Islands of Civility: Stephen Douglas Supports the President
Stephen Arnold Douglas differed with Abraham Lincoln in so many ways. Douglas was a Democrat, Lincoln was a Whig and then a Republican. Douglas was all for compromise on the issue of slavery, Lincoln was opposed to its expansion. Douglas was the designer of the Kansas–Nebraska Act. Lincoln thought that the Act was a mess. Douglas was short and stout, facetiously nicknamed the Little Giant. (His height, depending on the source, was anywhere between 5 feet and 5 feet 4 inches). Lincoln was 6'4" tall. The two men ran against each other, first to be selected by the Illinois State Legislature as the US Senator from that state in 1858. Then they ran against one another for president in the 1860 election. They both even dated the same woman, Mary Todd, who later became Mary Todd Lincoln.
Douglas had a more successful career as a legislator. He was a skillful tactician when it came to getting legislation passed and he believed in the principle of popular sovereignty. It wasn't that he was pro-slavery, but that he believed that the majority of citizens should decide contentious issues such as slavery and territorial expansion. As chairman of the Committee on Territories from 1850 to 1859, Douglas was largely responsible for the Compromise of 1850 that many had falsely hoped had settled the slavery issues. But in 1854 the issue was reopened with the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which opened some previously prohibited territories to slavery under popular sovereignty. Opposition to this led to the formation of the Republican Party.
Douglas had even initially endorsed the Dred Scott decision of 1857. He later said that its effect could be overruled by popular sovereignty. He also opposed the efforts of President James Buchanan and his Southern allies to enact a Federal slave code and impose the Lecompton Constitution on Kansas.
In 1860, the conflict over slavery led to the split in the Democratic Party in the 1860 Convention. Pro-slavery Southerners rejected Douglas as the party's candidate. They nominated their own candidate, Vice President John C. Breckinridge, while the Northern Democrats nominated Douglas. When Abraham Lincoln won the election with a majority of electoral votes, Douglas urged the South to support the constitution and accept Lincoln's election as President. When southern statess began to take steps toward secession, Douglas tried to use his skills as a negotiater to arrange a compromise which would avoid secession. As late as Christmas 1860, he wrote to Georgia Senator Alexander H. Stephens (who would become the Vice-President of the Confederate States of America) proposing the annexation of Mexico as slave territory as a compromise.
When a number of southern states decided to secede from the Union, Douglas denounced secession, calling it "criminal". He was one of the strongest advocates for maintaining the Union and he was critical of outgoing President James Buchanan, who had declared that, while the southern states were wrong to secede, there was nothing that the US government could do about it.
There are a number of sources that describe Douglas's graciousness at Lincoln's first inauguration. When Lincoln took the oath of office, he removed his "stovepipe" hat, but he had nowhere to set down the hat. Douglas, who was on the platform, stepped forward and took the hat from Lincoln. He is said to have remarked "If I can't be the President, at least I can hold his hat." Though he and Lincoln had been long-time rivals for both Senator and President, his respect for the office of President and his loyalty to the Union overcame any personal bad feelings. Though this story was considered by some to by apocryphal, in 1959, historian Allan Nevins found an independent contemporary source which corroborated its occurrence in a newspaper article published on March 11, 1861.
After the bombardment of Fort Sumter, Lincoln decided to proclaim a state of rebellion. He called for 75,000 troops to suppress it. It was a grave time in the nation's history, one that called for the setting aside of old political grudges, in favor of civility among former adversaries. Lincoln called upon his old rival for support. He asked Douglas to review the proclamation before it was issued. Douglas supported Lincoln completely on the matter, suggesting only one change. He suggested that Lincoln should call for 200,000 troops, not just 75,000. He told the president, "You do not know the dishonest purposes of those men as well as I do."
On the evening of April 14, 1861, just two days after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter,Lincoln and Douglas met privately for two hours. Douglas had been working tirelessly in the Senate, trying to come up with a compromise to prevent civil war. Douglas had not given up hope that a peaceful solution could still be found. But the bombardment of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor on April 12 crushed those hopes. Upon hearing the news of the Union surrender of the fort, Douglas arranged the meeting with Lincoln and it was at that meeting that Lincoln showed Douglas a draft of his proclamation calling for the state militias to furnish an army and summoning Congress to return for an extraordinary session on July 4. In a statement he made to the press after the meeting, Douglas told the assembled reporters that he had assured Lincoln that “he was prepared to sustain the President in the exercise of all his constitutional functions to preserve the Union, and maintain the government, and defend the Federal Capital.”
Douglas took on one further task that he was asked to do by his president. Douglas departed Washington for Illinois, making speeches along the way to rally support for the Union cause. One of the states he spoke in was Virginia, which joined the Confederacy. Douglas arrived in Springfield on the morning of April 25 and delivered an address to the Illinois Legislature that evening. He told his audience:
“Now permit me to say to the assembled Representatives and Senators of our beloved State, composed of men of both political parties, in my opinion it is your duty to lay aside, for the time being, your party creeds and party platforms. Forget that you were ever divided, until you have rescued the government and the country from their assailants.”
