The Charleston Debate was one of a series of political debates for the

election of Illinois Senate seat in 1858. The two candidates were Abraham Lincoln
and Stephen Douglass, who was rerunning election for the Senate again (American
Stories 325). The document is a transcript of Lincolns speech given at this debate
held in Charlestown, Illinois. The first paragraph of Lincolns speech briefly
addresses his somewhat neutral stance on slavery. Aside from that single tangent,
Lincoln primarily discusses his position in an argument between the two Senators of
Illinois at the time: Lyman Trumbull and Stephen Douglass (Lincoln 3).
Although Lincoln was known for liberating slaves, his view on slavery was not
consistently supporting emancipation. In this debate, Lincoln seems to indicate a
neutral position towards the issue of liberating slaves. Lincoln sates I am not, nor
ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political
equality of the white and black races (Lincoln 2). In this statement, he neither
declares an interest in liberating slaves or protecting slavery. He also notes that
pursuing equality for slaves would be difficult if not impossible. Lincoln comments
there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe
will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political
equality (Lincoln 2).
Although his speech was lengthy, Lincoln only discussed two topics. Of the
two, Lincolns official thoughts on the argument between Douglass and Trumbull
served as the main point of the speech. Before to the debate, Trumbull accused
Douglass of forcing a Constitution upon Kansas without the consent of the people
(Lincoln 4). Trumbull is referring to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, a law that allowed
people of a territory to determine by popular sovereignty whether to allow or ban
slavery (Green). This act undermined the Missouri Compromised of 1820 which

prohibited slavery above the latitude of 3630 (American Stories 215). Knowing
only a fraction of the entire situation, Lincoln supported Trumbull for his veracity
and was pulled into the heated exchange (Lincoln 3). Lincoln dissects and explains
Douglass connections to the infamous Kansas-Nebraska Act. (Lincoln 4-21)

Given this document, the political debates of the mid-nineteenth century

differ significantly to that of the early twenty-first century. Aside from the language,
the most notable difference is the length and number of topics discussed. Modern
political debates are usually split into several short speeches, each no longer than a
few minutes, individually devoted to different policy issues. Like modern debates,
there are several debates between the candidates; however, Lincolns speech is
lengthy, at least, twenty-five minutes long.

Works Cited
Brands, H. W., R. Hal Williams, T. H. Breen, and Ariela J. Gross. American Stories: A History of the
United States. 3rd ed. Vol. 1. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2014. Print.
Green, John. "The Election of 1860 & the Road to Disunion: Crash Course US History #18." YouTube.
Ed. Stan Muller. YouTube, 13 June 2013. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.
Lincoln, Abraham. "Fourth Joint Debate at Charleston. Mr. Lincoln's Speech. Lincoln, Abraham. 1897.
Political Debates Between Lincoln and Douglas." Fourth Joint Debate at Charleston. Mr.
Lincoln's Speech. Lincoln, Abraham. 1897. Political Debates Between Lincoln and Douglas.
N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.