In 1858, the Republican Party sought to unseat one of the nation's most powerful United
States Senators, Stephen Douglas. To oppose him, they nominated Abraham Lincoln. The
resulting Lincoln-Douglas debates gave each candidate ample opportunity to publicly express
his opinions on slavery. During the fifth debate, Lincoln claimed that slavery ran counter to
American democratic principles because the Declaration of Independence's phrase - "all men are
created equal" applied to African-Americans.
Fifth Debate with Stephen A. Douglas
Galesburg, Illinois
October 7, 1858
Judge Douglas, and whoever like him teaches that the negro has no share, humble though it may
be, in the Declaration of Independence, is going back to the era of our liberty and independence,
and so far as in him lies, muzzling the cannon that thunders its annual joyous return; that he is
blowing out the moral lights around us; when he contends that whoever wants slaves has a right
to hold them; that he is penetrating, so far as lies in his power, the human soul, and eradicating
the light of reason and the love of liberty, when he is in every possible way preparing the public
mind, by his vast influence, for making the institution of slavery perpetual and national.
(III, 234)
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