Lincoln & Douglas in Alton
Posted by: BruceS
N 38° 53.397 W 090° 11.147
15S E 744086 N 4308329
Location of a debate between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas in there 1858 Senatorial Campaign.
Waymark Code: WM929
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 03/16/2006
Views: 35
"At this site on the 15th of October in 1858, on a temporary
platform built in front of city hall, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas
engaged in the seventh and final encounter of their famous series of debates.
At an early hour on that date, the spectators began to arrive.
They came on foot, on horseback, by carriage, lumber wagon, steamer, and
railroad. By noon they numbered six thousand.
At the hour of two Douglas opened the debate with a speech of
one hour. His speech was flat and unsatisfactory, unredeemed by a single
sparkle of with or patriotic elevation.
In his reply of one and one-half hours, Lincoln took the charges
of Douglas and scattered them to the winds. His performance was deemed
clear and logical, honest and candid.
Douglas' half hour rejoinder was in better spirit than his
opening but the consensus of the day was that Lincoln had scored the victory.
Although Lincoln won the non-binding popular vote, Douglas was
elected U.S. Senator by the state legislature in January 1859. Lincoln was
elected President of the United States in November 1860.
City hall was destroyed by fire in 1923. The stone wall
behind this plaza stands where the east wall of city hall stood.
The lifesize sculptures of Lincoln and Douglas, created by Jerry
McKenna of Boerne, Texas under commission by the Alton-Godfrey Rotary Club, were
dedicated on October 15, 1995"
-- from plaque
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