Today Marks the 200th Anniversary of Stephen Douglas' Birthday-- Part 2

Well, yesterday actually, but I appreciate the Springfield (Il) Journal Register running this in their editorial page as I would surely have missed it.  He did not live long once the war started, but otherwise I'm sure would have had an impact on it.

I did not know that he was the author of the Homestead Act bill which guaranteed 160 acres to any settler who agreed to farm the land.  This caused many people to move west, many of whom were former soldiers during the Civil War.

"Not only was Douglas not bitter about losing the presidency to Lincoln, he in fact toured the country stumping for the Union cause at the outbreak of the Civil War.  It was during this tour that he contracted typhoid fever and died on June 3, 1861."

Definitely a Man Whose Life Needs to Be Commemorated.  --Old Secesh


The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum provides Abraham Lincoln quotes to the Journal-Register everyday.

From July 22, 1860:  "I know not how to aid you, save in the assurance of mature age, and much severe experience, that you can not fail, if you resolutely determine, that you will not."  Words he stuck with during the war.