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Stephen A. Douglas

Stephen A. Douglas Biography

Former U.S. Representative

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“I am now speaking of rights under the Constitution, and not of moral or religious rights. I do not discuss the morals of the people of Missouri, but let them settle that matter for themselves. I hold that the people of the slaveholding States are civilized men as well as ourselves, that they bear consciences as well as we, and that they are accountable to God and their posterity and not to us. It is for them to decide therefore the moral and religious right of the slavery question for themselves within their own limits.”

PeopleMenWellsMatterStatesReligiousMoralRightsBearsLimitsConscienceConstitutionSlaverySettlingAbortionCivilizedPosterityMissouriReligious Rights
Author:Stephen A. Douglas
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“I deny the right of Congress to force a slaveholding State upon an unwilling people. I deny their right to force a free State upon an unwilling people. I deny their right to force a good thing upon a people who are unwilling to receive it. The great principle is the right of every community to judge and decide for itself, whether a thing is right or wrong, whether it would be good or evil for them to adopt it; and the right of free action, the right of free thought, the right of free judgment upon the question is dearer to every true American than any other under a free government.”

PeopleWarStatesGovernmentWould BeActionEvilForceCommunityPrinciplesJudgingJudgmentGood ThingsCongressDenyBe GoodCivil WarUnwillingFree GovernmentVery TrueFree ThoughtFree State
Book:The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
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