On the evening of July 29, 1858, Lincoln, Republican Candidate for the United States Senate and the incumbent Democratic Senator, Stephen A. Douglas, were guests at the Bryant Home. It was here that the two politicians agreed to their seven debates.
Lincoln occupied the chair below during the evening’s discussion.
On this table Douglas wrote a letter to Lincoln confirming the schedule for seven debates.
This memorial to the Lincoln-Douglas debates, at Quincy, Illinois, stands as a symbol of Lincoln’s moral and spiritual convictions. They enabled him to match wits with Stephen A. Douglas, who was blind to the evils of slavery and deaf and dumb to those who expressed a desire to abolish it.
