Early years Douglas was re-elected to the US House in 1846, but in 1847 the legislature elected him to the US Senate and his term started on March 3. The US defeated Mexico in the Mexican–American War and acquired the
Mexican Cession in the 1848
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. After the war, Douglas attempted to avoid the debate over the
Wilmot Proviso by immediately admitting the territory acquired from Mexico as one single, huge state. His proposal would have allowed the inhabitants to determine the status of slavery themselves, but Northerners and Southerners alike rejected the plan. In 1850, Senator Henry Clay introduced a multi-part proposal to admit California as a free state, establish the
New Mexico and
Utah territories, ban the slave trade in the District of Columbia, and pass a
more stringent fugitive slave law. The proposal, which formed the basis of the
Compromise of 1850, also required Texas to cede its claims on New Mexico in return for federal assumption of Texas's debts. After the bill's apparent collapse, Clay took a temporary leave from the Senate, and Douglas took the lead in advocating for Clay's compromise. Rather than passing the proposals as one bill, Douglas sought to pass each proposal one-by-one. The compromise faced strong opposition from Northerners like
William Seward, who favored the Wilmot Proviso and attacked the fugitive slave provision, and Southerners like
John C. Calhoun, who opposed the creation of new free states. With the help of President
Millard Fillmore, Douglas put together a bipartisan coalition of Whigs and Democrats that passed it in the Senate. Douglas's lobbying helped ensure that the compromise also passed the House of Representatives and Fillmore signed it into law. Douglas's role in passing the compromise gave him national stature, and he enjoyed the support of the
Young America movement, which favored
westward expansion. Douglas helped pass a bill granting rights-of-way to the
Illinois Central Railroad, which would connect
Chicago to
Mobile, Alabama. He envisioned a transcontinental country connected by railroads and waterways, with Illinois serving as the gateway to the West. "There is a power in this nation greater than either the North or the South ... that power is the country known as the great West," he stated. Though he publicly denied interest in running for president
in 1852, Douglas worked behind the scenes to build support. The
1852 Democratic National Convention held several presidential ballots, with delegates split between Douglas,
James Buchanan,
Lewis Cass of Michigan, and
William L. Marcy. None of the major candidates obtained the required two-thirds majority, and on the 49th ballot the convention nominated a
dark horse,
Franklin Pierce. Despite his disappointment, Douglas campaigned for Pierce across the Midwest. Pierce went on to defeat Whig
Winfield Scott in the general election, while Douglas won re-election to the Senate.
Pierce administration being held down by
James Buchanan and
Lewis Cass standing on the Democratic platform marked "
Kansas", "
Cuba" and "Central America".
Franklin Pierce also holds down the giant's beard as Douglas shoves a black man down his throat. A victim of
lynching can also be seen in the background. Douglas expected to have influence in the selection of Pierce's cabinet, and possibly receive an appointment himself. However, Pierce largely ignored Douglas and instead gave key positions to Douglas's rivals, including Buchanan and
Jefferson Davis. After the death of his daughter in early 1853, Douglas went on a five-month tour of Europe. Returning to the Senate in late 1853, he initially sought to avoid taking center stage in national debates, but once again became involved in disputes over slavery in the territories. To provide for western expansion and the completion of a
transcontinental railroad, Douglas favored incorporating parts of the territory west of the
Missouri River and east of the
Rocky Mountains. In January 1854, he proposed to organize
Nebraska Territory and
Kansas Territory. Under the doctrine of
popular sovereignty, the citizens of each territory would determine the status of slavery. Douglas also reluctantly agreed to an amendment that would provide for the formal repeal of the Missouri Compromise. Aided by Jefferson Davis, Douglas convinced Pierce to support his proposal. Douglas's proposal, the
Kansas–Nebraska Act, provoked a strong reaction in the North, where repeal of the Missouri Compromise was unpopular. Douglas argued that the Compromise of 1850 had already superseded the Missouri Compromise, and that citizens of the territories should have the right to determine the status of slavery. Opponents of popular sovereignty attacked its supposed fairness; Abraham Lincoln claimed that Douglas "has no very vivid impression that the Negro is human; and consequently has no idea that there can be any moral question in legislating about him". Nonetheless, the Kansas–Nebraska Act won passage in both houses of Congress. In both the House and the Senate, every Northern Whig voted against the Kansas–Nebraska Act, while just under half of the Northern Democrats and the vast majority of Southern congressmen of both parties voted in favor. Northern opponents of the act saw it as a triumph for the hated
