slavery

occupation / innovator as

politician

nationality

American

United States senator

judge

United States representative

lawyer

cause of death

natural causes

member of the Illinois House of Representatives

 was a legal, not a moral, matter. Any state wanting slavery had a legal right to it... the immorality involved, if any, was on the state's head.

To Douglas, slavery was a legal, not a moral, matter. Any state wanting slavery had a legal right to it... the immorality involved, if any, was on the state's head.

is an arrangement that was just another property arrangement like horses, cows, real estate, or machinery. Slavery had no more connection with control of government than the textile interest.

For Douglas, slavery was just another property arrangement like horses, cows, real estate, or machinery. Slavery had no more connection with control of government than the textile interest. Why would slavery thus endanger freedoms any more than, say, iron interests'

is unimportant as a national concern. What is of importance is that free elections, tolerance, diversity, and the right of (white) people in their local communities to live as they chose be protected.

For Douglas, slavery was not the issue. He cared not whether it was voted up or down in the territories, so long as there was a free election. 'Let the people speak! He protested the homogenizing drive of both modernizers and the slave power. His vision was a nation of tolerance and diversity: a pluralism held together by white supremacy and the right of the people in their local communities to live as they chose, no matter how modern or traditional a lifestyle that might be.

 was, as an issue, nothing but a distraction from the main job of making a coast-to-coast America.

For Douglas, slavery was nothing but a distraction from the main job of making a coast-to-coast America.

Stephen Douglas

Authors(0)

Stephen DouglasThinkers

Stephen Douglas