Northern states intended to strengthen the federal government, binding the states in the union under one supreme law, and eradicating the use of slave labor in the rapidly growing nation. The Webster-Hayne debate concluded with Webster's ringing endorsement of "Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable." In contrast, Hayne espoused the radical states' rights doctrine of nullification, believing that a state could prevent a federal law from being enforced within its borders. She has worked as a university writing consultant for over three years. Sir, an immense national treasury would be a fund for corruption. . Webster's articulation of the concept of the Union went on to shape American attitudes about the federal government. Our Core Document Collection allows students to read history in the words of those who made it. Under that system, the legal actionthe application of law to individuals, belonged exclusively to the states. Speech on the Repeal of the Missouri Compromise. Certainly, sir, I am, and ever have been of that opinion. . . It was motivated by a dispute over the continued sale of western lands, an important source of revenue for the federal government. copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. So they could finish selling the lands already surveyed. Sir, the very chief end, the main design, for which the whole Constitution was framed and adopted, was to establish a government that should not be obliged to act through state agency, or depend on state opinion and state discretion. One was through protective tariffs, high taxes on imports and exports. My life upon it, sir, they would not. . In this moment in American history, the federal government had relatively little power. We see its consequences at this moment, and we shall never cease to see them, perhaps, while the Ohio shall flow. For all this, there was not the slightest foundation, in anything said or intimated by me. Explore the Webster-Hayne debate. Shedding weak tears over sufferings which had existence only in their own sickly imaginations, these friends of humanity set themselves systematically to work to seduce the slaves of the South from their masters. Judiciary Act of 1801 | Overview, History & Significance, General Ulysses S. Grant Takes Charge: His Strategic Plan for Ending the War. 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 . Create your account. MTEL Speech: Public Discourse & Debate in the U.S. I hold it to be a popular government, erected by the people; those who administer it responsible to the people; and itself capable of being amended and modified, just as the people may choose it should be. Though the debate began as a standard policy debate, the significance of Daniel Webster's argument reached far beyond a single policy proposal. I maintain that, from the day of the cession of the territories by the states to Congress, no portion of the country has acted, either with more liberality or more intelligence, on the subject of the Western lands in the new states, than New England. Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819) | Case, Significance & Summary. 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. Lincoln-Douglas Debates History & Significance | What Was the Lincoln-Douglas Debate? But the feeling is without all adequate cause, and the suspicion which exists wholly groundless. He describes fully that old state of things then existing. . It is only by a strict adherence to the limitations imposed by the Constitution on the federal government, that this system works well, and can answer the great ends for which it was instituted. . Hayne, South Carolina's foremost Senator, was the chosen champion; and the cause of his State, both in its right and wrong sides, could have found no abler exponent while [Vice President] Calhoun's official station kept him from the floor. 136 lessons Most people of the time supported a small central government and strong state governments, so the federal government was much weaker than you might have expected. foote wanted to stop surveying lands until they could sell the ones already looked at Is it the creature of the state legislatures, or the creature of the people? Under the circumstances then existing, I look upon this original and seasonable provision, as a real good attained. Well, the southern states were infuriated. . . It is one from which we are not disposed to shrink, in whatever form or under whatever circumstances it may be pressed upon us. Speech of Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, January 20, 1830. Debate on the Constitutionality of the Mexican War, Letters and Journals from the Oregon Trail. Religious Views: Letter to the Editor of the Illin Democratic Party Platform 1860 (Douglas Faction), (Northern) Democratic Party Platform Committee. . 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? . It impressed on the soil itself, while it was yet a wilderness, an incapacity to bear up any other than free men. Let their last feeble and lingering glance, rather behold the gorgeous Ensign of the Republic, now known and honored throughout the earth, still full high advanced, its arms and trophies streaming in their original luster, not a stripe erased or polluted, nor a single star obscuredbearing for its motto, no such miserable interrogatory as, what is all this worth? This is the true constitutional consolidation. Webster argued that the American people had created the Union to promote the good of the whole. . South Carolinas Declaration of the Causes of Secession (1860), Jefferson Daviss Inaugural Address (1861), Documents in Detail: The Webster-Hayne Debates, Remarks in Congress on the Tariff of Abominations, Check out our collection of primary source readers. The United States, under the Constitution and federal government, was a single, unified nation, not a coalition of sovereign states. I must now beg to ask, sir, whence is this supposed right of the states derived?where do they find the power to interfere with the laws of the Union? . Drama, suspense, it's all there. She has a BA in political science. In many respects, his speech betrays the mentality of Massachusetts conservatives seeking to regain national leadership and advance their particular ideas about the nation. Besides