The second round in a seven-round bout between political giants Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln was held in Freeport on August 27, 1858. In what became a legendary struggle, Lincoln and Douglas contested for a seat in the United States Senate, but the soul of the nation was at stake, not just a Senate seat. Douglas was the incumbent, and the election was a hurdle in his dream of becoming President of the United States in 1860. Lincoln was a relatively unknown Springfield attorney seeking to unseat a powerful politician. Although the topic of the Freeport debate, like all the other debates, was slavery, the underlying subject was morality. Douglas argued that in a democracy, the majority could do as it pleased. Lincoln argued that even in a democracy there were moral limitations that even the majority could not exceed. A town of some 5,000 in 1858, Freeport was inundated with a crowd estimated at between 10,000 and 15,000 on that cold, windy day. What the throng heard included what became known as the Freeport Doctrine. Pronounced by Douglas in response to a question from Lincoln, the Freeport Doctrine restated Douglas' popular sovereignty stance that a people could vote for or against slavery as they saw fit. Douglas went on to win re-election to the Senate, but the Freeport Doctrine split Douglas' National Democratic Party, a major factor in electing Lincoln President in 1860.