He thanks David Tanenhaus, Kathleen Conzen, Bill Novak, Amy Stanley, Dan Hamilton, Richard John, Al Brophy, Jamie Boyle, Guy Charles, Thom Bahde, Gautham Rao, Kyle Volk, the participants in the Political History Workshop at the University of Chicago, and the anonymous reviewers for Law and History Review for their wonderful comments, criticisms, and suggestions. He also thanks the staff at the Special Collections Research Center at the University of Chicago's Regenstein Library for their help in guiding him through the Stephen Douglas Papers, and for permission to use the collection.