Slave Power. Douglas hoped that the Kansas–Nebraska Act would ease sectional tensions, and he was surprised by the intensity of Northern backlash to his proposal and to Douglas himself. He later remembered, "I could travel from Boston to Chicago by the light of my own effigy." Democrats suffered major losses in the
1854 elections, which saw the decline of the Whigs, the emergence of the nativist
Know Nothing movement, and the founding of the anti-slavery
Republican Party. The Illinois legislature replaced Senator
James Shields, a Douglas ally, with
Lyman Trumbull, an anti-slavery Democrat. After passage of the Kansas–Nebraska Act, anti-slavery and pro-slavery settlers flocked to Kansas Territory so they could influence the admission of Kansas to the Union. A series of violent clashes,
Bleeding Kansas, broke out, and the two sides established competing governments. Douglas issued a committee report that endorsed the pro-slavery government as legitimate and denounced anti-slavery forces as the primary cause of the violence. Anti-slavery activists including
Charles Sumner attacked Douglas for the report; one Northern paper wrote, "Douglas has brains, but so has the
Devil, so had
Judas and
Benedict Arnold." As the Kansas crisis continued, the Whigs collapsed, and many former Whigs joined the Republicans, the Know Nothings, or, in the South, the Democrats. During the
1856 Chicago mayoral election, Douglas's faction strongly backed pro-Nebraska Democrat
Thomas Dyer, who was elected. Bleeding Kansas badly damaged Pierce's standing among Democratic leaders, and Pierce, Douglas, and Buchanan competed for the presidential nomination at the
1856 Democratic National Convention. Buchanan's greatest advantage was that he had been in Britain as ambassador for most of Pierce's presidency, and so avoided becoming involved in the Kansas–Nebraska Act debates. After Buchanan led on the first fourteen ballots of the convention, Pierce dropped out and endorsed Douglas. Douglas withdrew after being unable to take the lead on the fifteenth and sixteenth ballots, accepting assurances from Buchanan's campaign managers that Buchanan would clear the way for Douglas in 1860 by serving only one term if elected, and the convention nominated Buchanan on the seventeenth. As in 1852, Douglas accepted defeat and campaigned for the Democratic nominee. In a three-person race, Buchanan defeated Republican
John C. Frémont and Know Nothing Millard Fillmore. Buchanan dominated in the South, but Frémont won several Northern states; Douglas ally
William Alexander Richardson lost the Illinois gubernatorial election.
Buchanan administration Douglas hoped his pro-Buchanan efforts in the 1856 election would be rewarded with influence in the new administration. However, as had been the case with Pierce, Buchanan largely ignored Douglas. Shortly after Buchanan took office, the
Supreme Court issued the
Dred Scott decision, which declared that slavery could not be legally excluded from federal territories. Though the ruling was unpopular in the North, Douglas urged Americans to respect it, saying "whoever resists the final decision of the highest judicial tribunal aims a deadly blow at our whole republican system of government." He approved of another aspect of the ruling, which held that African-Americans could not be citizens, stating that the
Founding Fathers "referred to the white race alone, and not the African, when they declared men to have been created free and equal". In late 1857, the pro-slavery state legislature in
Lecompton, Kansas organized a constitutional referendum on the future of slavery. Anti-slavery forces boycotted the referendum because both options required that slaves already in the state remain slaves regardless of the outcome. Territorial Governor
Robert J. Walker denounced the referendum as a "vile fraud," and many Northern Democrats joined with Republicans in opposing it. Nonetheless, the state legislature presented the
Lecompton Constitution to Buchanan, who endorsed the constitution and called on Congress to ratify it. Buchanan stated, "Kansas is therefore at this moment as much a slave state as Georgia and South Carolina." After meeting with Walker, Douglas broke with Buchanan and declared the constitution was a "fraudulent submission" because it violated popular sovereignty, promising to "resist it to the last". Despite Douglas's efforts, Buchanan won congressional approval to admit Kansas as a slave state. Frustrating Buchanan's plans, the newly elected, anti-slavery Kansas legislature rejected admission as a slave state in April 1858. In the South, Douglas received much of the blame for Kansas's rejection of admission; one paper wrote that Douglas had severed "the ties which have hitherto bound this able statesman and the people of the South together in such a cordial alliance".
