{"id":1058,"date":"2013-06-29T12:54:01","date_gmt":"2013-06-29T12:54:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/?p=1058"},"modified":"2016-06-20T14:03:08","modified_gmt":"2016-06-20T14:03:08","slug":"letter-to-stephen-douglas-july-29-1858","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/letter-to-stephen-douglas-july-29-1858\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter to Stephen Douglas (July 29, 1858)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Contributing Editors for this page include Michael Normant<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Ranking<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #0000ff; font-size: 36px;\">#107<\/span> on the list of 150 Most Teachable Lincoln Documents<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Annotated Transcript<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu\/node\/40490\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;Yours of the 24th. in relation to an arrangement to divide time and address the same audiences, is received; and, in apology for not sooner replying, allow me to say that when I sat by you at dinner yesterday was not aware that you had answered my note, nor certainly, that my own note had been presented to you.&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>On This Date<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu\/panel\/this_date\/1858-07-29\" target=\"_blank\">HD Daily Report, July 29, 1858<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thelincolnlog.org\/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&amp;day=1858-07-29\" target=\"_blank\">The Lincoln Log, July 29, 1858<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Close Readings<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rh-srxWa_n4\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Posted at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rh-srxWa_n4\" target=\"_blank\">YouTube<\/a> by &#8220;Understanding Lincoln&#8221; participant Michael Normant, Fall 2013<\/p>\n<h3>Custom Map<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps\/ms?msid=214923210427089848626.0004def4e79e2ae545ca4&amp;msa=0&amp;ll=41.856297,-87.629399&amp;spn=0.022759,0.041413&amp;iwloc=0004e072b0077ad2f146d\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-3155\" src=\"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/files\/2013\/06\/Screen-shot-2014-01-25-at-2.37.09-PM.png\" alt=\"Screen shot 2014-01-25 at 2.37.09 PM\" width=\"484\" height=\"441\" srcset=\"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/files\/2013\/06\/Screen-shot-2014-01-25-at-2.37.09-PM.png 692w, https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/files\/2013\/06\/Screen-shot-2014-01-25-at-2.37.09-PM-300x273.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 484px) 100vw, 484px\" \/><br \/>\n<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps\/ms?msid=214923210427089848626.0004def4e79e2ae545ca4&amp;msa=0&amp;ll=41.856297,-87.629399&amp;spn=0.022759,0.041413&amp;iwloc=0004e072b0077ad2f146d\" target=\"_blank\">View in Larger Map<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>How Historians Interpret<\/h3>\n<p>&#8220;Lincoln then wrote a\u00a0challenge for Judd to deliver to Douglas, formally proposing that they &#8216;divide time, and\u00a0address the same audiences&#8217; . . .\u00a0Judd handed over Lincoln\u2019s challenge, which Douglas\u00a0&#8216;angrily and emphatically declined to consider on the ground that it was a childish idea\u00a0and that he would be belittling himself and dignifying Lincoln.&#8217; \u00a0(Another reason for\u00a0Douglas\u2019s hesitation was his respect for Lincoln\u2019s ability. \u00a0As the senator told Joseph O.\u00a0Glover, &#8216;I do not feel, between you and me, that I want to go into this debate. The whole\u00a0country knows me and has me measured. Lincoln, as regards myself, is comparatively\u00a0unknown, and if he gets the best of this debate, and I want to say he is the ablest man the\u00a0Republicans have got, I shall lose everything and Lincoln will gain everything. Should I\u00a0win, I shall gain but little.&#8217;) \u00a0Judd replied that &#8216;if Douglas refused it would then be published broadcast\u00a0throughout the state, coupled with the assertion that Douglas was afraid to meet Lincoln\u00a0in debate.&#8217; \u00a0Indeed, the Little Giant would have looked unmanly. . .Douglas offered a counterproposal: noting that the Democratic State Central\u00a0Committee had committed him to speak at party meetings throughout the state, Douglas\u00a0declined to share time with Lincoln at those events, but he would agree to debate in each\u00a0of the state\u2019s nine congressional districts, except for the two where they had already in\u00a0effect debated (i.e., Chicago and Springfield). \u00a0In picking up the gage thus flung down,\u00a0Douglas peevishly and falsely suggested that Lincoln was plotting to include a National\u00a0Democratic candidate for the senate in the debates. Forwarding this response to\u00a0Lincoln, Judd observed that it &#8216;is a clear dodge, but he has made the best case he\u00a0could.&#8217; \u00a0On July 29, protesting against the &#8216;unjust&#8217; insinuations of &#8216;attempted\u00a0unfairness,&#8217; Lincoln accepted Douglas\u2019s terms.