Lincoln-Douglas Galesburg Debate

Stephen A. Douglas, the incumbent senator, and Abraham Lincoln, a former congressman and current attorney, met for the fifth in a series of seven debates for the right to represent Illinois in the Senate. They debated the issues of the day before an outdoor crowd in Galesburg, Illinois. Mr. Douglas and Mr. Lincoln again directed charges and counter-charges at each other and reiterated their positions enumerated during the previous debates. Mr. Douglas again emphasized the notions of popular sovereignty and black inferiority, and he also accused Mr. Lincoln of duplicity depending on the part of the state in which he was speaking. Mr. Lincoln again defended himself and accused Mr. Douglas of not addressing the morality of slavery. This fifth debate is most significant for two main reasons. First, although Galesburg leaned Republican, the larger area in the center of the state was divided between Democratic and Republican supporters.