
Author: David Zarefsky
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 324
Release: 1993-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 0226978761

Previously published in hbk.: Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1990.

Crisis of the House Divided

Crisis of the House Divided
Author: Harry V. Jaffa
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 466
Release: 2012-09-21
Genre: History
ISBN: 022611158X

This definitive analysis of the Lincoln-Douglas debates is “one of the most influential works of American history and political philosophy ever published (National Review). In Crisis of the House Divided, noted conservative scholar and historian Harry V. Jaffa illuminates the political principles that guided Abraham Lincoln from his reentry into politics in 1854 through his Senate campaign against Stephen Douglas in 1858. Through critical analysis of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, Jaffa demonstrates that Lincoln’s political career was grounded in his commitment to constitutionalism, the rule of law, and abolition. A landmark work of American history, it “has shaped the thought of a generation of Abraham Lincoln and Civil War scholars." To mark the fiftieth anniversary of the original publication, Jaffa has provided a new introduction (Civil War History). "A searching and provocative analysis of the issues confronted and the ideas expounded in the great debates…A book which displays such learning and insight that it cannot fail to excite the admiration even of scholars who disagree with its major arguments and conclusions."—D. E. Fehrenbacher, American Historical Review

The Prairies on Fire

The Prairies on Fire
Author: Richard D. Schwartz
Publisher:
Total Pages: 334
Release: 2010-10-07
Genre: Illinois
ISBN: 9781453692325

An engaging narrative history of the debates that introduced Abraham Lincoln to the American public and taught him a lasting lesson: that there are worse things than losing an election.

Lincoln's Tragic Pragmatism

Lincoln's Tragic Pragmatism
Author: John Burt
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 818
Release: 2013-01-07
Genre: History
ISBN: 0674070534

A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice In 1858, challenger Abraham Lincoln debated incumbent Stephen Douglas seven times in the race for a U.S. Senate seat from Illinois. More was at stake than slavery in those debates. In Lincoln’s Tragic Pragmatism, John Burt contends that the very legitimacy of democratic governance was on the line. In a United States stubbornly divided over ethical issues, the overarching question posed by the Lincoln-Douglas debates has not lost its urgency: Can a liberal political system be used to mediate moral disputes? And if it cannot, is violence inevitable? “John Burt has written a work that every serious student of Lincoln will have to read...Burt refracts Lincoln through the philosophy of Kant, Rawls and contemporary liberal political theory. His is very much a Lincoln for our time.” —Steven B. Smith, New York Times Book Review “I'm making space on my overstuffed shelves for Lincoln’s Tragic Pragmatism. This is a book I expect to be picking up and thumbing through for years to come.” —Jim Cullen, History News Network “Burt treats the [Lincoln-Douglas] debates as being far more significant than an election contest between two candidates. The debates represent profound statements of political philosophy and speak to the continuing challenges the U.S. faces in resolving divisive moral conflicts.” —E. C. Sands, Choice

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Author: Abraham Lincoln
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Total Pages: 394
Release: 2008-08-22
Genre: History
ISBN: 0252033558

The most complete record ever assembled of the landmark Lincoln-Douglas debates, published on their 150th anniversary