Changes

Douglas moved to a farm near Clifton Springs, N.Y. and studied at Canandaigua Academy in 1832-33. He then moved to Illinois as an itinerant teacher and soon rose in Democratic party politics.

Douglas moved to a farm near Clifton Springs, N.Y. and studied at Canandaigua Academy in 1832-33. He then moved to Illinois as an itinerant teacher and soon rose in Democratic party politics.

Douglas briefly courted [[Mary Todd Lincoln|Mary Todd]] (who married Abraham Lincoln instead). He married Martha Martin in March of 1847, the daughter of wealthy Colonel Robert Martin of North Carolina. She brought to Douglas the new responsibility of a large cotton plantation in [[Lawrence County, Mississippi]] worked by slaves. To Douglas, an Illinois senator with presidential aspirations, the management of a Southern plantation with slave labor presented a difficult situation. However, Douglas sought to escape slaveholding charges by employing a manager for his Mississippi holdings, while using the economic benefits derived from the property to advance his political career. His sole lengthy visit to Mississippi came in 1848, with only brief emergency trips thereafter. <ref>Clinton 1988</ref>  The newlyweds moved their Illinois home to fast-growing Chicago in the summer of 1847. Martha Douglas died January 19, 1853, leaving the Senator with two small sons (one of whom was [[Robert M. Douglas]]). On November 20, 1856, he married 20 year-old Adele Cutts, the daughter of James Madison Cutts and a great-niece of Dolley Madison, wife of President James Madison.  <ref> Clinton 1988</ref>

Douglas briefly courted Mary Todd (who married Abraham Lincoln instead). He married Martha Martin in March of 1847, the daughter of wealthy Colonel Robert Martin of North Carolina. She brought to Douglas the new responsibility of a large cotton plantation in Mississippi worked by slaves. To Douglas, an Illinois senator with presidential aspirations, the management of a Southern plantation with slave labor presented a difficult situation. However, Douglas sought to escape slaveholding charges by employing a manager for his Mississippi holdings, while using the economic benefits derived from the property to advance his political career. His sole lengthy visit to Mississippi came in 1848, with only brief emergency trips thereafter. <ref>Clinton 1988</ref>  The newlyweds moved their Illinois home to fast-growing Chicago in the summer of 1847. Martha Douglas died January 19, 1853, leaving the Senator with two small sons. On November 20, 1856, he married 20 year-old Adele Cutts, the daughter of James Madison Cutts and a great-niece of Dolley Madison, wife of President James Madison.  <ref> Clinton 1988</ref>

==Kansas-Nebraska 1854==

==Kansas-Nebraska 1854==