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how did the state of illinois elect its US senators during the 1850s?
Lincoln and Douglas debated eachother in their bid to get elected to the US Senate from Illinois. However, Senators were chosen by state legislatures not popular vote until 1913 when the 17th Amendment was ratified. So, why exactly were Lincoln and Douglas debating???? How did the debates factor into the senatorial election in 1858?
1 Answer
- JOHN BLv 61 decade agoFavorite Answer
Even though the state legislature elected the US senator, voters did cast ballots in a popular election, to express their opinion on who should be elected. (However, the legislature was gerrymandered in favor of the Democrats, who voted in a bloc for Douglas, despite the referendum vote on who should be elected. )
"On Election Day, Nov. 2,1858, Lincoln's total vote was125,430 to Douglas's 121,609.Yet Lincoln did not gain the seat because the legislature,not the voter, determined who went to the Senate, a situation that prevailed until the Constitution was amended in1913. And when the Illinois Legislature balloted the first week in January, Douglas received the 54 Democratic votes
and Lincoln the 46 Republican .Still, the widely followed debates had a tremendous effect. Even in defeat, Lincoln emerged as the Republi-can from the West, a man of
national stature and a possible presidential candidate.(Herbert Mitgang is a writer for the New York Times.
This material originally appeared in the Times and isused with permission.)"
