Before the 1858 Illinois senatorial election, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas went head to head in seven three-hour-long debates. The main topic was slavery, with Lincoln arguing that slavery is immoral and unjust, and Douglas arguing for the state's right to continue practicing slavery. This pivotal point in U.S. history is captured in this innovative play to help readers understand its importance. Historical photographs illustrate this dramatization of true events. Stage directions, costume and prop notes, and character descriptions ensure a smooth performance. Readers of this play will gain a thorough understanding of this crucial moment in U.S. history.

The Lincoln-Douglas debates remain our culture's model of what public political debate ought to be. This new edition of the complete transcripts of the debates and eyewitness interpretations of them (previously published under the title Created Equal?) includes a new Foreword by David Zarefsky. Zarefsky analyzes the rhetoric of the speeches, showing how Lincoln and Douglas chose their arguments and initiated a debate that shook the nation. Their eloquent, statesmanlike discussion of the morality of slavery illustrates the masterful use of rhetorical strategies and tactics in the public forum: a form of discourse that has nearly disappeared from the political scene today.

Carefully recorded by reporters in 1858, the debates between Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln resulted in a win by Douglas in his campaign for U.S. Senate. In contrast to Douglas's Popular Sovereignty stance, Lincoln stated that the country could not survive as half-slave and half-free states. The Lincoln-Douglas debates drew the attention of the entire nation and set the stage for Lincoln's successful 1860 race for the United States Presidency.

Previously published in hbk.: Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1990.