Central to Stephen A. Douglas’s sense of self were his experiences in three states: Vermont, New York, and Illinois. His time in each coincided with a decisive phase of his growing up. He considered each state through the prism of his own development. He spent his childhood and early adolescence in Vermont, his late youth in New York, and transitioned into young adulthood almost overnight in Illinois. He loved Illinois, respected New York, and was ambivalent about Vermont. His belief that locality mattered in the lives of people was grounded in his personal story.

During his senatorial debates with Lincoln in 1858, Douglas amused his Illinois audience by recalling that when he received an honorary doctorate from Middlebury College seven years earlier, he had been asked to give a speech, in which he had said: “My friends, Vermont is the most glorious spot on the face of this globe for a man to be born in, provided he emigrates when he is very young.” Although contemporary reports of the commencement did not reference the provocative remark, and some, including one by his adult son, later tried to put a benign spin on it, a Middlebury graduate remembered that it did create a “decided sensation.” Douglas was reminded of his insult and forced to address it when he campaigned in Vermont in 1860. That Douglas would claim to have insulted his native state at the moment that it honored him indicates how conflicted his own memory and understanding were about his adolescence there.