Lincoln–Douglas debates was Douglas' opponent in both the 1858 Senate election in Illinois and the
1860 presidential election. After his defeat by Trumbull in the 1854 Senate election, Lincoln began planning to run against Douglas in 1858. Lincoln strongly rejected proposals to cooperate with Douglas against Buchanan, and he was the choice of Republicans in the Illinois legislature to oppose Douglas. Accepting the nomination, Lincoln delivered his
House Divided Speech, saying "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved—I do not expect the House to fall—but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other." Douglas rejected Lincoln's notion that the United States could not continue to be divided into free and slave states, and warned that Lincoln called for "a war of secession, a war of the North against the South, of the free states against the slave states". As they campaigned for state legislators who would elect a US senator, Lincoln and his entourage followed Douglas around the state and spoke after him, causing Douglas to agree to debate Lincoln in seven different towns. The format of the
Lincoln-Douglas debates called for one candidate to make a one-hour opening speech, followed by the other delivering a ninety-minute rebuttal, followed by the first candidate delivering a half hour closing remark; Lincoln and Douglas agreed to rotate who would speak first. The debates focused on slavery in the territories, and, more broadly, the meaning of republicanism in the United States. Douglas favored popular sovereignty and emphasized the concept of self-government, though his vision of self-government encompassed only whites. Lincoln emphasized human equality and economic opportunity for all. In the second debate, Douglas articulated the
Freeport Doctrine, holding that the people in federal territories had "the lawful means to introduce [slavery] or exclude it as they please, for the reason that slavery cannot exist a day or an hour anywhere, unless it is supported by local police regulations. Those police regulations can only be established by the local legislature; and if the people are opposed to slavery, they will elect representatives to that body who will by unfriendly legislation effectually prevent the introduction of it into their midst." Douglas thus argued that territories could effectively exclude slavery despite the
Dred Scott decision. At another appearance, Douglas reiterated his belief that the
Declaration of Independence was not meant to apply to non-whites. He said, "this government was made by our fathers on the white basis ... made by white men for the benefit of white men and their posterity forever". Lincoln criticized Douglas for his moral indifference to slavery, but denied any intention to interfere with slavery in the South. He suggested that, despite the public break between Douglas and Buchanan over Kansas, the two Democrats had worked together to extend and perpetuate slavery. Lincoln disclaimed the views on racial equality attributed to him by Douglas, arguing only for the right of African Americans to personal liberty and to earn their own livings. He stated, "I am not, nor ever have been in favor of making voters of the negroes, or jurors, or qualifying them to hold office, or having them to marry with white people." At another debate, Lincoln stated, "I believe that slavery is wrong ... There is the difference between Judge Douglas and his friends and the Republican Party." In an election that saw higher turnout than that of the 1856 presidential election, Democrats won 54 of the 100 state legislative seats. Despite the split with Buchanan and the strong challenge from Lincoln, legislators elected Douglas to a third term in January 1859. Following the elections, Douglas toured the South. He warned against sectionalism and secession, telling one crowd, "if you deem it treason for abolitionists to appeal to the passions and prejudices of the North, how much less treason is it, my friends, for southern men to appeal to the passions with the same end?"
1859 change in Douglas' health and fortune According to the
Springfield Republican, in 1857 Douglas "was, next to
General Cass, the richest man in public life"; by the end of 1859, after extravagant political spending and disappointing investments, he was near bankrupt. "Two months ago [before
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry] he seemed to have more political power and popularity than any other American; everybody was talking about him, and his chances for the Presidency were hopefully discussed by his friends, and reluctantly conceded by his enemies—but now ... the Southern Democracy have ceased to fear him; and the Northern to worship him." He contracted a serious illness, "gout in the stomach", described as "almost always fatal".
1860 presidential election Nomination . Douglas's 1858 re-election solidified his standing as a leading contender for the Democratic nomination in the
1860 presidential election. His support was concentrated in the North, especially the Midwest, though some unionist Southerners, like
Alexander H. Stephens, were sympathetic. Douglas remained on poor terms with Buchanan, and his Freeport Doctrine had further alienated many Southern senators. At the start of the
36th Congress, Buchanan and his Southern allies removed Douglas as chairman of the Senate Committee on Territories. Douglas helped defeat an attempt to pass a federal slave code, but saw his own bill to establish agricultural
land-grant colleges vetoed by Buchanan. The
1860 Democratic National Convention opened in
Charleston, South Carolina, on April 23, 1860. Newspapers in the city attacked Douglas as the "Demagogue of Illinois," but Douglas was determined to uphold popular sovereignty, telling one supporter "I do not intend to make peace with my enemies, nor to make a concession of one iota of principle." Following precedent, Douglas did not attend, and the pro-Douglas forces were led by
William Alexander Richardson. Other delegates were split into two broad factions: allies of Buchanan, led by a quartet of senators, and the
Fire-Eaters, an extremist group of Southern delegates led by
William Lowndes Yancey. After a battle over inclusion of popular sovereignty or a federal slave code in the party platform, several Southern delegations walked out. The convention subsequently held several rounds of presidential balloting, and while Douglas received by far the most support, he fell well short of the necessary two-thirds majority. After nearly sixty ballots, delegates agreed to adjourn and reconvene in
Baltimore in June. In the weeks leading up to the second Democratic convention, a group of former Whigs and Know Nothings formed the
Constitutional Union Party and nominated
John Bell for president. Bell campaigned on a simple platform that emphasized unionism and sought to minimize the role of slavery, but received little support outside the South. In May, the
1860 Republican National Convention nominated Lincoln. The Democratic convention reconvened on June 18, and most Southern delegates once again bolted. The rump convention then nominated Douglas by an overwhelming margin. The party initially offered the vice presidential nomination to
Benjamin Fitzpatrick, but after Fitzpatrick declined,
Herschel Vespasian Johnson of Georgia accepted. Meanwhile, Southern Democrats held their own Baltimore convention and nominated Vice President
John C. Breckinridge for president. Breckinridge did not openly support secession, but received the support of Fire-Eaters such as Jefferson Davis. Douglas rejected efforts to cooperate with Breckinridge, arguing that "any compromise with the secessionists would ... give every Northern state to Lincoln." The 1860 election essentially became two contests, with Breckinridge and Bell contesting the South and Lincoln and Douglas competing for the North.
