[Kase]

FREEPORT DOCTRINE

Senator Stephen A. Douglas enunciated this policy at Freeport, Illinois, on August 27, 1858, during one of his celebrated debates with Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln had asked in the wake of the Dred Scott decision, "Can the people of a United States Territory, in any lawful way, against the wish of any citizen of the United States, exclude slavery from its limits prior to the formation of a State Constitution?"

Lincoln knew how his opponent would reply because Douglas already had stated his position. Lincoln's purpose was to show antislavery voters that Douglas's position differed from their own. A longtime advocate of popular sovereignty, Douglas had broken with James Buchanan's administration over its preference for the proslavery Lecompton constitution in Kansas. Because this split had cost the "Little Giant" from Illinois his chance for southern support at the forthcoming Democratic presidential convention in 1860, Douglas could repeat his previous statements in the form of the Freeport Doctrine: "Slavery cannot exist a day in the midst of an unfriendly people with unfriendly laws." In appealing to a middle ground on slavery, Douglas restated his stand in behalf of popular sovereignty and defied the Dred Scott ruling. Thus, Douglas went too far for the South, which began to push harder for a territorial slave code, but not far enough for northerners who opposed slavery.
-http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/rcah/html/ah_033700_freeportdoct.htm

Basically, Douglas fucked himself. The democratic ballot was split between Douglas and some other guy, so even though the majority of voters were democrats, they still had to choose between the two. This made it possible for Lincoln to get elected (~40% of the total vote), which pissed off some southern states, who chose to succede, leading to the civil war.
-There was also a 4th candidate that was moderate... "Free Soil Party" I believe... he didn't get too many votes (maybe because thier stance on foriegn policy was retarded)

So that's part of the story of the Freeport Doctrine. There is a statue where the debates where held. I have pictures of someone kissing and molesting Douglas, and sitting on Lincoln's lap... The scary part is I only instigated for the first thirty seconds, after that he did it willingly... like he wanted to... I was just joking damnit! *mental scarring*