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History of the United States I / Unit 14   USH1 2001 short lesson, about 20 seconds

The Debates of 1858

Captions available

The idea

Lincoln and Douglas held seven debates in the Illinois senate race of eighteen fifty-eight, and the texts were published nationally as they went.

In practice

Douglas already prominent and Lincoln becoming so through them.

Where people slip

A state legislative contest became a national argument because of print, which is the same mechanism that carried Stowe's novel two years earlier.

Your place on the trail

Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.

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