Speech of Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, January 20, 1830. Address to the People of the United States, by the What are the main points of difference between Webster and Hayne, especially on the question of the nature of the Union and the Constitution? By establishing justice, promoting domestic tranquility, and securing the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. This is the true reading of the Constitution. What interest, asks he, has South Carolina in a canal in Ohio? Sir, this very question is full of significance. They had burst forth from arguments about a decision by Connecticut Senator Samuel Foote. If the gentleman provokes the war, he shall have war. But I do not understand the doctrine now contended for to be that which, for the sake of distinctness, we may call the right of revolution. Webster's argument that the constitution should stand as a powerful uniting force between the states rather than a treaty between sovereign states held as a key concept in America's ideas about the federal government. It would enable Congress and the Executive to exercise a control over states, as well as over great interests in the country, nay, even over corporations and individualsutterly destructive of the purity, and fatal to the duration of our institutions. I say, the right of a state to annul a law of Congress, cannot be maintained, but on the ground of the unalienable right of man to resist oppression; that is to say, upon the ground of revolution. If this Constitution, sir, be the creature of state Legislatures, it must be admitted that it has obtained a strange control over the volitions of its creators. She has worked as a university writing consultant for over three years. In all the efforts that have been made by South Carolina to resist the unconstitutional laws which Congress has extended over them, she has kept steadily in view the preservation of the Union, by the only means by which she believes it can be long preserveda firm, manly, and steady resistance against usurpation. I will struggle while I have life, for our altars and our fire sides, and if God gives me strength, I will drive back the invader discomfited. . . Now, I wish to be informedhowthis state interference is to be put in practice, without violence, bloodshed, and rebellion. . . The gentleman, indeed, argues that slavery, in the abstract, is no evil. Liberty has been to them the greatest of calamities, the heaviest of curses. They switched from a. the tariff of 1828 to national power . He tells us, we have heard much, of late, about consolidation; that it is the rallying word for all who are endeavoring to weaken the Union by adding to the power of the states. But consolidation, says the gentleman, was the very object for which the Union was formed; and in support of that opinion, he read a passage from the address of the president of the Convention[3] to Congress (which he assumes to be authority on his side of the question.) These debates transformed into a national crisis when South Carolina threatened . On January 19, 1830, Hayne attacked the Foot Resolution and labeled the Northeasterners as selfish and unprincipled for their support of protectionism and conservative land policies. Sir, when arraigned before the bar of public opinion, on this charge of slavery, we can stand up with conscious rectitude, plead not guilty, and put ourselves upon God and our country. we find the most opposite and irreconcilable opinions between the two parties which I have before described. But, sir, we will pass over all this. Noah grew a vineyard, got drunk on wine and lay naked. No doubt can exist, that, before the states entered into the compact, they possessed the right to the fullest extent, of determining the limits of their own powersit is incident to all sovereignty. Pet Banks History & Effects | What are Pet Banks? . . It has been said that Hayne was Calhoun's sword and buckler and that he returned to the contest refreshed each morning by nightly communions with the Vice-President, drawing auxiliary supplies from the well-stored arsenal of his powerful and subtle mind. Religious Views: Letter to the Editor of the Illin Democratic Party Platform 1860 (Douglas Faction), (Northern) Democratic Party Platform Committee. Judiciary Act of 1801 | Overview, History & Significance, General Ulysses S. Grant Takes Charge: His Strategic Plan for Ending the War. Nullification, Webster maintained, was a political absurdity. . ", What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?. Francis O. J. Smith to Secretary of State Dan Special Message to the House of Representatives, Special Message to Congress on Mexican Relations. Edited and introduced by Jason W. Stevens. He must say to his followers [members of the state militia], defend yourselves with your bayonets; and this is warcivil war. 1824 Presidential Election, Candidates & Significance | Who Won the Election of 1824? I spoke, sir, of the ordinance of 1787, which prohibited slavery, in all future times, northwest of the Ohio,[6] as a measure