Douglas, Stephen Arnold

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Douglas, Stephen Arnold (1813–61) US statesman. Douglas served in the House of Representatives (1843–47), before becoming Senator for Illinois (1847–61). He tried to unite the Democratic Party on the issue of slavery, and was instrumental in the Compromise of 1850. He sponsored the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854), that promoted popular sovereignity. In the Lincoln-Douglas debates (1858), Douglas defeated the challenge of Abraham Lincoln. In 1860 he gained the Democratic presidential nomination, but lost the election to Lincoln. He supported Lincoln at the start of the American Civil War.

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