Bryant Cottage State Historic Site
Encyclopedia
The Bryant Cottage State Historic Site is a simple, 1856 four-room house located in Bement, Illinois
in the U.S. state
of Illinois
. It is preserved by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency
as an example of Piatt County, Illinois
pioneer architecture and as a key historic site in the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.
and coal
in return.
Bryant was a member of the U.S. Democratic Party
and a personal friend of Senator Stephen A. Douglas
, who was running for re-election in 1858.
However, Douglas's central position in the growing crisis of American slavery made the election of 1858 extraordinary. Fervent emotions among both Democrats and members of the newly formed Republican party
led to a demand that both candidates for the Senate campaign directly among the people of Illinois.
The Republicans nominated Springfield, Illinois
lawyer Abraham Lincoln
, who wrote to Douglas on July 24, 1858 challenging him to meet and hold a series of nine debate
s at sites across Illinois. Lincoln renewed this challenge when the two men met in person on the Bement-Monticello road, now Illinois Route 105
, on July 29.
The campaigning Douglas was at the time going southward to Bement, where he would spend the night in the Bryant Cottage. It was during this one-night stay that Douglas decided to accept most of Lincoln's challenge and debate him seven times. Douglas wrote Lincoln from Bement on the morning of July 30, suggesting that the two men debate in Ottawa, Illinois
, Freeport, Illinois
, Jonesboro, Illinois
, Charleston, Illinois
, Galesburg, Illinois
, Quincy, Illinois
, and Alton, Illinois
.
Lincoln accepted these terms in a letter dated July 31.
in a manner that conveyed visceral opposition to the institution without antagonizing racist American voters.
Douglas had every reason to avoid Lincoln's challenge to debate. As the incumbent, he had an advantage in terms of name recognition
. The senator chose to voluntarily debate his challenger because he agreed with Lincoln that slavery was a growing crisis and because he had faith that his own doctrine of popular sovereignty
would create a solution to the dilemma.
At first, Douglas appeared to be the winner in this challenge. His legislative candidates defeated the Republicans in November 1858, thereby assuring Douglas's re-election as U.S. senator. However, Lincoln and Douglas re-visited the issue of slavery in the U.S. presidential election of 1860. And in this final contest between the two men, Lincoln was the victor.
Bement, Illinois
Bement is a village in Piatt County, Illinois, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 1,784, and in 2009, the population was 1,703.-Geography:Bement is located at ....
in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. It is preserved by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency
Illinois Historic Preservation Agency
The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of Illinois. It is tasked with the duty of maintaining most State-owned historic sites within Illinois, and maximizing their educational and recreational value to visitors....
as an example of Piatt County, Illinois
Piatt County, Illinois
Piatt County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 16,729, which is an increase of 2.2% from 16,365 in 2000...
pioneer architecture and as a key historic site in the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.
Francis E. Bryant
Few settlers moved to southern Piatt County, in east-central Illinois, until the 1850s and the coming of the steam railroad. The ground was flat and open, with few trees to provide firewood for winter. Francis E. Bryant arrived in the young town of Bement in 1856 with a small capital, which he quickly reinvested in general business development as a banker and storekeeper. He bought grain from pioneer farmers, and sold them lumberLumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
and coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
in return.
Bryant was a member of the U.S. Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
and a personal friend of Senator Stephen A. Douglas
Stephen A. Douglas
Stephen Arnold Douglas was an American politician from the western state of Illinois, and was the Northern Democratic Party nominee for President in 1860. He lost to the Republican Party's candidate, Abraham Lincoln, whom he had defeated two years earlier in a Senate contest following a famed...
, who was running for re-election in 1858.
