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“Public sentiment is everything”

Lincoln’s view of political persuasion

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In the first Lincoln-Douglas debate, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that “public sentiment is everything,” a necessary and sufficient condition of political persuasion. He used this principle both to discredit Stephen Douglas and to elicit support for his own program. He charged that Douglas’s statement that he “don’t care” whether slavery was voted down or voted up, was the means by which he would tranquilize the public to regard slavery as a matter of indifference, whereupon the Supreme Court would issue another Dred Scott decision, this one nationalizing slavery. Meanwhile, he insisted that if public opinion believed that slavery was on the way to ultimate extinction, it eventually would die out. Lincoln’s proclamation also was an ambryonic theory of public opinion, emphasizing the role of political advocates in “coaching” public sentiment. He held to an older concept that “public sentiment” was a normative property of a collective, not just an aggregate of individual opinions.

References

  1. Angle, P.M
    ed. (1958/1991) The complete Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Basler, R.P
    ed. (1953) Collected works of Abraham Lincoln. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. 8vols.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. ed. (1974/1990) Collected works of Abraham Lincoln: First supplement, 1832–1865. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Chicago Times
    (1858) August 22.
  5. Congressional Globe
    . 35th Congress, 1st session. Volume 27.
  6. Finkelman, P
    (1981) An imperfect union: Slavery, federalism, and comity. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. (1986) Slavery and the Northwest Ordinance: A study in ambiguity. Journal of the early republic, 6:343–370. doi: 10.2307/3122644
     https://doi.org/10.2307/3122644 [Google Scholar]
  8. (1989) Evading the ordinance: The persistence of bondage in Indiana and Illinois. Journal of the early republic, 9:21–51. doi: 10.2307/3123523
     https://doi.org/10.2307/3123523 [Google Scholar]
  9. Foner, E
    (1970), Free soil, free labor, free men: The ideology of the Republican party before the Civil War. New York: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Harris, N.D
    (1904) The history of Negro servitude in Illinois and of the slavery agitation in that state, 1719–1864. Chicago: A.C. McClurg.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Herbst, S
    (1993) Numbered voices. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Illinois State Register
    , August24 1858 Springfield, IL.
  13. Jaffa, H.V
    (1959) Crisis of the house divided: An interpretation of the issues in the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Mayer, G.H
    (1964) The Republican party, 1854–1964. New York: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Neely, M.E., Jr
    (1982) The Abraham Lincoln encyclopedia. New York: McGraw-Hill.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Robert Todd Lincoln Collection of the Papers of Abraham Lincoln
    (1947) Library of Congress.
  17. Zarefsky, D
    (1990) Lincoln, Douglas, and slavery: In the crucible of public debate. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
     [Google Scholar]

References

  1. Angle, P.M
    ed. (1958/1991) The complete Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Basler, R.P
    ed. (1953) Collected works of Abraham Lincoln. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. 8vols.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. ed. (1974/1990) Collected works of Abraham Lincoln: First supplement, 1832–1865. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Chicago Times
    (1858) August 22.
  5. Congressional Globe
    . 35th Congress, 1st session. Volume 27.
  6. Finkelman, P
    (1981) An imperfect union: Slavery, federalism, and comity. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. (1986) Slavery and the Northwest Ordinance: A study in ambiguity. Journal of the early republic, 6:343–370. doi: 10.2307/3122644
     https://doi.org/10.2307/3122644 [Google Scholar]
  8. (1989) Evading the ordinance: The persistence of bondage in Indiana and Illinois. Journal of the early republic, 9:21–51. doi: 10.2307/3123523
     https://doi.org/10.2307/3123523 [Google Scholar]
  9. Foner, E
    (1970), Free soil, free labor, free men: The ideology of the Republican party before the Civil War. New York: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Harris, N.D
    (1904) The history of Negro servitude in Illinois and of the slavery agitation in that state, 1719–1864. Chicago: A.C. McClurg.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Herbst, S
    (1993) Numbered voices. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Illinois State Register
    , August24 1858 Springfield, IL.
  13. Jaffa, H.V
    (1959) Crisis of the house divided: An interpretation of the issues in the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Mayer, G.H
    (1964) The Republican party, 1854–1964. New York: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Neely, M.E., Jr
    (1982) The Abraham Lincoln encyclopedia. New York: McGraw-Hill.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Robert Todd Lincoln Collection of the Papers of Abraham Lincoln
    (1947) Library of Congress.
  17. Zarefsky, D
    (1990) Lincoln, Douglas, and slavery: In the crucible of public debate. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
     [Google Scholar]

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