Remarks Of The Hon. Stephen A. Douglas, On Kansas, Utah, And The Dred Scott Decision. Delivered At Springfield, Illinois, June 12TH, 1857 Douglas, Stephen A. Americana,Civil War,Law,Presidency,Slavery

15, [1 blank] pp. Untrimmed and uncut. Light tide mark to upper third of the sheet, and to lower blank margin corner. Good+. This is one of three printings of Douglas's important speech on the Dred Scott decision. His chief biographer calls Douglas's remarks one of his "major speeches.The Grand Jury of the United States District Court, then in session, had asked Douglas to" speak on Kansas, Utah, and Dred Scott. Douglas, "taken by surprise, spoke extemporaneously, later writing out his comments for publication." He spoke briefly on Kansas, then a bit more on Utah. The autocratic rule of Brigham Young, "lurid tales of polygamy," and defiance of federal authority embarrassed Douglas, "who stood pledged to popular sovereignty." He urged Young's removal. "The main thrust of Douglas' remarks was aimed at the Dred Scott decision." He denounced Republicans who urged defiance, reminding them that they lived under a government of laws. Douglas supported the Supreme Court's decision: Negroes descended from slave parents could not be citizens; the Compromise of 1820-- barring slavery north of the compromise line-- was unconstitutional. Douglas reconciled, with "some circumlocution," the Court's decision with his pet popular sovereignty doctrine. [Johannsen, Stephen A. Douglas 567-9. If slavery could not constitutionally be barred from the territories, how could a territorial legislature exclude it? Douglas's answer kept his doctrine alive, but precipitated a fatal split with the southern wing of his Party. Slavery required favorable local legislation to foster it; its absence effectively precluded slavery. This resulted in a predictable call from southerners for Congress to require territories to protect slavery. The National Democratic Party's split on this question paved the way for Lincoln's election in 1860 and the severing of the Union. Ante-Fire Imprints 250. Byrd 2635. Flake 2985.