Autograph fragment signed by Stephen A. Douglas, measuring approximately 1.5 x 4.25 inches. The clipped slip bears Douglas’s ink signature, including the characteristic inscription “free,” consistent with mid-19th-century autograph material. The fragment shows light creasing, age toning, and irregular edges, all typical of period paper, with the signature remaining clear and well-formed. Accompanied by an engraved portrait of Douglas measuring approximately 8 x 11 inches.
An appealing autograph example of one of the most prominent American statesmen of the antebellum era, best remembered for the Lincoln–Douglas debates and his central role in 1850s national politics.
Stephen Arnold Douglas (April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. As a U.S. senator, he was one of two nominees of the divided Democratic Party to run for president in the 1860 presidential election, and lost to Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln. Douglas had previously defeated Lincoln in the 1858 United States Senate election in Illinois, known for the pivotal Lincoln–Douglas debates. Earlier, Douglas was one of the brokers of the Compromise of 1850, which sought to avert a sectional crisis. To further deal with the volatile issue of extending slavery into the territories, Douglas became the foremost advocate of popular sovereignty, which held that each territory should be allowed to determine whether to permit slavery within its borders. This attempt to address the issue was rejected by both pro-slavery and anti-slavery advocates.
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