Stephen A. Douglas
As an incumbent member of the U.S. Senate from Illinois in 1858, Douglas had not expected to have to make a case directly to the people. Under Article I of the U.S. Constitution then in effect, members of the federal Senate were chosen by the state legislatures, not by the voters.However, Douglas's central position in the growing crisis of American slavery made the election of 1858 extraordinary. Fervent emotions among both Democrats and members of the newly formed Republican party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
led to a demand that both candidates for the Senate campaign directly among the people of Illinois.
The Republicans nominated Springfield, Illinois
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...
lawyer Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
, who wrote to Douglas on July 24, 1858 challenging him to meet and hold a series of nine debate
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
s at sites across Illinois. Lincoln renewed this challenge when the two men met in person on the Bement-Monticello road, now Illinois Route 105
Illinois Route 105
Illinois Route 105 is a highway in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is an east–west highway that runs from Illinois Route 48 in Decatur to Interstate 72 near Monticello. Illinois 105 is long.- Route description :...
, on July 29.
The campaigning Douglas was at the time going southward to Bement, where he would spend the night in the Bryant Cottage. It was during this one-night stay that Douglas decided to accept most of Lincoln's challenge and debate him seven times. Douglas wrote Lincoln from Bement on the morning of July 30, suggesting that the two men debate in Ottawa, Illinois
Ottawa, Illinois
Ottawa is a city located at the confluence of the Illinois River and Fox River in LaSalle County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 18,786...
, Freeport, Illinois
Freeport, Illinois
Freeport is a city in and the county seat of Stephenson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 26,443 at the 2000 census. The mayor of Freeport is George W...
, Jonesboro, Illinois
Jonesboro, Illinois
Jonesboro is a city in Union County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,853 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Union County, and was the location of the third of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, on 15 September 1858.-Geography:...
, Charleston, Illinois
Charleston, Illinois
Charleston is a city in and the county seat of Coles County, Illinois, United States. The population was 21,838 as of the 2010 census. The city is home to Eastern Illinois University and has close ties with its neighbor Mattoon, Illinois...
, Galesburg, Illinois
Galesburg, Illinois
Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County....
, Quincy, Illinois
Quincy, Illinois
Quincy, known as Illinois' "Gem City," is a river city along the Mississippi River and the county seat of Adams County. As of the 2010 census the city held a population of 40,633. The city anchors its own micropolitan area and is the economic and regional hub of West-central Illinois, catering a...
, and Alton, Illinois
Alton, Illinois
Alton is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 27,865 at the 2010 census. It is a part of the Metro-East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area in Southern Illinois...
.
Lincoln accepted these terms in a letter dated July 31.
Abraham Lincoln
At the time of the Lincoln-Douglas challenge of July 1858, Stephen A. Douglas was an experienced, incumbent U.S. Senator; Abraham Lincoln was a lawyer in private practice with little successful office-holding experience. Illinois Republicans had nominated him to face Douglas because of his skill at making speeches and his ability to frame the issue of slaverySlavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
in a manner that conveyed visceral opposition to the institution without antagonizing racist American voters.
Douglas had every reason to avoid Lincoln's challenge to debate. As the incumbent, he had an advantage in terms of name recognition
Name recognition
Name recognition is a concept used in politics to describe the number of people who are aware of a politician. It is considered an important factor in elections, as candidates with low name recognition are unlikely to receive votes from people who only casually follow politics. Name recognition is...
. The senator chose to voluntarily debate his challenger because he agreed with Lincoln that slavery was a growing crisis and because he had faith that his own doctrine of popular sovereignty
Popular sovereignty
Popular sovereignty or the sovereignty of the people is the political principle that the legitimacy of the state is created and sustained by the will or consent of its people, who are the source of all political power. It is closely associated with Republicanism and the social contract...
would create a solution to the dilemma.
At first, Douglas appeared to be the winner in this challenge. His legislative candidates defeated the Republicans in November 1858, thereby assuring Douglas's re-election as U.S. senator. However, Lincoln and Douglas re-visited the issue of slavery in the U.S. presidential election of 1860. And in this final contest between the two men, Lincoln was the victor.