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Stephen Douglas
Douglas
Historical Figure
Nationality: United States
Year of Birth: 1813
Year of Death: 1861
Cause of Death: Typhoid fever
Religion: Baptist
Occupation: Politician, Lawyer
Spouse: Martha Martin (d. 1853);
Adele Cutts
Children: Robert, Stephen Jr.,others who died young
Political Party: Democratic Party
Political Office(s): United States Representative from Illinois,
United States Senator from Illinois
Fictional Appearances:

Stephen Arnold Douglas (April 23, 1813 - June 3, 1861) was a politician in the United States in the period leading up to the American Civil War. A Democrat, Douglas's career closely coincided with that of Abraham Lincoln (a Whig, later a Republican), and the two were lifelong rivals. They ran against one another in elections for a wide variety of elected offices and even competed for the hand of Mary Todd.

In 1858, Lincoln and Douglas faced off in a legendary Senatorial debate, in which Lincoln forced Douglas to choose between maintaining his advocacy in popular sovereignty and supporting the Supreme Court's recent Scot v Sanford decision. Douglas chose the first option, and rejected the Scot decision.

It was partly for the latter reason that, in 1860, the Southern wing of the Democratic Party refused to support him as the national Presidential nominee. The impromptu Southern Democratic Party chose incumbent Vice President John Breckinridge as their candidate.

Douglas urged the South to accept Lincoln's election, and denounced secession as criminal. He promised to support Lincoln during the American Civil War, ensuring that the war would be a bipartisan effort.

Douglas died of typhoid on June 3, 1861, about a month and a half after the Civil War began.

Stephen Douglas in Southern Victory[]

Southern Victory
POD: September 10, 1862
Type of Appearance: Posthumous references throughout series

In later generations, many Americans believed Stephen Douglas to have been a reasonable man who could have prevented the War of Secession had he won the 1860 election. However, this notion was not necessarily realistic, given the political conditions of the time, and Douglas' own record for acquiescing to Southern interests.

Douglas was not so well-regarded among his contemporaries. For instance, when Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass were debating Lincoln's intent to revise the platform of the Republican Party, Lincoln quipped that after all these years he was once again in "a Lincoln-Douglass debate," in reference to his 1858 Senatorial debate against the Little Giant. Douglass testily informed Lincoln that he did not appreciate being compared to Douglas.

One Ohio family named their son Stephen Douglas Martin after the Little Giant whom they admired.

Stephen Douglas in "Lee at the Alamo"[]

"Lee at the Alamo"
POD: December 13, 1860
Type of Appearance: Contemporary reference
Political Office(s): United States Senator from Illinois

When Benjamin McCulloch appealed to Robert E. Lee's Southern identity, to support the right of Texas to secede from the United States before the inauguration of President Abraham Lincoln, Lee privately reflected that he would have preferred for any of Lincoln's three opponents (Stephen Douglas, John Breckinridge, or John Bell) to have won the election. Nevertheless, he was determined to perform his duty to the Federal government no matter who headed it.

Stephen Douglas in The Disunited States of America[]

The Disunited States of America
POD: July, 1787
Type of Appearance: Posthumous reference
Nationality: Unknown state in North America
Date of Birth: Unrevealed
Date of Death: Unrevealed


Stephen Douglas was a prominent figure in an alternate where the United States fell apart during the early 1800s. When Beckie Royer observed that Justin Monroe (who was really from the home timeline) acted as if he'd never heard of the rounders player George Herman, Ted Snodgrass cited Stephen Douglas as a person, like Herman, that everyone had heard of.

Stephen Douglas in The Two Georges[]

The Two Georges
POD: c. 1763
Type of Appearance: Posthumous reference
Nationality: North American Union
Date of Death: Unrevealed
Political Office(s): Governor-General of the North American Union


During Stephen Douglas' tenure as Governor-General, the North American Union expanded its borders past the Rocky Mountains. In 1995, his portrait was one of a number of former Governors-General displayed in America's Number 10, the Governor-General's residence in Victoria.[1]

Literary comment[]

While G-G Douglas' first name is not given, the description of him as "short, roly poly" is consistent with the general appearance of the historical Little Giant.

See Also[]

References[]

  1. The Two Georges, p. 430 PB, 281 HC.
Political offices
(OTL)
Preceded by
New District
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 5th congressional district
1843–1847
Succeeded by
William Alexander Richardson
Preceded by
James Semple
United States Senator from Illinois
1847-1861
Succeeded by
Orville H. Browning
Party political offices
(OTL)
Preceded by
James Buchanan
Democratic Party presidential candidate
1860 (lost)
Succeeded by
George McClellan
Political offices
(The Two Georges)
Preceded by
Last known is
Andrew Jackson
Governor-General of the North American Union
Mid 19th century
Succeeded by
Next known is
Martin Roosevelt
Party political offices
(Southern Victory)
Preceded by
James Buchanan
Democratic Party presidential candidate
1860 (lost)
Succeeded by
Next known is Samuel J. Tilden
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