Stephen A. Douglas

Stephen Arnold Douglas (April 23, 1813–June 3, 1861), American politician from Illinois, was one of the Democratic Party nominees for President in 1860 (the other being John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky). Each lost to Republican Party candidate Abraham Lincoln, also from Illinois.

Early life and career

Douglas hailed from Brandon, Vermont. His father, a physician, died in July 1813, and the boy was under the care of a bachelor uncle until he was fourteen, when his uncle married and Douglas was thrown upon his own resources. He was apprenticed to a cabinetmaker in Middlebury, Vermont, and then to another in Brandon, but soon abandoned this trade. He attended schools at Brandon and Canandaigua (New York), and began the study of law.

Related Topics:
Brandon, Vermont - Physician - 1813 - Apprentice - Cabinetmaker - Canandaigua - Law

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In 1833 he went West, and finally settled in Jacksonville, Illinois, where he was admitted to the Bar in March 1834, and obtained a large practice. From the first he took an active interest in politics, identifying himself with the Jackson Democrats, and his rise was remarkably rapid even for the Middle West of that period. In February 1835 he was elected public prosecutor of the first judicial circuit, the most important at that time in Illinois; in 1835 he was one of several Democrats in Morgan County to favour a state Democratic convention to elect delegates to the national convention of 1836 - an important move toward party regularity; in December 1836 he became a member of the state legislature. In 1837 he was appointed by President Van Buren as registrar of the land office at Springfield, which had just become the state capital. In 1840 he did much to carry the state for Van Buren; and for a few months he was secretary of state of Illinois. He was a judge of the supreme court of Illinois from 1841 to 1843. In 1843 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives.

Related Topics:
Jacksonville, Illinois - Bar - 1834 - Politics - Jackson Democrats - Middle West - Morgan County - National convention - Legislature - Van Buren - Registrar - Springfield - State - Capital - 1840 - 1841 - 1843 - United States House of Representatives

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