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u2013<a href=\"http:\/\/www.knox.edu\/academics\/distinctive-programs\/lincoln-studies-center\/burlingame-abraham-lincoln-a-life.html\" target=\"_blank\">Michael Burlingame,\u00a0<em>Abraham Lincoln: A Life<\/em>\u00a0(2 volumes, originally published by Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008)\u00a0Unedited Manuscript By Chapters, Lincoln Studies Center, Volume 1, Chapter 12 (PDF), pp. 1342-1344<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>NOTE TO READERS<\/h3>\n<p>This page is under construction and will be developed further by students in the new \u201cUnderstanding Lincoln\u201d online course sponsored by the House Divided Project at Dickinson College and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. To find out more about the course and to see some of our videotaped class sessions, including virtual field trips to Ford&#8217;s Theatre and Gettysburg, please visit our Livestream page at <a href=\"http:\/\/new.livestream.com\/gilderlehrman\/lincoln\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/new.livestream.com\/gilderlehrman\/lincoln<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Searchable Text<\/span><\/h3>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Springfield,<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">July 29. 1858<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Hon. S. A. Douglas\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Dear Sir\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Yours of the 24th. in relation to an arrangement to divide time and address the same audiences, is received; and, in apology for not sooner replying, allow me to say that when I sat by you at dinner yesterday was not aware that you had answered my note, nor certainly, that my own note had been presented to you. An hour after I saw a copy of your answer in the Chicago Times; and, reaching home, I found the original awaiting me. Protesting that your insinuations of attempted unfairness on my part are unjust; and with the hope that you did not very considerately make them, I proceed to reply. To your statement that &#8220;It has been suggested recently that an arrangement had been made to bring out a third candidate for the U. S. Senate who, with yourself, should canvass the state in opposition to me &amp;c.&#8221; I can only say that such suggestion must have been made by yourself; for certainly none such has been made by, or to me; or otherwise, to my knowledge. Surely you did not\u00a0<em>deliberately<\/em>\u00a0conclude, as you insinuate, that I was expecting to draw you into an arrangement, of terms to be agreed on by yourself, by which a third candidate, and my self, &#8220;in concert, might be able to take the opening and closing speech in every case.&#8221;<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">As to your surprise that I did not sooner make the proposal to divide time with you, I can only say I made it as soon as I resolved to make it. I did not know but that such proposal would come from you; I waited respectfully to see. It may have been well known to you that you went to Springfield for the purpose of agreeing on the plan of campaign; but it was not so known to me. When your appointments were announced in the papers, extending only to the 21st. of August, I, for the first time, considered it certain that you would make no proposal to me; and then resolved, that if my friends concurred, I would make one to you. As soon thereafter as I could see and consult with friends satisfactorily, I did make the proposal. It did not occur to me that the proposed arrangement could derange your plan, after the latest of your appointments already made. After that, there was, before the election, largely over two months of clear time.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">For you to say that we have already spoken at Chicago and Springfield, and that on both occasions I had the concluding speech, is hardly a fair statement. The truth rather is this. At Chicago, July 9th, you made a carefully prepared conclusion on my speech of June 16th.; twentyfour hours after I made a hasty conclusion on yours of the 9th.; you had six days to prepare, and concluded on me again at Bloomington on the 16th.; twentyfour hours after I concluded on you again at Springfield. In the mean time you had made another conclusion on me at Springfield, which I did not hear, and of the contents of which I knew nothing when I spoke; so that your speech made in day-light, and mine at night of the 17th. at Springfield were both made in perfect independence of each other. The dates of making all these speeches, will show, I think, that in the matter of time for preparation, the advantage has all been on your side; and that none of the external circumstances have stood to my advantage.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">I agree to an arrangement for us to speak at the seven places you have named, and at your own times, provided you name the times at once, so that I, as well as you, can have to myself the time not covered by the arrangement. As to other details, I wish perfect reciprocity, and no more. I wish as much time as you, and that conclusions shall alternate. That is all.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Your obedient Servant<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">A. LINCOLN&#8212;<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Contributing Editors for this page include Michael Normant Ranking #107 on the list of 150 Most Teachable Lincoln Documents Annotated Transcript &#8220;Yours of the 24th. in relation to an arrangement to divide time and address the same audiences, is received; and, in apology for not sooner replying, allow me to say that when I sat [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10855],"tags":[10896,10866,6088,63,11635,10865],"class_list":["post-1058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-railsplitter","tag-anger","tag-antebellum","tag-letter","tag-lincoln-douglas-debates","tag-partisanship","tag-private"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1058"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4304,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1058\/revisions\/4304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}