The lawn in front of Old Main building at Knox College in Galesburg was the site of the debate between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas 141 years ago.
Civility is out.
Big mouths are, allegedly, in. I had explored trails of history in Montana, trails of missiles in North Dakota and shopping trails in Minnesota. I explored a trail of talk in Illinois. I got there around the time of the last election in November, knowing there'd be plenty of stages from which to choose. My compass was the Abraham Lincoln-Stephen Douglas debates, held in seven towns across Illinois in 1858, and to this day considered a peak of political theater and eloquence.