Once again Lincoln asked Douglas to debate him. This time, Douglas had to accept. In 1858, seven debates were held in different towns all over Illinois. The main issue was slavery. People poured in from neighboring states to listen. The whole country followed the Lincoln-Douglas debates in the newspapers. Reporters wrote down every word each man said.
Lincoln and Douglas made comical opponents. Douglas was short, round, and dignified. His nickname was “The Little Giant” because he dressed elegantly and had a rich, deep voice. Lincoln was tall, thin, and awkward. He still dressed like a farmer, and had a high, thin voice. Douglas traveled to the debates in a private carriage. Lincoln rode the train with everyone else, joking and chatting. But both men were very skilled speakers.
People disagreed about who had won the debates. And Lincoln lost the Senate election again. But he had become famous. He was invited to lecture on slavery in New York City. He won over the huge crowd with his passion and simple, logical arguments. This was his first public appearance on the east coast, the center of political power in the United States.
While Lincoln was making a name for himself, the country was moving toward a crisis. States in the South talked about leaving the United States to form their own country. President Buchanan was a weak leader who didn’t know how to control the South. He couldn’t even keep the support of his own party. In 1860, the Democratic Party could not agree on whom to support for president. They were split between Stephen Douglas and another candidate.
LINCOLN’S VIEWS ON BLACK PEOPLE
ALTHOUGH LINCOLN DID NOT THINK BLACKS SHOULD BE SLAVES, HE DID NOT SUPPORT COMPLETE EQUALITY FOR THEM, EITHER. HE DID NOT THINK THE TWO RACES COULD EVER LIVE TOGETHER COMFORTABLY. SO HE SUGGESTED THAT FREED SLAVES SHOULD BE SENT TO A COLONY SOMEWHERE. IT TOOK HIM YEARS TO REALIZE THAT MOST BLACKS DIDN’T WANT TO MOVE TO A NEW COUNTRY—THEY WANTED RIGHTS In THEIR OWN COUNTRY. OF COURSE LINCOLN DIDN’T ACTUALLY KNOW MANY BLACK PEOPLE. LATER, WHEN THE CIVIL WAR BROUGHT HIM INTO CONTACT WITH THEM, HE BECAME MORE OPEN-MINDED. THE NEW YEAR’S DAY PARTY THE LINCOLNS GAVE In 1864 WAS THE FIRST EVENT EVER AT WHICH BLACKS WERE GUESTS AT THE WHITE HOUSE.
The Republican Party chose Lincoln as their candidate for president. They called him “the rail candidate” because he had split rails as a boy. The name told people that he was an ordinary, hardworking man just like them. He did very little campaigning. He didn’t really expect to win. On the night of the election, Lincoln and his fellow Republicans crowded into the state capitol. News about the election kept coming in by telegraph. At two A.M. the result was certain. Because the Democratic Party was divided between two candidates, Lincoln had won more votes than any other candidate. Mary was thrilled—she had always wanted to be the wife of a president. But Lincoln could not sleep. “I then felt as I never had before the responsibility that was upon me,” he said.
He was an unlikely president. He’d had only one year of school.
He had almost no experience in national government. He was not a war hero. He’d spent his whole life in pioneer towns. He’d been defeated every time he ran for the Senate. He didn’t even know exactly what a president did. And now, suddenly, he was the sixteenth president of the United States.
During the campaign, an eleven-year-old girl named Grace Bedell had written to him. She said she thought he’d look more like a president if he had a beard.
So now he grew one. |