Lincoln-Douglas Debates (King, 1986)

Lincoln and the Republicans promised to stop the expansion of slavery and to allow slavery in ithe South to die a 'natural death.' The alternative was to allow slavery to expand  'til it shall become alike lawful in all states, old as well as new, North as well as South.' Douglas did not believe that slavery was a crucial issue. The best way to protect the Union, he thought, was to let each state rather than Congress make a decision about slavrey. 'If each state will only agree to mind its own business, and let its neighbors alone,' he argued,'this republic can exist forever divided into free and slave states.'