of great wisdom and foresight; and one which had been attended with highly beneficial and permanent consequences. . For all this, there was not the slightest foundation, in anything said or intimated by me. It laid the interdict against personal servitude, in original compact, not only deeper than all local law, but deeper, also, than all local constitutions. This, sir, is General Washingtons consolidation. The Webster-Hayne debate was a series of spontaneous speeches delivered before the Senate in 1830. It is only regarded as a possible means of good; or on the other hand, as a possible means of evil. . . We see its consequences at this moment, and we shall never cease to see them, perhaps, while the Ohio shall flow. I did not utter a single word, which any ingenuity could torture into an attack on the slavery of the South. In fact, Webster's definition of the Constitution as for the People, by the People, and answerable to the People would go on to form one of the most enduring ideas about American democracy. But the topic which became the leading feature of the whole debate and gave it an undying interest was that of nullification, in which Hayne and Webster came forth as chief antagonists. Religion and the Pure Principles of Morality: The American Anti-Slavery Society, Declaration of Sent Constitution of the American Anti-Slavery Society, Appeal to the Christian Women of the South, Protest in Illinois Legislature on Slavery. MTEL Speech: Notable Debates & Speeches in U.S. History, The Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858: Summary & Significance, Psychological Research & Experimental Design, All Teacher Certification Test Prep Courses, The Significance of Daniel Webster's Argument, MTEL Speech: Principles of Argument & Debate, MTEL Speech: Understanding Persuasive Communication, MTEL Speech: Public Argument in Democratic Societies. Finally, sir, the honorable gentleman says, that the states will only interfere, by their power, to preserve the Constitution. In January 1830, a debate on the nature of sovereignty in the America. Daniel webster (ma) and sen. Hayne of . Webster and the northern states saw the Constitution as binding the individual states together as a single union. He speaks as if he were in Congress before 1789. New England, the Union, and the Constitution in its integrity, all were triumphantly vindicated. It is observable enough, that the doctrine for which the honorable gentleman contends, leads him to the necessity of maintaining, not only that this general government is the creature of the states, but that it is the creature of each of the states severally; so that each may assert the power, for itself, of determining whether it acts within the limits of its authority. Sir, it is because South Carolina loves the Union, and would preserve it forever, that she is opposing now, while there is hope, those usurpations of the federal government, which, once established, will, sooner or later, tear this Union into fragments. The Confederation was, in strictness, a compact; the states, as states, were parties to it. We love to dwell on that union, and on the mutual happiness which it has so much promoted, and the common renown which it has so greatly contributed to acquire. Under the circumstances then existing, I look upon this original and seasonable provision, as a real good attained. . . The faction of voters in the North were against slavery and feared it spreading into new territory. Sir, I should fear the rebuke of no intelligent gentleman of Kentucky, were I to ask whether, if such an ordinance could have been applied to his own state, while it yet was a wilderness, and before Boone had passed the gap of the Alleghany, he does not suppose it would have contributed to the ultimate greatness of that commonwealth? I would strengthen the ties that hold us together. Most assuredly, I need not say I differ with him, altogether and most widely, on that point. flashcard sets. The gentleman has made an eloquent appeal to our hearts in favor of union. But his calm, unperturbed manner reassured them in an instant. An equally talented orator, Webster rose as the advocate of the North in the debate with his captivating reply to Hayne's initial argument. Broadside Advertisement for Runaway Slave, Forcing Slavery Down the Throat of a Free-Soiler, Free & Slave-holding States and Territories. Sir, if we are, then vain will be our attempt to maintain the Constitution under which we sit. . . Address before the Wisconsin State Agricultural So "The Whole Affair Seems the Work of a Madman", John Brown and the Principle of Nonresistance. To them, the more money the central government made, the stronger it became and the more it took rights away from the states to govern themselves. Now that was a good debate! . Our Core Document Collection allows students to read history in the words of those who made it. [Its leader] would have a knot before him, which he could not untie. Thirty years before the Civil War broke out, disunion appeared to be on the horizon with the Nullification