It was hoped by Webster and Clay that the Compromise of 1850 would put an end to the agitation about slavery.  “Now we shall have peace,” they said.  But the agitation became stronger and stronger, and peace seemed farther away than ever before.

In 1854, a bill was passed by Congress to organize the territories of Kansas and Nebraska.  This bill provided that the Missouri Compromise should be repealed, and that the question of slavery in these territories should be decided by the people living in them.

The bill was passed through the influence of Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois.  There was now no bar to the extension of slavery into any of the territories save that of public opinion.

The excitement all over the North was very great.  In Kansas there was actual war between those who favored slavery and those who opposed it.  Thinking men in all parts of the country saw that a great crisis was at hand.

* * * * *

XIII.—­LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS.

It was then that Abraham Lincoln came forward as the champion of freedom.

Stephen A. Douglas was a candidate for reelection to the Senate, and he found it necessary to defend himself before the people of his state for the part he had taken in repealing the Missouri Compromise.  He went from one city to another, making speeches; and at each place Abraham Lincoln met him in joint debate.

“I do not care whether slavery is voted into or out of the territories,” said Mr. Douglas.  “The question of slavery is one of climate.  Wherever it is to the interest of the inhabitants of a territory to have slave property, there a slave law will be enacted.”

But Mr. Lincoln replied, “The men who signed the Declaration of Independence said that all men are created equal, and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights—­life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness....  I beseech you, do not destroy that immortal emblem of humanity, the Declaration of Independence.”

At last, Mr. Douglas felt that he was beaten.  He proposed that both should go home, and that there should be no more joint discussions.  Mr. Lincoln agreed to this; but the words which he had spoken sank deep into the hearts of those who heard them.

The speeches of Lincoln and Douglas were printed in a book.  People in all parts of the country read them.  They had heard much about Stephen A. Douglas.  He was called “The Little Giant.”  He had long been famous among the politicians of the country.  It was believed that he would be the next President of the United States.

But who was this man Lincoln, who had so bravely vanquished the Little Giant?  He was called “Honest Abe.”  There were few people outside of his state who had ever heard of him before.

Mr. Douglas returned to his seat in the United States Senate.  Mr. Lincoln became the acknowledged edged leader of the forces opposed to the extension of slavery.