Shortly after giving this speech in Springfield, Douglas became quite ill. He contracted typhoid fever and died in Chicago on June 3, 1861.
Douglas had a more successful career as a legislator. He was a skillful tactician when it came to getting legislation passed and he believed in the principle of popular sovereignty. It wasn't that he was pro-slavery, but that he believed that the majority of citizens should decide contentious issues such as slavery and territorial expansion. As chairman of the Committee on Territories from 1850 to 1859, Douglas was largely responsible for the Compromise of 1850 that many had falsely hoped had settled the slavery issues. But in 1854 the issue was reopened with the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which opened some previously prohibited territories to slavery under popular sovereignty. Opposition to this led to the formation of the Republican Party.
Douglas had even initially endorsed the Dred Scott decision of 1857. He later said that its effect could be overruled by popular sovereignty. He also opposed the efforts of President James Buchanan and his Southern allies to enact a Federal slave code and impose the Lecompton Constitution on Kansas.
In 1860, the conflict over slavery led to the split in the Democratic Party in the 1860 Convention. Pro-slavery Southerners rejected Douglas as the party's candidate. They nominated their own candidate, Vice President John C. Breckinridge, while the Northern Democrats nominated Douglas. When Abraham Lincoln won the election with a majority of electoral votes, Douglas urged the South to support the constitution and accept Lincoln's election as President. When southern statess began to take steps toward secession, Douglas tried to use his skills as a negotiater to arrange a compromise which would avoid secession. As late as Christmas 1860, he wrote to Georgia Senator Alexander H. Stephens (who would become the Vice-President of the Confederate States of America) proposing the annexation of Mexico as slave territory as a compromise.
When a number of southern states decided to secede from the Union, Douglas denounced secession, calling it "criminal". He was one of the strongest advocates for maintaining the Union and he was critical of outgoing President James Buchanan, who had declared that, while the southern states were wrong to secede, there was nothing that the US government could do about it.
There are a number of sources that describe Douglas's graciousness at Lincoln's first inauguration. When Lincoln took the oath of office, he removed his "stovepipe" hat, but he had nowhere to set down the hat. Douglas, who was on the platform, stepped forward and took the hat from Lincoln. He is said to have remarked "If I can't be the President, at least I can hold his hat." Though he and Lincoln had been long-time rivals for both Senator and President, his respect for the office of President and his loyalty to the Union overcame any personal bad feelings. Though this story was considered by some to by apocryphal, in 1959, historian Allan Nevins found an independent contemporary source which corroborated its occurrence in a newspaper article published on March 11, 1861.
After the bombardment of Fort Sumter, Lincoln decided to proclaim a state of rebellion. He called for 75,000 troops to suppress it. It was a grave time in the nation's history, one that called for the setting aside of old political grudges, in favor of civility among former adversaries. Lincoln called upon his old rival for support. He asked Douglas to review the proclamation before it was issued. Douglas supported Lincoln completely on the matter, suggesting only one change. He suggested that Lincoln should call for 200,000 troops, not just 75,000. He told the president, "You do not know the dishonest purposes of those men as well as I do."
On the evening of April 14, 1861, just two days after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter,Lincoln and Douglas met privately for two hours. Douglas had been working tirelessly in the Senate, trying to come up with a compromise to prevent civil war. Douglas had not given up hope that a peaceful solution could still be found. But the bombardment of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor on April 12 crushed those hopes. Upon hearing the news of the Union surrender of the fort, Douglas arranged the meeting with Lincoln and it was at that meeting that Lincoln showed Douglas a draft of his proclamation calling for the state militias to furnish an army and summoning Congress to return for an extraordinary session on July 4. In a statement he made to the press after the meeting, Douglas told the assembled reporters that he had assured Lincoln that “he was prepared to sustain the President in the exercise of all his constitutional functions to preserve the Union, and maintain the government, and defend the Federal Capital.”
Douglas took on one further task that he was asked to do by his president. Douglas departed Washington for Illinois, making speeches along the way to rally support for the Union cause. One of the states he spoke in was Virginia, which joined the Confederacy. Douglas arrived in Springfield on the morning of April 25 and delivered an address to the Illinois Legislature that evening. He told his audience:
“Now permit me to say to the assembled Representatives and Senators of our beloved State, composed of men of both political parties, in my opinion it is your duty to lay aside, for the time being, your party creeds and party platforms. Forget that you were ever divided, until you have rescued the government and the country from their assailants.”
Shortly after giving this speech in Springfield, Douglas became quite ill. He contracted typhoid fever and died in Chicago on June 3, 1861.