Douglas, Stephen Arnold. An American statesman. Born at Brandon, Vermont, in 1813. His early youth was one of poverty, but he managed to spend three years at the Canandaigua Academy, having the study of law in view. In 1833 he went west, and settled in Jacksonville, Illinois, where he entered on the practice of law, and was chosen attorney-general of the state. He soon after was elected to the legislature, and in 1840 became secretary of state for Illinois. He was judge of the Illinois supreme court from 1841 to 1843, when he resigned and was chosen to Congress as a Democrat, where he at once became recognized as one of the ablest men of his party. He was opposed to slavery, was strongly opposed to the celebrated Wilmot Proviso, and argued in favor of states rights. Douglas was elected to the Senate in 1847, and it was as a member of the Senate that he introduced, in 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, which provided that their own citizens should determine whether these territories should become free or slave states. In 1860, the Democratic Party split into two divisions, one of which nominated Mr. Douglas for president and the other John C. Breckenridge. The ensuing election resulted in favor of Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Douglas was strongly opposed to secession, and delivered several addresses on the subject after the outbreak of the Civil War. He died at Chicago, IL, June 3, 1861.

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