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Lincoln v. Douglas MUNINN Volume 2 (2013)Douglas”—Lincoln’s own playful nickname for the Senator. 23 Heoffered the olive branch: “I will say here, while upon this subject, thatI have no purpose directly or indirectly to interfere with the institutionof slavery in the States where it exists.” But he also challenged hisaudience (and the US Supreme Court’s decision of the prior year) thatthere was no reason why blacks were not entitled to the same rightsstated in the Declaration of Independence. 24 It seemed Lincoln avoideda nationalist response to Douglas’ states’ rights position, by provokinga libertarian ideal. Concluding with more than fifteen minutesremaining of his allowed time, Lincoln seemed nervous anddefensive. 25 His definition of popular sovereignty was a very key pointin his speech. He stated that popular sovereignty “does allow thepeople of a Territory to have Slavery it they want to, but does not allowthem not to have it if they do not want it.” The way he phrased thiscaused many laughs and applause to erupt throughout the crowd ofspectators. 26With constant interruptions from the audience and Lincolnhimself, Douglas used his half hour rebuttal to further accuse Lincolnof avoiding the questions posed to him in his first statement: “I askedhim to answer me and you whether he would vote to admit a State intothe Union, with slavery or without it, as its own people might choose.He did not answer that question. He dodges that question.” 27 Douglascontinued, throughout the remainder of his speech, to point out toaudience members Lincoln’s inability to answer the simple questionshe posed for him. The Illinois State Register, a paper that favored theDemocratic candidate, cast Lincoln as having “stumbled, floundered,and, instead of the speech that he had prepared to make, bored hisaudience by using up a large portion of his time reading from a speechof 1854, of his own.” The Chicago Times had such headlines as“Lincoln’s Heart Fails Him! Lincoln’s Legs Fail Him! Lincoln’sTongue Fails Him!” 28 While it may have seemed like Douglas had themomentum coming out of the first debate in Ottawa, Democratic paperswere at fault for providing such biased remarks while other papers hadmixed reviews. Papers such as the Alton Weekly Courier and theWeekly North-Western Gazette had different perspectives. The former:“The Republicans of Ottawa are in high glee. The triumphant mannerin which Lincoln handled Douglas this afternoon has filled them withspirit and confidence…the Little Giant is doomed.” 29 The Weekly23Lincoln, 508.24Lincoln, 512.25Zarefsky, 55.26Lincoln, 515.27Lincoln, 530.28Zarefsky, 55.29See George T. Brown, “The Great Debate between Lincoln and Douglas,” AltonWeekly Courier, August 26, 1858, Alton, Illinois, in the Northern Illinois University15