In 1858, a new President was being elected. Two candidates battled for the office: Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. They held debates in different cities and put forth their positions on various topics. Unlike today, the newspapers were openly biased one way or the other. The text of the debate differed from paper to paper, depending on which way they leaned. http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/lincolndouglas/debatetextnews has the complete text of the articles from about fourteen newspapers, both Republican and Democratic. Articles on the debate at Freeport from two newspapers are compared here: The Alton Weekly Courier (Republican) and the Jacksonville Sentinel (Democrat). By putting together the several accounts, a fairly accurate picture presents itself. There are a few similarities. But the differences far outstrip them.
The Alton Weekly Courier, or the AWC, has few things in common with the Jacksonville Sentinel, or the JS. Both newspapers openly proclaim their bias. People read the newspaper that supported their party, and expected to hear a rather one-sided account of events. Also, the newspapers recorded the same debate. Other than those two points, the two newspapers' articles don't match up.
The AWC favored Lincoln over Douglas, and records the crowd as liking Lincoln more. Douglas is shown as not able to answer any of the questions put to him by Lincoln. A second article declares that Douglas is switching his position around on the Dred Scott decision, and provides a comparison of his Chicago speech and his Freeport speech to illustrate it. In the first article, which gives a running account of the debate, Douglas is portrayed as a rude, lying politician who is polite and decent only as long as it serves his purposes. The purport of what both candidates say is recorded, though not verbatim.
In contrast, the JS is completely for Douglas. The crowd is said to be all for him, and Lincoln totally crushed by his blows. One article gives Douglas' speech in quotation marks. The other article claims that the “Black Republicans” endorse Fredrick Douglass and “Negro Equality.” To prove this, they quote Douglas, their own candidate! The first article says nothing about Lincoln's speeches, just Douglas' answers to Lincoln's questions.
The AWC gives both Lincoln's questions and Douglas' answers:
“Mr. Lincoln, having answered all of Mr. Douglas's interrogatories, then,
proceeded to propound the following interrogatories to him, requesting him
to answer them:
1. If the people of Kansas shall, by means entirely unobjectionable in all other respects, adopt a State Constitution, and ask admission into the Union under it, before they have the requisite number of inhabitants, according to the English bill — ninety-three thousand — would you vote to admit them?
2. Can the people of a United States territory, in any lawful way, against the wish of any citizen of the United States exclude slavery from their limits, prior to the formation of a State constitution?
3. If the Supreme Court of the United States shall decide that States cannot exclude slavery from their limits, are you in favor of acquiescing in, adopting, and following such decision as a rule of political action?
4. Are you in favor of acquiring additional territory, in disregard of how such acquisition may affect the nation on the slavery question?”1
“1st. He [Douglas] said he believed that, when a Territory has a population enough for a slave State, she has also enough for a free State; but believes, nevertheless, that no Territory ought to be admitted or apply for admission with a less population than 93,000.
2d. He said he believes that the people of a Territory can by lawful mean prohibit slavery if they see it, through their Territorial Legislature. The Nebraska bill, he said, provided that the Legislature of the Territory should have power over all subjects consistent with the organic set and the Federal Constitution.
3d. He dismissed this interrogatory by saying that he does not believe the Supreme Court would ever dream of such a thing as deciding that no State has the right to abolish slavery, and therefore considered the question simply aboard, said a vile imputation upon the character of the Federal Judiciary.
4th. He was in favor of the acquisition of Territory, when he considered it necessary or proper, whether the acquisition is from the north, the South, the east or the west. True, he said, we have Territory enough for the present, but we are a growing nation, and in fifteen years, all this territory, will be filled up and we mush have more. Expansion is the law of this Republic, and the nation would die if we restrict its limits.”2
The JS takes a different approach. Lincoln's questions to Douglas are not quoted, but Douglas' responses are. Instead of paraphrasing, the JS devotes a paragraph or two to each answer, with the comments of the crowd in parentheses. Included are comments from Douglas such as “I regret exceedingly that he [Lincoln] did not answer that interrogation himself before he put it to me, in order that we might understand, and not be left to infer, on which side he is.” The paragraph of comment at the beginning says that “These questions were got up with all the ingenuity and cunning that Lincoln's guardian committee could command, and were regarded by Lovejoy, Bross & Co., as stunners.”3
With respect to the Democrats in general, the AWC doesn't have much to say. The article on the debate mentions them only four times. They are said to be in the minority, “four Republicans present for every Douglasite,”4 and to have left town after the debate, “ashamed and afraid to show their heads.”5 Two of those four times refer to Douglas' followers, not Democrats. The rest of their remarks are reserved for Douglas.
The JS, however, is vocal against the “Black Republicans,”6 and has an entire article claiming that they are all for Fredrick Douglas. In the comment at the beginning, the article claims that “It will be seen that the republicans stood up openly for Fred Douglas and negro equality.”7 The extract is from Douglas. In it, he insults the Republicans, calling them “black.”8 The quote shows that the crowd was not pleased with him and that many vigorously denied the charges.
Reading just one newspaper's account of the Freeport debate does not give an accurate picture of what happened. All of the newspapers were biased, and each reported their own side as winning. The reports have few things in common. The few similarities are outnumbered by the many differences.
Citations:
- The Northern Illinois University Library, online digital collection. http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/lincolndouglas/debatetextnews,
http://lincoln-live.lib.niu.edu/islandora/object/niu-lincoln:34792 - The Northern Illinois University Library, online digital collection. http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/lincolndouglas/debatetextnews,
http://lincoln-live.lib.niu.edu/islandora/object/niu-lincoln:34792 - The Northern Illinois University Library, online digital collection. http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/lincolndouglas/debatetextnews,
http://lincoln-live.lib.niu.edu/islandora/object/niu-lincoln:3774 - The Northern Illinois University Library, online digital collection. http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/lincolndouglas/debatetextnews,
http://lincoln-live.lib.niu.edu/islandora/object/niu-lincoln:34792 - The Northern Illinois University Library, online digital collection. http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/lincolndouglas/debatetextnews,
http://lincoln-live.lib.niu.edu/islandora/object/niu-lincoln:34792 - The Northern Illinois University Library, online digital collection. http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/lincolndouglas/debatetextnews,
http://lincoln-live.lib.niu.edu/islandora/object/niu-lincoln:3774 - The Northern Illinois University Library, online digital collection. http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/lincolndouglas/debatetextnews,
http://lincoln-live.lib.niu.edu/islandora/object/niu-lincoln:35125 - The Northern Illinois University Library, online digital collection. http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/lincolndouglas/debatetextnews,
http://lincoln-live.lib.niu.edu/islandora/object/niu-lincoln:35125
No comments:
Post a Comment