Stephen+Douglass

=__Stephen Douglas__=

toc Stephen Douglas was one of the nation's most powerful politicians. He was a democrat who, during his lifetime, served as a Representative and a Senator for Illinois. He has also been the state attorney for the Morgan circuit. Douglas also was unsuccessful when in the election to the Congress, in 1838, but later he was Secretary of State of Illinois, one of the judges of the State Supreme Court, elected numerous times to represent the democrats in Congress, and many more.

Early Life
Stephen Douglas was born April 23, 1813, in Brandon, Vermont. Douglas was nicknamed "The Little Giant" because he was short, had a large head, and broad shoulders. He was also called this because of his admiration of Andrew Jackson. He was raised by a unmarried uncle because his dad died about three months after he was born. The uncle got married when Douglas was fourteen and Douglas was sent to live by himself.

Early Political Years
Douglas went to schools in Brandon and in Canandaigua, New York, where he began to the study of law. He settled in Jacksonville, Illinois at twenty years old, where he became a lawyer. Afterwards, he moved to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1833, but then he settled in Winchester, Illinois, where he taught school and continued studying law.

Popular Sovereignty
During the mid-1800s, there was much disagreement regarding slavery. People for slavery believed that slave owning was a constitutional right in any part of the United States. Some argued that slaves shouldn't be allowed in newly formed territories. A doctrine known as the popular sovereignty stated that the people of each state should decide whether slavery would be allowed within their own territory or state. Stephen Douglas played a big part in creating and making this work. Later the popular sovereignty idea was expanded to include the whole nation both old and new territories in the Kansas- Nebraska Act.

The Kansas- Nebraska Act
On May 30, 1854, Stephen Douglas was the main person responsible for passing the Kansas- Nebraska Act through Congress. This act allowed people in Kansas and Nebraska to decide if they did or didn't want slavery in their states or territories. This act also repealed the Missouri Compromise that banned slavery from the territory of the Louisiana Purchase north of latitude 36°30´. As a result, Kansas was divided between proslavery and antislavery groups and a civil war resulted in the state of Kansas.



Stephen Douglas' Later Life
Stephen Douglas' last speech was in Chicago. After this, on May 1, he suffered from rheumatism, high fevers, and he was usuallly delirious. This got worse towards the end of the month. Douglas died June 3, 1861. He died just before the first major battle of the Civil War began. Many people respected what Douglas did. He might have even been chosen to run with Lincoln in the 1964 election.