Stephen Douglas
/ˌstiːvn ˈdʌɡləs/
/ˌstiːvn ˈdʌɡləs/
- (1813-61) a US politician who defeated Abraham Lincoln in 1858 for the US Senate but lost to him in the 1860 election for US President. The Lincoln-Douglas debates are famous in US history. Douglas's Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed new states to choose whether they wanted slaves. He had the popular name of the 'Little Giant'.