Unlike many other historian’s accounts of the Lincoln and Douglas debates Allen C. Guelzo analyzes the debates by placing them into a balanced perspective, in The Debates That Defined America. For one reason, Guelzo was not bias in portrayal of either Lincoln or Douglas, their campaigns, or the political state of Illinois. Most importantly it was Guelzo’s attention to the entire state of Illinois. Along with its political happenings surrounding the time of the senatorial election and debates. Debates, as argued by Allen C. Guelzo, that would prove to be more influential in shaping american politics than deciding Illinois Senatorial Election of 1858. Both Lincoln and Douglas are quickly introduced in, The Debates That Defined America, with …show more content…
The democratic south, represented by Douglas, who took the principle approach. Douglas was also the incumbent candidate at the time, whose party dominated Illinois politics. The republican north, represented by Lincoln, who approached politics with moral principle. The Whig Party was both candidates primary target as they were in between both beliefs due to the issue of slavery - which Lincoln argued to be a moral issue. Later in the novel Guelzo uses statistical tables to prove why the debates had little effect on the outcome of the election. Largely due to the government system of apportionment present which was largely based on partisanship. Proving to favor Douglas, “combined with the failure to win over the Whig districts, the apportionment doomed Lincoln’s chances of …show more content…
Lincoln can easily be described through Allen C. Guelzo’s account as the “misunderstood underdog”, who stood no chance at winning due to the political structure in place. While it does not directly show bias from Guelzo, is does create a bias in the reader throughout the novel to favor or focus on Lincoln. Which could result in the reader misinterpreting the true meaning behind the novel by focusing on Lincoln’s unfortunate loss. Causing them to believe that the debates were more persuasive in the elections outcome than they were in the history of America
She wanted to more deeply uncover how genius Lincoln was by choosing to work with the people he did. Instead of just focusing on Lincoln though, she takes into account the other influential men that helped guide him through one of America’s most difficult times. In the text, there are no footnotes or citations of research, but the reader can assume there was extensive research due to the in depth writing and quotations. At the end of the book, there is a section of acknowledgements, notes and illustration credits giving credit to all the information
It would be more than difficult not to read Abraham Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address without some sense of pride or honor for one’s own country. He brings about a call to civility among all citizens striving for unity and harmony with one another. Lincoln understood the dilemma that slavery became for not only the Northerners attempting to abolish the practice entirely, but also for the Southerners perpetuating it in the first place. The fact that there was a faction rising in favor of slavery on a scale that would divide the country indefinitely and that Lincoln foresaw this danger demonstrates the level of prudence he was able to acquire up until his presidency. In this address, Lincoln stressed the importance of the nation staying unified and true to the principles set by
James Oakes’ political analysis of the relationship between Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass is an intricate one. He pursues the duos; a frontier lawyer and a former slave, the president and the most sought after black, the shrewd politician and an agile reformer who are carefully engaged in the context of political succession, emancipation and civil war in the 19th century. Being a prime time when slavery is a fiercely contested issue, the two closely associate in the bold spectrum, differing and agreeing, disregarding and approving each other in different instances, with Oakes ultimately drawing their paths through the epic transformation. This paper seeks out Douglass’ and Lincoln’s approaches that shift some positions in slavery abolition in 19th century America.
The 1840 U.S. presidential election was notoriously light on discussions of the issues. While incumbent Democrat Martin Van Buren and Whig challenger William Henry Harrison occasionally touched on executive power and economic policy, their parties spent the majority of the race engaging in mudslinging, political theater and sloganeering. This was particularly true of the Whigs, who framed much of their campaign around Harrison’s heroic role in an event from nearly 30 years earlier: the Battle of Tippecanoe.
It was later understood that the map was showing you who was more likely to win and how the Democrats didn't have a chance between the Republicans. Political differences helped cause the Civil War because who won elections was a big deal. Winning an election means total control of what is around you, including being able to make all states slave free states, and this can cause big problems for those who are
The Lincoln-Douglas had some great effects that even Lincoln said, “these poor tongues of Judge Douglas and myself shall be silent.” Washington paper headline said, “The battle of the Union is to be fought in Illinois.” They believed that maybe the outcome of these debates would determine if the Democratic Party can maintain unity with Slavery and on the Union. Douglas was opposed of President James Buchanan and the southern Democratic leadership when he opposed of Kansas as a slave state under the Lecompton constitution.
