426. The Mormons.—Buchanan was more successful in his dealings with the Mormons of Utah. This religious sect was founded in 1830 by their Prophet, Joseph Smith, and was forced to move steadily westward from the State of New York. They settled first in Ohio, then in Illinois, where in 1840 they founded the town of Nauvoo. These Latter-Day Saints, as they were called, soon had troubles, without great fault of their own, with the authorities of Illinois, in the course of which Smith was arrested. Shortly after he was shot by a mob (June 21, 1844). Brigham Young was chosen leader of the new church in the Prophet’s place, and the next year the Mormons left Illinois. After many vicissitudes, a settlement was made in Utah, and Salt Lake City was founded in 1848. The next year, Young was elected governor of Deseret, as the territory was first named. In 1850 Congress established the Territory of Utah, and, in 1851, Young became its authorized governor. In 1852 he proclaimed polygamy to be a tenet of the Mormon church. This and other causes led to difficulties with judges and other officers of the United States, who in consequence left Utah.
427. Buchanan’s Management of the Mormon Difficulty.—Affairs soon reached such a pass as to require the removal of Brigham Young from his position as territorial governor, the Mormon desperadoes, under the name of Danites, or “destroying angels,” having inaugurated a small reign of terror. Buchanan supported the newly appointed governor, Alfred Cumming, with forces under General Albert Sidney Johnston, who was much harassed, however, by the destruction of his supply trains. Congress hesitated to give the President all the troops needed, for fear he might use them in Kansas; but he managed the affair well, notwithstanding, and with augmented forces and judicious pardons secured comparative tranquillity in Utah before the summer of 1858. But Congress still refused to give so strange a sect the right either to form a state or to elect their own officers.[[190]]
THE GREAT DEBATES.
Stephen A. Douglas.
428. Lincoln and Douglas.—The people of the settled portions of the country were more interested in a picturesque political campaign than in the pacification of a far-off territory. The term of Senator Douglas was to expire in 1859, and he appealed to public opinion in Illinois for reëlection. The Republicans put forward Abraham Lincoln as their representative to oppose him. The men were unlike in almost every respect. Douglas[[191]] in early life had come from Vermont to Illinois, where he had risen to distinction as a lawyer and a debater. In public speech he was keen, ingenious, and powerful, and his leadership of the movement in behalf of Popular Sovereignty had given him a national reputation. Lincoln,[[192]] on the other hand, had been born to the most abject poverty in Kentucky, and in early life had moved with his parents to Indiana, and then to Illinois. In his boyhood he had lived in a log hut, and had picked up almost the whole of his education by reading and study at odd moments. At length he studied law, and, though never a learned lawyer, he early showed remarkable power in discovering the turning point of a case, and presenting it with such clearness and force that he was very successful. By a careful study of a few of the best writers, he made himself a master of accurate and powerful English speech. He also became very skillful as a judge of human nature and in the art of persuading an audience. To these great qualities he added the still greater one of an honesty and integrity of thought and character so pronounced and transparent that he was generally respected and loved. At the time of this senatorial contest, Lincoln was forty-nine years of age; Douglas was forty-five.
429. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates.—In the spring of 1858, Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of public debates on the great questions of the day. They arranged for seven meetings in different parts of Illinois, and those meetings are memorable for the thoroughness with which questions then agitating the nation were discussed. Lincoln at the outset announced the Republican doctrine that slavery was entitled to the protection of Congress where it existed, but that it could and ought to be prevented from going into the territories where it did not already exist. Douglas, throughout the discussion, held that the Dred Scott Decision was binding, and tried to reconcile it with the notion of Popular Sovereignty. Lincoln very shrewdly saw the impossibility of reconciling these two views, and used his advantage with great skill and vigor.
A Typical Pioneer’s Cabin.
Built by Lincoln’s father when he moved to Illinois.
430. The Freeport Doctrine.—The turning point in the debates was at Freeport, where Lincoln put to Douglas this question: “Can the people of a United States territory, in any legal way, against the will of any citizen of the United States, exclude slavery from its limits prior to the formation of a state constitution?” The Republican committee managing the campaign, urged Lincoln not to ask Douglas the question. They said, “If Douglas answers ‘yes,’ he will surely be elected, because the people of Illinois believe in Squatter Sovereignty.” Lincoln’s reply was in substance: “Very well, if he answers ‘no,’ he cannot be elected senator in Illinois. If he answers ‘yes,’ as from his Squatter Sovereignty doctrine he will be obliged to do, he will offend the South in such a way that he cannot be elected President in 1860. I am looking for the larger game.” Lincoln insisted upon asking the question, and his prediction proved true. Douglas answered “yes,” and tried to reconcile Squatter Sovereignty with the Dred Scott Decision, in what came to be known as the “Freeport Doctrine”; but Lincoln pointed out with great power that such a reconciliation was absolutely impossible. Though Douglas was reëlected to the Senate, as the Republican committee predicted he would be if the question were asked, the rift in the Democratic party soon made it apparent that its Northern and Southern sections could not unite on any one candidate for President. Lincoln had accomplished his object, though he had lost the senatorship.