Crisis. Robert Young Hayne spent more than two decades in elected offices, including mayor of Charleston, member of South Carolina's legislature, attorney general, and then governor of the state. sir, this is but the old story. Webster's speech aroused the latent spirit of patriotism. Foot calling for the temporary suspension of further land surveying until land already on the market was sold (to effectively stop the introduction of new lands onto the market). . . . Is it the creature of the state legislatures, or the creature of the people? . It was not a Union to be torn up without bloodshed; for nerves and arteries were interwoven with its roots and tendrils, sustaining the lives and interests of twelve million inhabitants. The people were not satisfied with it, and undertook to establish a better. States' rights (South) vs. nationalism (North). Hayne's First Speech (January 19, 1830) Webster's First Reply to Hayne (January 20, 1830) Hayne's Second Speech (January 21, 1830) Webster's Second Reply to Hayne (January 26-27, 1830) This page was last edited on 13 June 2021, at . We who come here, as agents and representatives of these narrow-minded and selfish men of New England, consider ourselves as bound to regard, with equal eye, the good of the whole, in whatever is within our power of legislation. The idea that a state could nullify a federal law, associated with South Carolina, especially after the publication of John C. Calhouns South Carolina Exposition and Protest (1828) in response to the tariff passed in that year. Representatives of the northern states were concerned by the rapid growth of the nation; just 27 years earlier, the Louisiana Purchase had nearly doubled the size of the nation, and the newly elected President Andrew Jackson was hungry for more territory. When the honorable member rose, in his first speech, I paid him the respect of attentive listening; and when he sat down, though surprised, and I must say even astonished, at some of his opinions, nothing was farther from my intention than to commence any personal warfare: and through the whole of the few remarks I made in answer, I avoided, studiously and carefully, everything which I thought possible to be construed into disrespect. Regional Conflict in America: Debate Over States' Rights. Daniel Webster stood as a ready and formidable opponent from the north who, at different stages in his career, represented both the states of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The main issue of the Webster-Hayne Debate was the nature of the country that had been created by the Constitution. This was the man to fire an aristocracy of fellow citizens ready to arm when their interests were in danger, and upon him, it devolved to advance the cause of South Carolina, break down the tariff, and fascinate the Union with the new rattlesnake theories. They will also better understand the debate's political context. . Daniel webster, in a dramatic speech, showed the. Chris has a master's degree in history and teaches at the University of Northern Colorado. . First, New England was vindicated. Webster argued that the American people had created the Union to promote the good of the whole. While the Union lasts, we have high, exciting, gratifying prospects spread out before us, for us and our children. Speech to the U.S. House of Representatives. . . Every scheme or contrivance by which rulers are able to procure the command of money by means unknown to, unseen or unfelt by, the people, destroys this security. If the government of the United States be the agent of the state governments, then they may control it, provided they can agree in the manner of controlling it; if it be the agent of the people, then the people alone can control it, restrain it, modify, or reform it. Try refreshing the page, or contact customer support. . 1. emigration the movement of people from one place to another 2. immigration a situation in which resources are being used up at a faster rate than they can be replenished 3. migration the leaving of one's homeland to settle in a new place 4. overpopulation the movement of people to a new country 5. sustainable development a situation in which the birth rate is not sufficient to replace the . . . Finding our lot cast among a people, whom God had manifestly committed to our care, we did not sit down to speculate on abstract questions of theoretical liberty. Having thus distinctly stated the points in dispute between the gentleman and myself, I proceed to examine them. Hayne and the South saw it as basically a treaty between sovereign states. . . Available in hard copy and for download. At the time of the debate, Webster was serving his term as Senator of Massachusetts. Allow me to say, as a preliminary remark, that I call this the South Carolina doctrine, only because the gentleman himself has so denominated it. All of these contentious topics were touched upon in Webster and Hayne's nine day long debate. Ostend Manifesto of 1854 Overview & Purpose | What was the Ostend Manifesto? The next