STEPHEN A. DOUGLASCHAPTER I EARLY YEARSThere are many men who have played, if not a great, at least a conspicuous part in the history of this nation, who have been treated, if not unfairly, at least ungenerously both by contemporaries and later generations. Years ago I read with delight Theodore Parker's terrible sermon on Daniel Webster, and believed with the preacher that Webster, when he made his Seventh of March Speech, had "paltered with eternal God for power." Yet a few | years later, Abraham Lincoln, as President, a man enshrined in the reverent affection of the American people, made the Webster policy his own when he declared that his object was to save the Union, and i that he would save it even at the cost of continuing slavery. His devotion, like that of the great Massachusetts senator, was first of all to the Union.Stephen A. Douglas, a much less great man, has suffered from the same extreme of contemporary criticism. He too sought the presidency, he too was ambitiTable of Contents CONTENTS; CHAPTER P AGIO; I Early Years 1; II Congressman 32; III War and Politics 58; IV Freedom or Slavery 83; V The Great Compromise 106; VI Compromise and Fugitive Slaves 132; VII President-making 147; VIII Pierce's Surrender 170; IX Popular Sovereignty 190; X War in Kansas 224; XI Freedom versus Slavery 249; XII Douglas Breaks with the Administration 280; XIII The Lincoln-Douglas Debate 299; XIV The Gathering Storm 328; XV Douglas the Patriot 345; Index 373About the Publisher Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology.Forgotten Books' Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology to regenerate facsimiles of historically important writings. Careful attention has been made to accurately preserve the original