of slavery, a contest which was really a fight for the continued
existence of the nation.

Lincoln seems to have gone into the fight with full courage, the courage
of his convictions. He felt that Douglas was a trimmer, and he believed
that the issue had now been brought to a point at which the trimmer
could not hold support on both sides of Mason and Dixon's Line. He
formulated at the outset of the debate a question which was pressed
persistently upon Douglas during the succeeding three weeks. This
question was worded as follows: "Can the people of a United States
territory, prior to the formation of a State constitution or against the
protest of any citizen of the United States, exclude slavery?" Lincoln's
campaign advisers were of opinion that this question was inadvisable.
They took the ground that Douglas would answer the question in such way
as to secure the approval of the voters of Illinois and that in so doing
he would win the Senatorship. Lincoln's response was in substance: "That
may be. I hold, however, that if Douglas answers this question in a way
to satisfy the Democrats of the North, he will inevitably lose the
support of the more extreme, at least, of the Democrats of the South. We
may lose the Senatorship as far as my personal candidacy is concerned.
If, however, Douglas fails to retain the support of the South, he cannot
become President in 1860. The line will be drawn directly between those
who are willing to accept the extreme claims of the South and those who
resist these claims. A right decision is the essential thing for the
safety of the nation." The question gave no little perplexity to
Douglas. He finally, however, replied that in his judgment the people of
a United States territory had the right to exclude slavery. When asked
again by Lincoln how he brought this decision into accord with the Dred
Scott decision, he replied in substance: "Well, they have not the right
to take constitutional measures to exclude slavery but they can by local