“Unite With Us and Help Us to
Building the Illinois Republican Party
(1855–1857): Lincoln struggles to form a new party to take the place of
the defunct Whig party. He has strong doubts that a peaceful end to slavery is
possible. Joining with anti-slavery, anti-nativist forces, Lincoln launches the
Republican Party of Illinois and the first Republican convention takes place.
Supporting a non-radical anti-slavery platform Lincoln intervenes between
radicals and conservatives to settle disputes at the convention. When the Dred
Scott case is decided, Lincoln publicly denounces the court decision. His
finest debates with Stephen A. Douglass take place and Lincoln calls into
question the hypocrisy of the Southern disgust of race mixing, as the
population of Southern mulattos “dwarfed” that of the north.
“A House Divided”
Lincoln vs. Douglass (1857–1858): Stephen Douglass
vies for Republican support and begins to deny his affiliations with Democrats,
stating that he had planned to curtail the spread of slavery geographically by
building a railroad. Yet as late as 1858, Douglass wrote often of his belief,
which had historical precedent, that blacks were not self-governing citizens
and could not be granted passports. Lincoln saw him as a threat in that
Douglas’ views were able to win Republicans and at the same time woo Democrats.
During this time, Lincoln delivers his famous “house divided” speech in which
he claims that slavery must either exist or cease to exist in all territories.
“A David Greater than the Democratic Goliath”
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858: Despite
Douglass being more popular than Lincoln, he lost many supporters due to strong
and growing anti-slavery sentiments, a dwindling support from the Whig party,
and a general dissatisfaction with the Democrat party. Douglass arrived well
dressed for the debates with horse-drawn carriages and bands, whereas Lincoln
would arrive quietly by train, and in very shabby clothing. Douglass often took
to misquoting and lying, which local newspapers noted, sparking harsh criticism
of him. The press also purposefully published inaccurate transcriptions of
Lincoln’s speeches. Democratic election fraud was largely at play as
Republicans failed to gain control of the legislature although the Republican
popular vote was larger than it had been in 1856.
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