The 1994 reenactments of the Lincoln–Douglas Debates took place between August 20 and October 15, 1994, and were facilitated and aired by

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

. They featured

historical reenactors Historical reenactment (or re-enactment) is an educational or entertainment activity in which mainly amateur hobbyists and history enthusiasts dress in historic uniforms or costumes and follow a plan to recreate aspects of a historical event or ...

presenting, in their entireties, the series of seven debates between

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...

and Stephen A. Douglas that took place during the 1858 U.S. Senate campaign in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

. The debate reenactments were held in the same seven cities as were the 1858 debates, and were performed on dates very close to the anniversaries of the original debates. They were broadcast live on C-SPAN, and have been rebroadcast periodically ever since.

Background

The inspiration for the series came from the book ''The Lincoln–Douglas Debates: The First Complete, Unexpurgated Text'', edited by Harold Holzer. Holzer had been interviewed about that book the previous year on the C-SPAN series ''

Booknotes ''Booknotes'' is an American television series on the C-SPAN network hosted by Brian Lamb, which originally aired from 1989 to 2004. The format of the show is a one-hour, one-on-one interview with a non-fiction author. The series was broadcast at ...

''. In 1993, C-SPAN staff approached the mayors of the seven cities in Illinois where the 1858 debates had been held (

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

, Freeport, Jonesboro, Charleston, Galesburg, Quincy, and Alton) and arranged with each city to recreate the debates using their own local resources. Subsequently, C-SPAN spent over $300,000 on the promotion and coverage of the debates and on the creation of related educational materials. The C-SPAN School Bus was used as a traveling

television studio A television studio, also called a television production studio, is an installation room in which video productions take place, either for the production of live television and its recording onto video tape or other media such as SSDs, or for ...

at each of the debate locations. Prof. John Splaine of the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of ...

, was a consultant to C-SPAN and provided commentary on each of the debates.

Debates

References

External links

''Lincoln-Douglas Debates'' programs from 1994
* ttp://www.wmlbrown.com/wmlbhist.html Examples of commemorative artwork by William L. Brownbr>''Booknotes'' interview with Holzer on ''The Lincoln-Douglas Debates'', August 22, 1993.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lincoln-Douglas Debates (1994 reenactments) Cultural depictions of Abraham Lincoln C-SPAN original programming Reenactment of the late modern period 1994 in American television 1994 in Illinois Political debates 1990s American television series 1994 television specials American television talk shows August 1994 events in the United States September 1994 events in the United States October 1994 events in the United States