Act 2, Scene 9 Summary

On a summer evening in 1858, Abe is on a platform in an Illinois town, about to debate Judge Stephen Douglas in the race for the U.S. Senate. Mr. Edwards is the moderator and invites Judge Douglas to speak first. The judge begins by telling the crowd that Mr. Lincoln uses his artless charm to deceive them because he is as Brutus was to Caesar. Mr. Lincoln is an honorable man but also adept at using daggers on his opponent when his opponent least expects it. Douglas continues that Mr. Lincoln will make you laugh one minute and then have you crying for the plight of the black man in the Southern states. However, never does he address the dire situation of the mill workers in New England who are on strike. How about the railroad workers in Illinois who are...