Allison Patterson - What if history Benchmark; What if Abe Lincoln passed away when he was nine?

My project was suppose to be a chapter from an alternative history textbook for young children.  My point of divergence is that Abe Lincoln passed away when his mother fell ill from milk poisoning. Lincoln could have easily fell ill as well and thus passed away with his mother. As a result of Lincoln dying the nation would have accepted the ideas of Stephan Douglas. Douglas believed that each state should be able to choose if they want slavery or not. Without Lincoln to debate this idea with Douglas the nation would have accepted this idea. In 2012, the nation be free for the most with only Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana still permitting slaves. However, the nation will be very strict about the conditions the slaves may be kept in. I enjoyed this project because I was able to see how Lincoln's one action, holding the Lincoln-Douglas debates, changed the world. Stephan Douglas made a good argument for why America should follow him but, Lincoln made a better argument back. If you removed Lincoln, Douglas' argument would have stood. I wish this project would have been longer. I felt rushed to make my product and my product suffered.  I felt like we focused a lot on the yellow paper and planning and not actually working. I also think that if we are working on planning we need to plan how we want to present it.