Lincoln Versus Douglas: It Wasn't the Top Hat that Made Lincoln so Attractive

On the other hand, Douglas maintained a morally relativist position by promoting popular sovereignty to decide the issue in the Territories and to define states' rights in the Union. Comparing Douglas' moral relativism to Lincoln's moral absolutism, specifically regarding slavery in the Debates of 1858, will show why Lincoln's position is more attractive and explain why America celebrates Lincoln today. This article is available in Res Publica Journal of Undergraduate Research: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/respublica/vol4/iss1/3 Dan Carden Lincoln Versus Douglas: ItWasn't the Top Hat that Made Lincoln so Attractive As the only fonner president of the United States celebrated on a day besides the third Monday in February, Abraham Lincoln holds a special place in American society. The significance ofAmericans celebrating the achievements of this one president out of forty-one others cannot be overlooked. It demonstrates to people both in the United States and abroad that Lincoln and his accomplishments, which are rooted in the very core of the concept of America, stand above the deeds ofall other American leaders. Why is this so? Saving the Union through victory in the Civil War most certaiilly stands out as the pinnacle ofLincoln's presidential achievements, but other presidents have "saved the Union" in their own way. Without the initial Federalist leadership of George Washington, the current Constitution may never have taken hold and the United States today, if it existed, would likely be a hodgepodge of quasiindependent nation-states. It can be argued that Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal "saved the Union" by restoring people's faith in government and demonstrating how government and private enterprise could co-exist in a nation rooted in the idea of lassiez-jaire. Moreover, John Kennedy's and Ronald Reagan's leadership during the Cold War more than just saved the Union, but in a larger sense saved humanity from nuclear destruction. So why Lincoln? Out of all of these great leaders, why do we celebrate an upland Southerner from Illinois who happened to get elected in a four-way race for President in 1860. The answer can be found in the small towns of Illinois during the hot summerofl858. Between August and October 1858, the usual Illinois summer activities of farming and harvesting were interrupted-in seven different cities-for three hours of debate on the issues that faced the United States. Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas crisscrossed Illinois campaigning for Douglas' seat in the United States Senate. While the primary objective of the debates was to differentiate the candidates for the people of Illinois, the widely published debates, according to the New York Tribune, "touch some of the most vital principles of our political system, and no man can carefully peruse it without some benefit..." (Johannsen 3)1. These "vital principles" included generally the rights of individual states, specifically regarding slavery. Throughout the debates, Lincoln took a moral absolutist position stating that slavery was wrong in every circumstance and must be ended. On the other hand, Douglas maintained a morally relativist position by promoting popular sovereignty to decide the issue in the Territories and to define states' rights in the Union. Comparing Douglas' moral relativism to Lincoln's moral absolutism, specifically