that, however, the federal government was still figuring out its role in American society. It is worth noting that in the course of the debate, on the very floor of the Senate, both Hayne and Webster raised the specter of civil war 30 years before it commenced. [Its leader] would have a knot before him, which he could not untie. Jackson himself would raise a national toast for 'the Union' later that year. . While the Union lasts, we have high, exciting, gratifying prospects spread out before us, for us and our children. . It cannot be doubted, and is not denied, that before the formation of the constitution, each state was an independent sovereignty, possessing all the rights and powers appertaining to independent nations; nor can it be denied that, after the Constitution was formed, they remained equally sovereign and independent, as to all powers, not expressly delegated to the federal government. To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member. I am a Unionist, and in this sense a national Republican. They undertook to form a general government, which should stand on a new basisnot a confederacy, not a league, not a compact between states, but a Constitution; a popular government, founded in popular election, directly responsible to the people themselves, and divided into branches, with prescribed limits of power, and prescribed duties. 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. Consolidation, like the tariff, grates upon his ear. . . In January 1830, a debate on the nature of sovereignty in the America. Speech of Senator Robert Y. Hayne of South Carolina, January 25, 1830. . What idea was espoused with the Webster-Hayne debates? Having thus distinctly stated the points in dispute between the gentleman and myself, I proceed to examine them. So soon as the cessions were obtained, it became necessary to make provision for the government and disposition of the territory . I understand him to maintain an authority, on the part of the states, thus to interfere, for the purpose of correcting the exercise of power by the general government, of checking it, and of compelling it to conform to their opinion of the extent of its powers. South Carolina Ordinance of Nullification 1832 | Crisis, Cause & Issues. Plus, get practice tests, quizzes, and personalized coaching to help you . And now, Mr. President, let me run the honorable gentlemans doctrine a little into its practical application. Then he began his speech, his words flowing on so completely at command that a fellow senator who heard him likened his elocution to the steady flow of molten gold. 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. An equally talented orator, Webster rose as the advocate of the North in the debate with his captivating reply to Hayne's initial argument. Even more pointedly, his speech reflected a decade of arguments from other Massachusetts conservatives who argued against supposed threats to New England's social order.[2]. And what has been the consequence? When my eyes shall be turned to behold, for the last time, the sun in Heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union; on states dissevered, discordant, belligerent; on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, it may be, in fraternal blood! In this regard, Webster anticipated an argument that Abraham Lincoln made in his First Inaugural Address (1861). This statement, though strong, is no stronger than the strictest truth will warrant. 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. They had burst forth from arguments about a decision by Connecticut Senator Samuel Foote. They have agreed, that certain specific powers shall be exercised by the federal government; but the moment that government steps beyond the limits of its charter, the right of the states to interpose for arresting the progress of the evil, and for maintaining within their respective limits the authorities, rights, and liberties, appertaining to them,[7] is as full and complete as it was before the Constitution was formed. . . I would strengthen the ties that hold us together. . 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. Southern ships and Southern sailors were not the instruments of bringing slaves to the shores of America, nor did our merchants reap the profits of that accursed traffic.. This was the tenor of Webster's speech, and nobly did the country respond to it. 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. But, sir, we will pass over all this. 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. . State governments were in control of their own affairs and expected little intervention from the federal government. First, New England was vindicated. Tariff of 1816 History & Significance | What was the Tariff of 1816? All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. . . Record of the Organization and Proceedings of The Massachusetts Lawmakers Investigate Working Condit State (Colonial) Legislatures>Massachusetts State Legislature. . 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. Our notion of things is entirely different. We look upon the states, not as separated, but as united. . flashcard sets. Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions | Overview, Impact & Significance, Public Speaking for Teachers: Professional Development, AEPA Earth Science (AZ045): Practice & Study Guide, ORELA Early Childhood Education: Practice & Study Guide, Praxis Middle School English Language Arts (5047) Prep, MTLE Physical Education: Practice & Study Guide, ILTS Mathematics (208): Test Practice and Study Guide, MTLE Earth & Space Science: Practice & Study Guide, AEPA Business Education (NT309): Help & Review, Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Examination (CPCE): Exam Prep & Study Guide, GACE Special Education Adapted Curriculum Test I (083) Prep, GACE Special Education Adapted Curriculum Test II (084) Prep, Create an account to start this course today. Those who are in favor of consolidation; who are constantly stealing power from the states and adding strength to the federal government; who, assuming an unwarrantable jurisdiction over the states and the people, undertake to regulate the whole industry and capital of the country.
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