Stephen A. Douglas, the incumbent senator, and Abraham Lincoln, a former congressman and current attorney, met for the first in a series of seven debates for the right to represent Illinois in the Senate. They debated the issues of the day before an outdoor crowd in Ottawa, Illinois. Senator Douglas and Mr. Lincoln traded accusations, Senator Douglas accusing Lincoln of being an abolitionist and Mr. Lincoln accusing Douglas of being for the nationalization of slavery. The main issues were the legal status of slavery as an institution and Senator Douglas' notion of popular sovereignty, i.e., that residents of territories had the right to decide on the status of slavery and other issues for their areas.