day, however, Massachusetts senator Daniel Webster rose with his reply, and the northern states knew they had found their champion. . We look upon the states, not as separated, but as united. The tendency of all these ideas and sentiments is obviously to bring the Union into discussion, as a mere question of present and temporary expediency; nothing more than a mere matter of profit and loss. . . The idea of a strong federal government The ability of the people to revolt against an unfair government The theory that the states' may vote against unfair laws The role of the president in commanding the government 2 See answers Advertisement holesstanham Answer: Sir, I cordially respond to that appeal. Tariff of Abominations of 1828 | What was the Significance of the Tariff of Abominations? What started as a debate over the Tariff of Abominations soon morphed into debates over state and federal sovereignty and liberty and disunion. We, sir, who oppose the Carolina doctrine, do not deny that the people may, if they choose, throw off any government, when it becomes oppressive and intolerable, and erect a better in its stead. Address to the Slaves of the United States. What followed, the Webster Hayne debate, was one of the most famous exchanges in Senate history. The Senate debates between Whig Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts and Democrat Senator Robert Y. Hayne of South Carolina in January 1830 started out as a disagreement over the sale of Western lands and turned into one of the most famous verbal contests in American history. But, sir, the task has been forced upon me, and I proceed right onward to the performance of my duty; be the consequences what they may, the responsibility is with those who have imposed upon me this necessity. Such interference has never been supposed to be within the power of government; nor has it been, in any way, attempted. . Webster also tried to assert the importance of New England in the face of . . . Eloquence threw open the portals of eternal day. We all know that civil institutions are established for the public benefit, and that when they cease to answer the ends of their existence, they may be changed. . . An accomplished politician, Hayne was an eloquent orator who enthralled his audiences. Webster spoke in favor of the proposed pause of federal surveyance of western land, representing the North's interest in selling the western land, which had already been surveyed. . Before his term as a U.S. senator, Hayne had served as a state senator, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, South Carolina's Speaker of the House, and Attorney General of South Carolina. Sir, I deprecate and deplore this tone of thinking and acting. MTEL Speech: Public Discourse & Debate in the U.S. Assuredly not. . The Destiny of America, Speech at the Dedication o An Address. . The honorable gentleman from Massachusetts while he exonerates me personally from the charge, intimates that there is a party in the country who are looking to disunion. This is a delicate and sensitive point, in southern feeling; and of late years it has always been touched, and generally with effect, whenever the object has been to unite the whole South against northern men, or northern measures. All rights reserved. He describes fully that old state of things then existing. What they said I believe; fully and sincerely believe, that the Union of the states is essential to the prosperity and safety of the states. The Webster-Hayne debate was a famous debate in the United States between Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts and Senator Robert Y. Hayne of South Carolina.It happened on January 19-27, 1830. One was through protective tariffs, high taxes on imports and exports. . Consolidation, like the tariff, grates upon his ear. But, according to the gentlemans reading, the object of the Constitution was to consolidate the government, and the means would seem to be, the promotion of injustice, causing domestic discord, and depriving the states and the people of the blessings of liberty forever. At the foundation of the constitution of these new Northwestern states, . Webster-Hayne Debate book. . The debate continued, in some ways not being fully settled until the completion of the Civil War affirmed the power of the federal government to preserve the Union over the sovereignty of the states to leave it. . . If I had, sir, the powers of a magician, and could, by a wave of my hand, convert this capital into gold for such a purpose, I would not do it. Webster's "Second Reply to Hayne" was generally regarded as "the most eloquent speech ever delivered in Congress."