Decatur, or Round of Applause for Your Stepmother!

"The sound of the engines and the smell of the grain We go riding on the abolition grain train Steven A. Douglas was a great debater But Abraham Lincoln was the great emancipator"

I know everyone loves the Douglas v Linconl debate line, but I find it so much more enjoyable in context. Brief Hisotrical Context: Stephen Douglas (that's actually how you spell his name) was this political figure in Illinois/the rest of the country who was working to push Chicago as a transportation center by building a railroads through Chicago to the west. (which would explain the sound of engines line as well as the smell of grain as Illinois is well known for being the prairie state.) Douglas happened to get tangled up in this political mess about slavery (he was an advocate of popular sovereignty and brought about the Kansas-Nebraska Act), but he didn't support the Lecompton Constitution (I would explain all these things, but that literally would make this an essay...) so the South hated him. He wasn't an abolitionist per say, but the South viewed him as one (they were very touchy about slavery which would explain the "abolitionist grain trian" line). During his bid for the presidency, he and Lincoln had debates (hence the line "the great debater"). Douglas was not elected President. Lincoln was. He however, was not an abolitionist either, he was anti-slavery (which is not the same thing as an abolitionist). Lincoln staunchly denied for years during the Civil War that the war was not being fought for slavery, but to re-unite the Union. (however, yes, he did give the Emancipation Proclamation, hence the line "the great emancipator"

I really love this song because it is so rich in history.Every time I think of these lines, it jolts my brain which might come in handy when the AP US history test rolls around...and that power that it has over my memory makes the song much more rich to me.

ps (I'm sorry if their are any historical inaccuracies...I'm only a student)