The Lincoln-Douglas Debates Revisited

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates. Over the course of three months from August to October, 1858, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas debated each other in seven towns in Illinois as they competed for the U.S. Senate. The debates were mostly about slavery, Lincoln in opposition and Douglas in favor of "popular sovereignty," in which each state's citizens would have determination whether to accept slavery or prohibit it. Although Lincoln lost the election to the U.S. Senate (a decision made in those days by the legislature in Illinois, direct election of senators didn't happen until decades later), the debates thrust him into the national spotlight and helped him win the presidency two years later.

Two eminent Lincoln scholars, Rodney Davis and Douglas Wilson of Knox College (Galesburg, Illinois) are the co-editors of a new book about the debates. Titled "The Lincoln Douglas Debates: The Lincoln Center Studies Edition" is promoted by the gentlemen as a more accurate account of the debate speeches than has previously been written. The original debate sources scholars have to go by are two Chicago newspapers, one being a Republican paper, the other a Democrat publication. Each newspaper varied wildly in reporting the debates, including what each candidate said, how he reacted, crowd emotions, and so on. By performing a "critical analysis" of the original sources, Davis and Wilson claim that their new book is a "fuller and more accurate account of the speeches" made by Lincoln and Douglas.

Interestingly, Davis and Wilson have created podcasts of their in-depth analysis of each debate and have made them available on the web for those of us who are interested in learning more about the debates. Their podcasts are available here, courtesy of Knox College.

It should be noted that in those days, debates were "real" debates and not the so-called "debates" we are subjected to in modern times. Debates were not moderated, were not scripted, and were most certainly not limited to two minutes per response per candidate. The debates between Lincoln and Douglas sometimes took up to three hours and each candidate was allowed to speak freely. The voters (only white men in those days, of course) were thus able to truly understand each man's position on the critical issues of the day. It's a shame that we the people cannot have the same experience today.

Knox College in Galesburg was the site of one of the seven debates between Lincoln and Douglas on October 7, 1858. It's "Old Main" building is the only structure remaining from any of the debate sites. To learn more about the college itself, click here. To learn more about the college's association with Abraham Lincoln, including its Lincoln Center, click here.

How Lincoln Recovered From Three Hour Debate?

It's amazing to me how limitless the stories about Abraham Lincoln seem to be. Now thanks to some research by an Illinois woman, we now are learning how Abe might have dealt with the exhaustion he felt after a three-hour long debate with Stephen A. Douglas in Quincy, Illinois on October 13, 1858.

The article from yesterday's Quincy Herald-Whig newspaper relates how a local historian, Iris Nelson, stumbled upon an article in a 1907 issue of McClure's Magazine recounting how Lincoln was on the verge of collapse from exhaustion after the debate. According to the author of the McClure's article, George P. Floyd, Lincoln was taken back to his hotel and treated to a "rum sweat" in which a pan of rum was placed under a chair which Lincoln sat on, lit on fire, and then had Lincoln inhale the vapors of the burning rum. Afterwards, he was put to bed and the profuse sweating from the liquor vapors caused him to exude the stress from the debate. Supposedly later that night, Lincoln felt restored and was able to join his supporters for a torchlight parade.

Mr. Floyd was writing about this story some 50 years after it was alleged to happen. It was he and his wife who "prescribed" the treatment to Lincoln back in 1858. While it's always difficult to prove these anecdotes, the historian, Ms. Nelson, who serves on the local Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, feels that the story is accurate. She explains that Lincoln's supporters would have kept this story of the "rum sweat" from the press due to the vicious nature of the opposition papers of the day. No doubt, it would have led people to claim that Lincoln was a drinker, when in fact, he was not.

Who really knows if the story is true or not. Lincoln was of course in Quincy on that date, and it can be documented that Mr. Floyd was indeed a resident of Quincy, who served as a marshal in a parade of Lincoln supporters. In any case, it makes for an interesting story, yet another to add to the legend behind Lincoln.