[1]. [2] We deal in no abstractions. Foote Idea To Limit The Sale Of Public Lands In The West To New Settlers. Webster's second reply to Hayne, in January 1830, became a famous defense of the federal union: "Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable." Just beneath the surface of this debate lay the elements of the developing sectional crisis between North and South. An equally. This leads us to inquire into the origin of this government, and the source of its power. Prejudice Not Natural: The American Colonization "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? But the feeling is without all adequate cause, and the suspicion which exists wholly groundless. - Definition and Uses, Public Speaking: Assignment 1 - Informative Speech, Public Speaking: Assignment 3 - Special Occasion Speech, The Role of Probability Distributions, Random Numbers & the Computer in Simulations, The Monte Carlo Simulation: Scope & Common Applications, Working Scholars Bringing Tuition-Free College to the Community, The methods by which the federal government earned its revenue, The federal government's surveying and selling of land west of the Mississippi River, The issue of slavery, which was beginning to divide the Northern and Southern states, The balance of power between federal and state governments. I regard domestic slavery as one of the greatest of evils, both moral and political. | 12 . . Van Buren responded to the Panic of 1837 with the idea of the independent treasury, which was a. a system of depositing money in select independent banks This episode was used in nineteenth century America as a Biblical justification for slavery. In the course of my former remarks, I took occasion to deprecate, as one of the greatest of evils, the consolidation of this government. . Can any man believe, sir, that, if twenty-three millions per annum was now levied by direct taxation, or by an apportionment of the same among the states, instead of being raised by an indirect tax, of the severe effect of which few are aware, that the waste and extravagance, the unauthorized imposition of duties, and appropriations of money for unconstitutional objects, would have been tolerated for a single year? Our notion of things is entirely different. . . . Their own power over their own instrument remains. To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member. Hayne began the debate by speaking out against a proposal by the northern states which suggested that the federal government should stop its surveyance of land west of the Mississippi and shift its focus to selling the land it had already surveyed. . Webster was eloquent, he was educated, he was witty, and he was a staunch defender of American liberty. The Webster-Hayne debate, which again was just one section of this greater discussion in the Senate, is traditionally considered to have begun when South Carolina senator Robert Y. Hayne stood to argue against Connecticut's proposal, accusing the northeastern states of trying to stall development of the West so that southern agricultural interests couldn't expand. Rather, the debate eloquently captured the ideas and ideals of Northern and Southern representatives of the time, highlighting and summarizing the major issues of governance of the era. . Sir, I will not stop at the border; I will carry the war into the enemys territory, and not consent to lay down my arms, until I shall have obtained indemnity for the past, and security for the future.[4] It is with unfeigned reluctance that I enter upon the performance of this part of my duty. Webster realized that if the social, political, and economic elite of Massachusetts and the Northeast were to once again lay claim to national leadership, he had to justify New England's previous history of sectionalism within a framework of nationalistic progression. Go to these cities now, and ask the question. . The people of the United States have declared that this Constitution shall be the Supreme Law. We are ready to make up the issue with the gentleman, as to the influence of slavery on individual and national characteron the prosperity and greatness, either of the United States, or of particular states. When they shall become dissatisfied with this distribution, they can alter it. She has a BA in political science. Post-Civil War, as the nation rebuilt and reconciled the balance between federal and state government, federal law became the supreme law of the land, just as Webster desired. Daniel Webster argued against nullification (the idea that states could disobey federal laws) arguing in favor of a strong federal government which would bind the states together under the Constitution. a. an explanation of natural events that is well supported by scientific evidence b. a set of rules for ethical conduct during an experiment c. a statement that describes how natural events happen d. a possible answer to a scientific question Conversation-based seminars for collegial PD, one-day and multi-day seminars, graduate credit seminars (MA degree), online and in-person. God grant that, in my day, at least, that curtain may not rise. Perhaps a quotation from a speech in Parliament in 1803 of Lord Castlereagh, Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry (17691822) during a debate over the conduct of British officials in India. I understand him to maintain, that the ultimate power of judging of the constitutional extent of its own authority, is not lodged exclusively in the general