Created Equal?: The Complete Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858

In their political effect, the debates were of far-reaching importance. As important as their effect on the fortunes of the contestants was the part played by the debates in crystallizing public opinion. The issues the two candidates discussed were national, not local: the extension of slavery to the national territories, the status of the Negro, and the power of the states and territories to regulate their "domestic institutions"--Meaning slavery and the Negro--as they saw fit.--Introduction.