Election of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the first president to stand up against slavery and states' rights. An issue was brought about with Stephen Douglas. Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas got into a debate. Lincoln was running for the senator of Illinois. He lost the debate but it brought up excellent points..so it was a good thing that he lost. Stephen Douglas was an American politician and pro-slavery nominee for president. He debated Lincoln about slavery during the Illinois Senatorial Race. He proposed the unpopular, Kansas/Nebraska Act. Lincoln had strong disbeliefs on slavery. He hated it. He thought that African Americans had the right too, "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." He believed that African Americans had just as much of a right as white people did. HE believed that, "All men are created equal."LIncoln thought that there should be National Rights and not states' rights. he didnt agree with the idea of states having their own rights. Abraham Lincoln propsed the Emancipation Procalamation. This was a document that stated that all people being held as slaves, shall be freed. The South knew that if Abraham Lincoln was elected for president, that all their slaves would be freed and they would be out of service. This was a cause of the civil war because the south "needed their slaves". They didnt want to lose business, so they fought the issue.