government, or any branch of it; but that, on the contrary, the states may lawfully decide for themselves, and each state for itself, whether, in a given case, the act of the general government transcends its power. And what has been the consequence? . It develops the gentlemans whole political system; and its answer expounds mine. . copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. They tell us, in the letter submitting the Constitution to the consideration of the country, that, in all our deliberations on this subject, we kept steadily in our view that which appears to us the greatest interest of every true Americanthe consolidation of our Unionin which is involved our prosperity, felicity, safety; perhaps our national existence. It was plenary then, and never having been surrendered, must be plenary now. And here it will be necessary to go back to the origin of the federal government. In The Webster-Hayne Debate, Christopher Childers examines the context of the debate between Daniel Webster of Massachusetts and his Senate colleague Robert S. Hayne of South Carolina in January 1830.Readers will finish the book with a clear idea of the reason Webster's "Reply" became so influential in its own day. He entered the Senate on that memorable day with a slow and stately step and took his seat as though unconscious of the loud buzz of expectant interest with which the crowded auditory greeted his appearance. - Women's Rights Facts & Significance, Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points: Definition, Speech & Summary, Fireside Chats: Definition & Significance, JFK's New Frontier: Definition, Speech & Program. One of the most storied match-ups in Senate history, the 1830 Webster-Hayne debate began with a beef between Northeast states and Western states over a plan to restrict . The specific issue that sparked the Webster-Hayne debate was a proposal by the state of Connecticut which said that the federal government should halt its surveying of land west of the Mississippi and focus on selling the land it had already surveyed to private citizens. He had allowed himself but a single night from eve to morn to prepare for a critical and crowning occasion. . It makes but little difference, in my estimation, whether Congress or the Supreme Court, are invested with this power. There yet remains to be performed, Mr. President, by far the most grave and important duty, which I feel to be devolved on me, by this occasion. . Ah! It impressed on the soil itself, while it was yet a wilderness, an incapacity to bear up any other than free men. . We could not send them back to the shores from whence their fathers had been taken; their numbers forbade the thought, even if we did not know that their condition here is infinitely preferable to what it possibly could be among the barren sands and savage tribes of Africa; and it was wholly irreconcilable with all our notions of humanity to tear asunder the tender ties which they had formed among us, to gratify the feelings of a false philanthropy. Though Webster made an impassioned argument, the political, social, and economic traditions of New England informed his ideas about the threatened nation. No hanging over the abyss of disunion, no weighing of the chances, no doubting as to what the Constitution was worth, no placing of liberty before Union, but "liberty and union, now and forever, one and inseparable." Well, you're not alone. I understand him to maintain this right, as a right existing under the Constitution; not as a right to overthrow it, on the ground of extreme necessity, such as would justify violent revolution. . Nor shall I stop there. Do they mean, or can they mean, anything more than that the Union of the states will be strengthened, by whatever continues or furnishes inducements to the people of the states to hold together? On that system, Carolina has no more interest in a canal in Ohio than in Mexico. . What idea was espoused with the Webster-Hayne debates? Well, it's important to remember that the nation was still young and much different than what we think of today. . And, therefore, I cannot but feel regret at the expression of such opinions as the gentleman has avowed; because I think their obvious tendency is to weaken the bond of our connection. . His speech was indeed a powerful one of its eloquence and personality. The people of the United States cherish a devotion to the Union, so pure, so ardent, that nothing short of intolerable oppression, can ever tempt them to do anything that may possibly endanger it. By the time it ended nine days later, the focus had shifted to the vastly more cosmic concerns of slavery and the nature of the federal Union. . Historians love a good debate. Webster's description of the U.S. government as "made for the people, made by the people, and answerable to the people," was later paraphrased by Abraham Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address in the words "government of the people, by the people, for the people."
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