"I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved... It will become all one thing, or all the other."
-Abraham Lincoln, The Writings of Abraham Lincoln, Volume III (Lincoln-Douglas Debates I) (1905)
The Writings of Abraham Lincoln, Volume III (Lincoln-Douglas Debates I) (1905) by Abraham Lincoln was edited by Arthur Brooks Lapsley and is part of an eight-volume series. This volume includes speeches by Abraham Lincoln and Senator Stephen Douglas given during their first three history-making debates in the 1858 Illinois senatorial campaign. Incumbent Democrat Douglas attempted to label Republican challenger Lincoln as a radical because of his anti-slavery views. Despite the fact that Lincoln eventually lost the senate race, these debates launched Lincoln into national notoriety as an eloquent speaker. The ideals and philosophies presented in this volume are timeless and as relevant today as in 1858.
