Editing Lincoln–Douglas debate format (section)

{{short description|Form of American high school debate}}
{{about|a type of American high school debate|the historical debates|Lincoln–Douglas debates}}
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{{More citations needed|date=October 2020}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=May 2012}}
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{{Lincoln-douglasdebate}}
'''Lincoln–Douglas debate''' (commonly abbreviated as '''LD Debate''', or simply '''LD''') is a type of one-on-one [[competitive debate]] practiced mainly in the United States at the [[high school]] level. It is sometimes also called '''values debate''' because the format traditionally places a heavy emphasis on [[logic]], [[ethical values]], and [[philosophy]].<ref name="speechanddebate.org">{{Cite web|title = Competition Events: National Speech and Debate Association|url = https://www.speechanddebate.org/competition-events/|website = www.speechanddebate.org|accessdate = 2019-12-25}}</ref>
The Lincoln–Douglas debate format is named for the [[Lincoln–Douglas debates of 1858|1858 Lincoln–Douglas debates]] between [[Abraham Lincoln]] and [[Stephen A. Douglas]], because their debates focused on [[slavery]] and the morals, values, and logic behind it.<ref name="Roberts NFL">{{cite web |last1=Roberts |first1=Josh |date=2012 |title=Lincoln-Douglas Debate: An Introduction |url=https://www.speechanddebate.org/wp-content/uploads/Intro_to_LD.J.Roberts.7.5.27.pdf |website=National Forensic League |access-date=14 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111232342/https://www.speechanddebate.org/wp-content/uploads/Intro_to_LD.J.Roberts.7.5.27.pdf |archive-date=11 November 2020}}</ref> LD debates are used by the [[National Speech and Debate Association]] (NSDA) competitions, and also widely used in related debate leagues such as the [[NCFCA|National Christian Forensics and Communication Association]], the [[National Catholic Forensic League]], the [[National Educational Debate Association]], the Texas [[University Interscholastic League]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uiltexas.org/speech/debate|title=Debate — Speech & Debate — University Interscholastic League (UIL)|last=League|first=University Interscholastic|website=www.uiltexas.org|language=en|access-date=2016-11-30}}</ref> [[Texas Forensic Association]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://txfa.weebly.com/|title=Texas Forensic Association|website=Texas Forensic Association|access-date=2016-11-30}}</ref> [[Stoa USA]] and their affiliated regional organizations.

Teams in a debate competition are given a resolution (a statement). In the competition, one side (called the a''ffirmative)'' must support the resolution, and the other side (called the ''negative)'' must show that the action does not conform to the principle or that the affirmative has not shown how it does so (there are different schools of thought as to the negative's burden).<ref name="Luong" />

The vast majority of tournaments use the resolutions distributed by the NSDA, which is changed once every two months.

The debate format is known for [[spreading (debate)|spreading]], a practice in which debaters speak quickly to squeeze as much argument as possible into a short time limit.  The resulting speech sounds like a cattle auctioneer.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kruger |first=Daniel |date=2018-02-07 |title=How to Win a High-School Debate: Talk Like a Cattle Auctioneer |language=en-US |work=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/ifyoucanunderstandthisyoumightbeahighschooldebater-1518021742 |access-date=2023-07-30 |issn=0099-9660}}</ref>