The Colonel and I are history geeks as you know if you have been reading my blog for any amount of time. While we were visiting Missouri earlier this year, we crossed the Mississippi River into Illinois and checked out some of the bits of history there.
…this rock with a plaque attached and these life-sized statues of Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas as well as a couple informational boards within a beautiful, shady park.
These items memorialized the third senatorial debate between Lincoln and Douglas which was held in Jonesboro, Illinois.
In 1858, Lincoln and Douglas participated in seven debates about the fate of slavery which were held in various cities in Illinois (a non slave state). The main issues of the debates were slavery extension into the territories of the United States. Douglas charged Lincoln stood for racial equality and Lincoln accused Douglas of being unfaithful to the intent of the framers of the Constitution by promoting states rights as a means to perpetuate slavery. Douglas argued that whites should decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery, while Lincoln claimed slavery was immoral and should eventually be abolished. Douglas chose Jonesboro for the location of the third debate because of its southern sympathies.
In the 1858 midterm election, Douglas would keep his Illinois Senate seat but Lincoln won national acclaim. He would win the U.S. Presidency two years later in 1860.
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