Lincoln-Douglas Debates, Part 2

I. Publishing History

A. Newspaper Accounts

1. Reporters/stenographers--both the Chicago Press and Tribune (the Republican newspaper) and the Chicago Times (the Democratic newspaper) hired reporters with stenography experience to provide their readers (including other newspapers)to provide readers with a verbatim transcript.

2. Editors--took the reports provided to the newspapers by the reporters, and edited it with an eye toward who the audience of the paper was, and to make the story interesting and readable. This editing was done without consulting with either candidate. The result was an inconsistent distortion of both the speeches by their favored candidate, as well as that of the opponent.

B. Lincoln's Scrapbook--Lincoln quickly grasped the importance of these debates to his political career, and collected newspaper reports and transcripts of the debate in a scrapbook. When a Columbus, Ohio publisher approached him about publishing an account of the debate, Lincoln turned over this scrapbook, along with other material.

1. Lincoln included material from sources that were "friends of the candidates." Lincoln also edited his responses, particularly in regards to material that was excluded from the contemporary newspaper reports, like the recitation of several of his speeches that he read to the crowd.

2. Douglas complained to the publishers that Lincoln relied upon slanted testimony that made Lincoln look good, while portraying Douglas in a less favorable light; historians have largely dismissed this complaint, since Lincoln clipped those articles from stories favorable to each candidate.


C. The Historian's Dilemna--the reports of this seminal event are deeply flawed, how does the historian decide which sources to favor, and which to disregard?

II. The Final Four Debates.

A. Charleston Debate--September 18, 1858

1. Charleston

2. Lincoln's opening remarks

3. Douglas' rejoinder

4. Lincoln's rebuttal

B. Galesburg Debate--October 7, 1858

1. Galesburg

2. Douglas' opening remarks

3. Lincoln's rejoinder

4. Douglas' rebuttal

C. Quincy debate--October 13, 1858

1. Quincy

2. Lincoln's opening remarks

3. Douglas' rejoinder

4. Lincoln's rebuttal

D. Alton debate--October 15, 1858

1. Alton

2. Douglas' opening remarks

3. Lincoln's rejoinder

4. Douglas' rebuttal

E. The Election Results

III. The Importance of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates