"Stephen Douglas" redirects here. For other people, see Stephen Douglas (disambiguation).
Stephen A. Douglas
Portrait by Julian Vannerson, 1859
In office March 4, 1847 – June 3, 1861
Preceded by
James Semple
Succeeded by
Orville H. Browning
In office March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1847
Preceded by
Constituency established
Succeeded by
William Richardson
In office February 15, 1841 – June 28, 1843
Preceded by
Seat established
Succeeded by
James Shields
In office November 30, 1840 – February 15, 1841
Governor
Thomas Carlin
Preceded by
Alexander P. Field
Succeeded by
Lyman Trumbull
Born
Stephen Arnold Douglass
(1813-04-23)April 23, 1813 Brandon, Vermont, U.S.
Died
June 3, 1861(1861-06-03) (aged 48) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Resting place
Stephen A. Douglas Tomb, Chicago
Political party
Democratic
Spouses
Martha Martin
(m. 1847; died 1853) •
Known as “the Little Giant” because his political stature far exceeded his height of five-foot-four, Illinois senator Stephen A. Douglas remained a prominent national figure from his first election to the Senate in 1847 until his death in 1861. When the Compromise of 1850, an omnibus bill proposed by Henry Clay, seemed on the verge of collapse, Senator Douglas took the bill apart and built separate coalitions around each of its key provisions, ensuring its passage and holding the Union together. Douglas then undid his own handiwork by promoting the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. Designed to promote expansion into western territories, the act further divided the nation over the issue of slavery, spurred the creation of the modern Republican Party, and hastened the rise of Abraham Lincoln. In 1860 Douglas was one of four major candidates for the presidency, running on a Northern Democratic ticket, but he lost the election to his old rival, Abe Lincoln. When Confederates fired on Fort Sumter in April 1861, Douglas put aside old rivalries and joined Lincoln to support the Un
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Stephen Douglas
Although a complex statesman, Stephen Douglas stood as one of the leading political figures in the coming of the American Civil War.
Stephen Douglas was born in the midst of the War of 1812, on April 23, 1813, in Brandon, Vermont and grew up on his uncle’s farm in the state. Douglas studied law in New York before leaving the northeast in 1833—settling in Jacksonville, Illinois. While in Illinois, Douglas became involved with state and local politics before he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1842. Douglas served as a Congressman for two terms until he joined the Senate in 1847—a position he held until his death in 1861. While serving in Congress, Douglas earned the nickname “the Little Giant” because at 5’4” Douglas was short in stature, heavyset, with a quick temper, yet he was a gifted orator. Douglas admired President Andrew Jackson, who greatly influenced the Little Giant’s politics. Douglas was a member of the Young Americans, a group of politically ambitious young Democrats who wanted to revitalize the party with the Jacksonian spirit of aggre