Debate

October 09,2008

Debates

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

The Sixth debate took place in Quincy, Illinois yesterday Wednesday October 13, 1858. The main point that caught my attention was slavery. Douglas said “Eight years before, he had won national applause for cobbling together a plan, based on the doctrine of "popular sovereignty," to resolve the vexing issue of legalized slavery in America.” This basically means that he didn’t go against or for slavery he just thought of way made the people happy. “Congress had been paralyzed for years by the demands of southern slaveholders to open the unsettled territories of the American West to slave labor and the counterdemands of the free states of the North that the western territories be reserved for development only by free labor. "Popular sovereignty" would allow the people who actually lived in the territories to make their own decisions about legalizing slavery—and let Congress get back to other business.” Well like I said this states that he will make any slave-owner make their own legalization to slavery.

↑ON THE PICTURE ABOVE↑
Here you have the candidate

Douglas speaking to his audience

during his speech yesterday.

On the other hand president Lincoln

“always hated slavery”, “Slavery was the business bondage, and it flew straight into the face of the most sacred of American beliefs, "that all men are created equal" and are endowed with a natural right to liberty”“No amount of popular sovereignty, even in a democracy, could repeal that. And instead of dissolving the contention over slavery, Lincoln pointed out that popular sovereignty only transferred the contention to the territories, as proslavery and antislavery settlers turned murderous in their struggle for control” from this quote that I found I see that it was clear that Lincoln was really against slavery. People wanted control because they were slave owners and Lincoln didn’t let that happened because I think that he did put the slaves shoes and saw what they felt and he saw that it wasn’t right.

Obama-McCain Debates

From what I’ve seen is that there is a big difference because back then they took 2 hours to day and debate then a 30 min. response and then 2 hours of their speech and then the first person would give feedback for 30 min. basically a total of about 5 hours. Today the candidates are being asked questions and they need to response for 2 min. and the other would give feedback for a short time, basically that’s the process of today’s debates. Overall I think that today’s debates are better because I think that still both either are still boring but I prefer today’s debates because they are shorter and you cant basically cant run out of ideas when your talking over 2 hours and its better 2 min. than 2 hours.

C. Guelzo , Allen. "Past and Present: The Lincoln-Douglas Debates, 150 Years Later - US News and World Report." US News & World Report - Breaking News, World News, Business News, and America's Best Colleges - USNews.com. 21 Aug. 2008. 9 Oct. 2008