Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809. Although we remember our 16th president as the Great Emancipator, Lincoln first achieved renown as a great orator. In fact, his famous 1858 debates with political opponent Stephen A. Douglas contained some of the most eloquent anti-slavery arguments ever offered by his party. You may remember that the debates, which dealt with the bitterly divisive issue of slavery extension in the new territories, did not give the Republican Lincoln the edge over the Democrat Douglas in the campaign for Illinois Senate.


Rhetorically, however, the future President came out on top. Early in the debates, Lincoln challenged Douglas to reconcile the doctrine of popular sovereignty, which allowed the settlers of new territories the right to determine for themselves whether to outlaw slavery, with the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision making slavery legal in all U.S. territories.

Douglas' response offered settlers a clever way to circumvent the Supreme Court ruling, but the legal dodge he proposed also angered Southern Democrats and effectively splintered the Democratic party. Although the incumbent senator Douglas narrowly retained his seat, the debates, published in book form when Douglas and Lincoln went on to campaign for the presidency, proved a powerful rhetorical tool that helped Lincoln defeat Douglas two years later.

I have always been fascinated by Lincoln. Of course, I grew up 15 miles away from Lincoln State Park and Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in Spencer County, IN. We always spent alot of time there every summer.
The "Young Abe Lincoln" musical that they put on there is also excellent. It tells the story of his years in Indiana.