Ottawa, Illinois, Aug. 21 The stage for the first debate has been erected on the edge of the canal. It is constructed in a manner that allows for impermanence due to the nature of these debates. To stir people up for the election and then to be torn away at the end of it all.
When Abraham Lincoln and Sen. Stephen A. Douglas arrived in dry and dusty Ottawa, Illinois, on Aug. 21, 1858, for the first of their seven great debates, their campaigns for the Senate were consumed by the great national struggle over slavery. A large press corps covered the debates, which were big news across the nation
Alton, Illinois, Oct. 15 The final debate has a small crowd of perhaps 5,000 people, a small number considering that many trains lowered their fare by nearly half from Chicago and Springfield to come to this debate. As it was, many of the crowd arrived from St. Louis on a steamboat. The day was cloudy
Galesburg, Illinois, Oct. 7 After the pleasant summer afternoons of late September comes the harsh bite of early fall. The campus of Knox College is filled with people in their Sunday best braving the grounds after a storm yesterday. The stage is close to the Old Main and despite the raging wind, a window remains
Jonesboro, Illinois, Sept. 15 While I doubt it was the late fall heat keeping people away completely, the crowd in this town deep in Southern Illinois’ “Egypt” region with its great rivers is smaller than either of the two previous debates. Reliably there are somewhere near 1,400 people present on this hot afternoon. I suspect
