---
title: "Lincoln-Douglas Debates"
year: 1858
country: "United States"
canonical: "https://recap.at/1858/lincoln-douglas-debates"
slug: "lincoln-douglas-debates"
recapType: "global_event"
startDate: "1859-01-05"
---

# Lincoln-Douglas Debates

> Seven public debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas over slavery's expansion galvanized American political discourse and elevated Lincoln toward the presidency.

## Summary

The Lincoln–Douglas debates were a series of seven debates in 1858 between Abraham Lincoln, the Republican Party candidate for the United States Senate from Illinois, and incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas, the Democratic Party candidate. Until the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which provides that senators shall be elected by the people of their states, was ratified in 1913, senators were elected by their respective state legislatures. Therefore, Lincoln and Douglas were trying to win the people's votes for legislators in the Illinois General Assembly, aligned with their respective political parties.

## Sources

- [Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln%E2%80%93Douglas_debates) - Wikipedia

---
Canonical: https://recap.at/1858/lincoln-douglas-debates