Speech

Chapter 19: Lincoln-Douglass Debate

Overview

Lincoln–Douglas debate is a competitive type of formal debate practiced at high schools across the nation. This type of debate is named after a famous debate between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas in which Lincoln "won a clear moral victory." The competitors in present-day Lincoln-Douglas debates still try to convince the judges that they have won clear moral victories. Because Lincoln–Douglas debate is concerned with questions of value, it is based on value propositions rather than factual or policy propositions. Typically, the resolutions involve philosophical judgments and there are really no right or wrong answers. Lincoln-Douglas debate explores the world of “ought,” referring to people’s values. Some of the values most commonly used in Lincoln–Douglas debate include liberty, equality, democracy, and justice.

When writing a case for a Lincoln-Douglas debate, you should always include an introduction, definitions and analysis of the resolution, a value premise, and arguments. A good round of debate includes a clash, in which your arguments directly conflict with your opponent's, and crystallization, in which you choose your most important arguments and link them back to the values you presented in the round.