Stephen Douglas
Stephen Douglas served as a Senator, Representative, and Supreme Court Justice in Illinois. In 1860, he ran for president on the Democratic ticket, but lost to Abraham Lincoln. Douglas was a supporter of the Compromise of 1850 and one of the authors of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. He became very unpopular as a result of strong opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act in the north. Stephen Douglas gained back some of his popularity when he proposed the idea of popular sovereignty, which allowed states to decide matters for themselves through the popular vote. When Douglas ran for president in 1860, he was defeated in a landscape with only 12 electoral votes.
"There are only two sides to this question. Every man must be for the United States, or against it. There can be no neutrals in this war; only patriots and traitors."
-Stephen Douglas
"There are only two sides to this question. Every man must be for the United States, or against it. There can be no neutrals in this war; only patriots and traitors."
-Stephen Douglas