Allen Guelzo and Vincent Harding approached Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and the eventual abolition of slavery from two very different viewpoints. The major disagreement between them is whether the slaves freed themselves, or Abraham Lincoln and his Emancipation Proclamation freed them. Harding argued the former view, Guelzo took the later. When these essays are compared side by side Guelzo’s is stronger because, unlike Harding, he was able to keep his own views of American race relations out of the essay and presented an argument that was based on more than emotion. Allen Guelzo
Stephen Douglas, an advocate of popular sovereignty, and Abraham Lincoln, a Republican candidate, were both running to represent Illinois in the United States Senate. These two men met in a sequence of seven debates before they battled for office of presidency in the election of 1858. Slavery eventually became the main issue discussed repeatedly in each of the debates, due to the Mexican War adding new territories left to be assessed as free soil or not. During this time, the Compromise of 1850 was a temporary fix to the sectional issues for the states that made the decision to participate in the extension of slavery. However, the Missouri Compromise of 1854 brought the issue back up again.
The election of 1860 was one of the most influential in the history of the U.S. Tensions were high between democratic and republican parties. The democratic party itself was divided. Laws regarding slavery were conflicting with each other causing outrage on both sides of the issue. Something needed to be done and the election was the answer to it. A firm foundation needed to be set on slavery and it would drive the entire nation in the direction of the Commander and Chief’s choosing.
Michael Holt also writes how partisan politics lead to the Civil War partisans of all sides sought to define their opponents. In the book Holt contends that political decisions made from 1846 to 1858 had played a critical role in intensifying sectional hostility prior to secession and the Civil War. (Pandora's Box, Pages 3-16) Holt states that the Whig party Democrats and politicians maneuvered for a short term
Oakes argues that as America went to war with itself, Lincoln’s antislavery politics and Douglas’s abolitionism gradually converged. James Oakes vivid political analysis chronicles the transformation of two of America’s greatest leaders as Lincoln embraces the role of the “radical” and Douglas embraces the role of the “republican” (104). The Radical and the Republican is set in the Antebellum period when the United States was divided by the great struggle between liberty and slavery in the North and the South. The Antebellum Era in American history was a time of economic, political, and social change.
Douglas, was an important election that would, and did, go down in history. Lincoln had opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, created by Stephen Douglas, which lead him into becoming a Republican. Here, nobody was able to Compromise. He ran against Stephen Douglas, and won the election with getting one hundred eighty electoral votes, and Douglas getting twelve (Southern Democrat Breckinridge seventy-two, and Constitutional Union Bell getting thirty-nine) (Doc H).
President Abraham Lincoln, in his inaugural address, addresses the topic of the civil war and its effects on the nation and argues that America could be unified once more. He supports his claim by using massive amounts of parallel structure and strong word choice. Lincoln ‘s purpose is to contemplate the effects of the civil war in order to unite the broken America once again. He adopts a very hopeful tone for his audience, the readers of the inaugural address and others interested in the topic of American history and the civil war.
I would recommend this book to someone who is into history and Abraham Lincoln. Growing up I used to think Abraham Lincoln was cool and inspiring. This book has helped me realize who Lincoln was. This book is really good at going into details from every aspect of Lincoln 's life. This book starts from the very beginning to the the very end of Lincoln.
On September 2nd, 1862, Abraham Lincoln famously signed the Emancipation Proclamation. After that, there’s been much debate on whether Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation truly played a role in freeing the slaves with many arguments opposing or favoring this issue. In Vincent Harding’s essay, The Blood-red Ironies of God, Harding argues in his thesis that Lincoln did not help to emancipate the slaves but that rather the slaves “self-emancipated” themselves through the war. On the opposition, Allen C Guelzo ’s essay, Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation: The End of Slavery in America, argues in favor of the Emancipation Proclamation and Guelzo acknowledges Lincoln for the abolishment of slavery through the Emancipation Proclamation.