Born in Vermont in 1813, Stephen Arnold Douglas, who at one time spelled his last name with two "s," came to Illinois in 1833 after studying law in upstate New York. A strong believer in Andrew Jackson's political ideals, he was a prime mover in establishing the Democratic Party in Illinois. After holding several state-level offices and serving in the Illinois General Assembly, he was elected to Congress in 1842 and to the United States Senate in 1847. Convinced that the United States was destined to stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans, he eventually chaired the House and Senate Committees on Territories and advocated a railroad to the Pacific coast, free land for settlers in the Western lands, and the development of territorial governments there. As slavery became an increasingly divisive national issue, he argued for popular sovereignty, allowing the people of each territory to decide slavery for themselves. Fearing that Northern abolitionists and Southern dis-unionists would impede Western settlement or even break up the Union, he consistently sought compromises. Though only five feet four inches tall, his booming voice earned him the nickname "The Little Giant," and because he had served as a judge on the Illinois Supreme Court, he was often called "Judge Douglas" or simply "The Judge." Although he never owned slaves and refused to accept slaves that came through an inheritance from his wife's family, he is generally viewed as a supporter of slavery because of his popular sovereignty position. Regardless of his views on slavery, he was not above using race as a lightning rod to attack Lincoln during their 1858 senatorial campaign.