Abraham Lincoln-Douglas Debates

852 Words4 Pages

Abraham Lincoln Presidents hold one of the most esteemed offices in any country. Their leadership experience prior to being elected is helpful to their success; however, it is not mandatory. Abraham Lincoln was among America’s most affluent presidents. Lincoln’s previous experiences did not affect his decision to run for president. While on a tour of duty, Lincoln “Volunteered to fight in the Indian War,” where he actually did not actively involve himself in the war to his choice to run for president (Freidel). In addition to his experience before becoming interested in filing for office of president, Lincoln served in a legislature of Illinois. Later, he decided to run for president on an independent ticket shortly following his decision …show more content…

He was called “a born lawyer,” a representative of Congress of the Whig Party. This helped him gain strong national recognition of campaigning against others like Stephen Douglas of Illinois for U.S Senate 1850. There were several challenges during this campaign of which Lincoln struggled. One of which was dealing or being confronted with the issue of slavery, which is known as “Lincoln- Douglas Debates.” Despite the painful challenges that confronted Lincoln over this debate with which Douglas and he constantly focused on his goal, to see the abolition of slavery. Douglas however thought that the decision should be decided by each territory or rather than by the government. Others who joined the “Douglas Debate” were Attorney General, Edward Bates and James Speed. All of these strongly supported Lincoln’s view. Serving as captain of the “Black Hawk” he spent several years in the political circuit arena, several years (eight) in Illinois Circuit Courts of which he was captain, realizing the issues in the country that were very important to its growth (A&E Television …show more content…

Some of his most important issues were: motivation of the Republican Party which gained growth and national recognition. Later on January 1, 1863, Lincoln introduced and signed the “Emancipation Proclamation,” the document that officially declared the ending of slavery. Following this action, the “Civil War” began and the attention was focused on Fort Sumter. The war did not last long because they were forced to surrender after Lincoln requested 75,000 volunteers from all states. After this, groups volunteered and the union became divided because four supported this cause and four remained with the union. This great decision made by Lincoln will forever remind the world that his important action would always be remembered, even as today’s history continues. So as a result of Lincoln’s strong decision, he lost the election in 1858 when he campaigned against Stephen Douglas for Senator; however, the result of the debate between the two helped Lincoln get re-nominated for president in

Open Document