American politician and lawyer from Illinois, nicknamed the “Little Giant” because he was short in physical stature but a forceful and dominant figure in politics.
He was one of two Democratic Party nominees for president in the 1860 presidential election, which was won by Republican Abraham Lincoln. Douglas had previously defeated Lincoln in the 1858 United States Senate election in Illinois, known for the Lincoln–Douglas debates. During the 1850s, Douglas was one of the foremost advocates of popular sovereignty, which held that each territory should be allowed to determine whether to permit slavery within its borders.
He served in the U.S. House of Representatives 1843-1847, then as a U.S. Senator 1847-1861 before being defeated in the presidential contest with Lincoln.
In March 1847, he married Martha Martin. The newlyweds moved their Illinois home from Springfield to fast-growing Chicago in the summer of 1847. They had two sons, Robert M. Douglas (1849–1917) and Stephen Arnold Douglas, Jr., (1850–1908). Martha Douglas died on 19 January 1853 after the birth of her third child, a daughter. The girl died a few weeks later, and Douglas and the two boys were bereft.
On 20 November 1856, Douglas married a second time, to 20-year-old Adele Cutts, a southern woman from Washington, D.C. With Stephen’s approval, she had his two sons baptized as Catholic and reared in that faith. She had a miscarriage in 1858 and became ill. The following year, Adele gave birth to a daughter, Rachel, who lived only a few weeks.
Stephen A. Douglas died of typhoid fever in Chicago, Illinois, at 9 AM on 3 June 1861.
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