General election , although the second largest popular vote winner behind Lincoln, he won electoral votes from just two states. Douglas broke with the precedent that presidential candidates did not openly campaign, and gave speeches across the Northeastern United States. Sensing an opportunity in the Upper South, he also campaigned in Virginia and North Carolina before campaigning in the crucial
swing states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. While many Republicans did not take the talk of secession seriously, Douglas warned that some Southern leaders would seek immediate secession after the election. At Raleigh, North Carolina, he said "I am in favor of executing in good faith every clause and provision of the Constitution and protecting every right under it—and then hanging every man who takes up arms against it!" His campaign treasurer,
August Belmont, struggled to raise funds for a candidacy that many regarded as a lost cause. Few newspapers endorsed Douglas, with the major exception being
James Gordon Bennett Sr.'s
New York Herald. The split in the Democrats enabled Lincoln to win Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. These states held elections for state offices in October, one month ahead of the nationwide presidential election, and Republican victories in those contests were taken as predictive. With no hope of victory, Douglas decided to tour the South and speak against secession. "Mr. Lincoln is the president", he stated, "We must try to save the Union. I will go South." In St. Louis, he told the audience, "I am not here tonight to ask for your votes for the presidency. I am here to make an appeal to you for the Union and the peace of the country." Despite denunciations from local newspapers, he continued his journey, speaking against secession in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. Missouri was the only state Douglas carried, though he also won three of New Jersey's seven electoral votes. Bell won Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee; Breckinridge swept the remaining Southern states, and Lincoln won California, Oregon, and every Northern elector outside of New Jersey. Though Douglas finished last in electoral votes, he won the second-highest popular vote total and was the lone candidate to win electoral votes from both a free state and a slave state. Following Lincoln's victory, many in the South planned for secession. One Douglas associate in the South wrote to him, "with your defeat, the cause of the Union was lost."
Last months After the election, Douglas returned to the Senate, where he sought to prevent a break-up of the United States. He joined a committee of thirteen senators, led by
John J. Crittenden, which sought a legislative solution. He supported the
Crittenden Compromise, which called for amendments that would enshrine the Missouri Compromise line in the constitution, but it was defeated in committee by a combination of Republicans and Southern extremists. As late as Christmas 1860, Douglas wrote to
Alexander H. Stephens and offered to support annexation of Mexico as slave territory to avert secession. South Carolina voted to secede on December 20, 1860, and five other Southern states had done so by mid-January. In February 1861, Jefferson Davis took office as president of the
Confederate States of America. Douglas unsuccessfully sought President-elect Lincoln's support for the
Peace Conference of 1861, another attempt to head off secession. Lincoln was unwilling to support the conference, although Douglas described his meeting with Lincoln as "peculiarly pleasant". A long-time opponent of
protectionism, he voted against the
Morrill Tariff, which raised rates, instead calling for a
customs union with
Canada, Mexico,
Cuba, and
Central America. Douglas praised
Lincoln's first inaugural address, describing it as "a peace offering rather than a war message" to the South. After the Confederate
attack on
Fort Sumter in April 1861, Lincoln proclaimed a state of rebellion and called for 75,000 troops to suppress it. Douglas met privately with Lincoln and suggested that Lincoln should call for
200,000 troops. "You do not know the dishonest purposes of those men as well as I do," he said. To a friend, he stated, "I've known Mr. Lincoln a longer time than you have, or than the country has. He'll come out all right, and we will all stand by him." In late April, Douglas departed Washington for the Midwest, where he rallied support for the Union. ==Position on slavery==