Stephen A.

Douglas
‘‘Homecoming’’
Speech Summary

By: Miri Cooper, Rivky Schmidt, and Shiffy Heckman

 Who was Stephen A. Douglas:

● Stephen A. Douglas, was a Democrat, who spoke in

favor of Popular Sovereignty during his
‘Homecoming’ speech in Chicago, July 9, 1858.

● Douglas felt that the United States was “made by

the white man, for the benefit of the white man, to
be administered by white men, in such manner as
they should determine.”
 So what did Douglas do about it

Douglas went on the offense against the Republicans for trying

to instigate a sectional war, which would force each state to be
either slave or free, with no median. By painting Republicans as
extremists, he hoped to be seen in a good light, as a compromiser.

Douglas believed people should make their own decisions as to

whether slavery was good or evil. This showed that the Civil War
wasn’t just a sectional war, but a war of contradictory beliefs.
In 1859, when congress tried to force a constitution
on Kansas (The Lecompton Constitution),
many people in Kansas were against it.
Douglas felt obligated to resist the
Lecompton Constitution, which ultimately led to
Kansas to being able to vote on whether or not
the constitution would be placed on them.
Douglas had also defended The Compromise of The
1850 saying, “Everyone should have the right to Lecompton
choose their government, and the way the run their Constitutional
territory.” Convention
 The Wilmot Proviso
Douglas was against the Wilmot Proviso, which, if adopted,
would ban all slavery in the Mexican Territories. Instead Congress
passed a resolution which allowed the territories to choose their own
government. Congress’s resolution stated that their ancestors had
fought for liberty and formed a government that would let them decide
how to run their institutions. Congress argued that those same rules
should be applied to their current political fights, and that same right
should be secured for future generations.”

Douglas again defended Popular Sovereignty, as he had done

before, in 1850.
 Douglas vs. Lincoln
● In 1860, The Republican party nominated Abraham Lincoln to
succeed Stephen A. Douglas.

● Lincoln, who was a free-soiler, stated pertaining to the Kansas-

Nebraska act: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

● Lincoln believed a split country would be destructive, therefore he

believed a sectional war was the solution, to swing the country to a
decided extreme.

● Douglas disagreed with this sentiment saying: “Uniformity would be

destructive of state and personal rights.” He believed that every
state was different and therefore could not be expected to all live
under the same set of laws. “Diversity preserves liberty.”
The Dred Scott Decision

● The Dred Scott decision was the U.S. Supreme

Court’s ruling that The Missouri Compromise was
unconstitutional. This caused Congress to have no
power to be able to abolish slavery in any territories.
The Court also ruled that any slave, or descendant of
slaves, had no legal standing in court, which
essentially meant that Slaves had no legal right to
request their freedom.

● Lincoln disagreed with the Dred Scott decision stating,

‘It deprives negros of the privilege of citizenship
which pertain only to the white man.”
● Douglas believed that everyone
deserves privileges as long as they do
not harm society.

● Douglas believed uniformity would lead

to destruction. This opinion strongly
contradicted Lincoln's, who believed that
uniformity would prevent destruction.

Abraham Lincoln (left) and U.S. Sen.

Stephen A. Douglas in debate, 1858.