They took the ground that Douglas would answer the question in such way
as to secure the approval of the voters of Illinois and that in so doing
he would win the Senatorship. Lincoln's response was in substance: "That
may be. I hold, however, that if Douglas answers this question in a way
to satisfy the Democrats of the North, he will inevitably lose the
support of the more extreme, at least, of the Democrats of the South. We
may lose the Senatorship as far as my personal candidacy is concerned.
If, however, Douglas fails to retain the support of the South, he cannot
become President in 1860. The line will be drawn directly between those
who are willing to accept the extreme claims of the South and those who
resist these claims. A right decision is the essential thing for the
safety of the nation." The question gave no little perplexity to
Douglas. He finally, however, replied that in his judgment the people of
a United States territory had the right to exclude slavery. When asked
again by Lincoln how he brought this decision into accord with the Dred
Scott decision, he replied in substance: "Well, they have not the right
to take constitutional measures to exclude slavery but they can by local
legislation render slavery practically impossible." The Dred Scott
decision had in fact itself overturned the Douglas theory of popular
sovereignty or "squatter sovereignty.
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