Slavery and Scandal ― The Ohio Gubernatorial Debates of 1859

In 1859, with the nation careening toward Civil War and Ohio still reeling from a scandal in the state treasury, the candidates for governor of the Buckeye State squared off in a series of seven debates that matched the Lincoln-Douglas debates of the previous year in intensity and depth. Ohio was the third most populous state in the Union, and it shared a 450-mile border with slave territory. The outcome of the election could sway the fate of the country. Republican William Dennison Jr. and Democrat Rufus P. Ranney, both raw-throated from the exhausting campaign, summoned all their strength and eloquence in their battle for the soul of the state.SLAVERY AND SCANDAL is the first account of that confrontation. It includes transcripts of the four debates that were reported in full and newspaper reports on the other three. Editor David M. Gold introduces the debates with a discussion of the candidates and the issues and concludes with a look at subsequent gubernatorial debates.