LAD/Blog #13: Calhoun's Speech

[ John C. Calhoun ]

John C. Calhoun's speech, issued on March 4, 1850, anticipated the civil war. He stated that slavery would causes disunion within the nation, describing his unsuccessful efforts to unite the feuding parties and settle the dispute and expressing the belief that politicians from all over the nation provoked the conflict. Sectionalism has been contributed to much by the dominance of the North in government; the North was predominant in all branches of government and their ideals had taken priority over those of the South, angering the South, which felt under-represented in government and as though their opinions about slavery were not able to be voiced because of that. Another issue between the North and South brought up by Calhoun was the acquisition of new territory by the treaty with Mexico; the South felt that the North was trying to exclude them from not only that territory, but revenue and disbursements, as well, because the North had received more funds than the South, leading to a battle between the South's agricultural-based economy and the North's manufacturing-based economy. But by far the most apparent issue was that of abolition. The South feared that the North's influence in government would allow slavery to be abolished, yet again overriding the South and meaning, to the South, that the so-called Union, that prided itself on equality between states, was a sham. Calhoun asserted that there was only so much overriding of the South that the North could do before civil war would be upon the country