. . The United States' democratic process was evolving and its leaders were putting the newly ratified Constitution into practice. It was about protectionist tariffs.The speeches between Webster and Hayne themselves were not planned. Address to the Slaves of the United States. 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.) | 12 He joined Hayne in using this opportunity to try to detach the West from the East, and restore the old cooperation of the West and the South against New England. The Webster-Hayne Debate: Defining Nationhood in the Early American Jackson himself would raise a national toast for 'the Union' later that year. Rush-Bagot Treaty Structure & Effects | What was the Rush-Bagot Agreement? 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. . . They had burst forth from arguments about a decision by Connecticut Senator Samuel Foote. The impression which has gone abroad, of the weakness of the South, as connected with the slave question, exposes us to such constant attacks, has done us so much injury, and is calculated to produce such infinite mischiefs, that I embrace the occasion presented by the remarks of the gentleman from Massachusetts, to declare that we are ready to meet the question promptly and fearlessly. . Daniel webster (ma) and sen. Hayne of . 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. I understand him to insist, that if the exigency of the case, in the opinion of any state government, require it, such state government may, by its own sovereign authority, annul an act of the general government, which it deems plainly and palpably unconstitutional. . Webster-Hayne debate - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . Speech of Senator Robert Y. Hayne of South Carolina, January 27, 1830. . . Connecticut's proposal was an attempt to slow the growth of the nation, control westward expansion, and bolster the federal government's revenue. Massachusetts Senator Daniel Webster's "Second Reply" to South Carolina Senator Robert Y. Hayne has long been thought of as a great oratorical celebration of American Nationalism in a period of sectional conflict. It is the servant of four-and-twenty masters, of different wills and different purposes, and yet bound to obey all. 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. A speech by Louisiana Senator Edward Livingston, however, neatly explains how American nationhood encompasses elements of both Webster and Hayne's ideas. If these opinions be thought doubtful, they are, nevertheless, I trust, neither extraordinary nor disrespectful. An equally talented orator, Webster rose as the advocate of the North in the debate with his captivating reply to Hayne's initial argument. 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. What was going on? There was no clear winner of the debate, but the Union's victory over the Confederacy just a few decades later brought Webster's ideas to fruition. She has worked as a university writing consultant for over three years. The faction of voters in the North were against slavery and feared it spreading into new territory. . On that system, Carolina has no more interest in a canal in Ohio than in Mexico. 1824 Presidential Election, Candidates & Significance | Who Won the Election of 1824? 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? In 1830, the federal government collected few taxes and had two primary sources of revenue. This statement, though strong, is no stronger than the strictest truth will warrant. Hayne argued that the sovereign and independent states had created the Union to promote their particular interests. If the gentleman provokes the war, he shall have war. The debate itself, a nine-day long unplanned exchange between Senators Robert Y. Hayne and Daniel Webster, directly addressed the methods by which the federal government was generating revenue, namely through protective tariffs and the selling of federal lands in the newly acquired western territories. He was dressed with scrupulous care, in a blue coat with metal buttons, a buff vest rounding over his full abdomen, and his neck encircled with a white cravat. . 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. . . Since as Vice President and President of the Senate, Calhoun could not take place in the debate, Hayne represented the pro-nullification point-of-view. It moves vast bodies, and gives to them one and the same direction. The Webster Hayne Debate - DEBETE CJK All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. The Webster-Hayne Debate | Hopkins Press 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? It was a speech delivered before a crowded auditory, and loud were the Southern exultations that he was more than a match for Webster. This is the sense in which the Framers of the Constitution use the word consolidation; and in which sense I adopt and cherish it. Webster and Hayne on the American Constitution Thirty years before the Civil War broke out, disunion appeared to be on the horizon with the Nullification Crisis. Tariff of 1816 History & Significance | What was the Tariff of 1816? If I could, by a mere act of my will, put at the disposal of the federal government any amount of treasure which I might think proper to name, I should limit the amount to the means necessary for the legitimate purposes of the government. Now that was a good debate! Consolidation, like the tariff, grates upon his ear. The Significance of the Frontier in American Histo South Carolinas Ordinance of Nullification. The United States, under the Constitution and federal government, was a single, unified nation, not a coalition of sovereign states. 1830's APUSH Flashcards | Quizlet 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. . The Webster-Hayne Debate between New Hampshire Senator Daniel Webster and South Carolina Senator Robert Young Hayne highlighted the sectional nature of the controversy. He must say to his followers [members of the state militia], defend yourselves with your bayonets; and this is warcivil war. If an inquiry should ever be instituted in these matters, however, it will be found that the profits of the slave trade were not confined to the South. Webster-Hayne Debate. First, New England was vindicated. . But still, throughout American history, several debates have captured the nation's attention in a way that would make even Hollywood jealous. What a commentary on the wisdom, justice, and humanity, of the Southern slave owner is presented by the example of certain benevolent associations and charitable individuals elsewhere. The people had had quite enough of that kind of government, under the Confederacy. . The following states came from the territory north and west of the Ohio river: Ohio (1803), Indiana (1816), Illinois (1818), Michigan (1837), Wisconsin (1848) and Minnesota (1858). Plus, get practice tests, quizzes, and personalized coaching to help you If the federal government, in all or any of its departments, are to prescribe the limits of its own authority; and the states are bound to submit to the decision, and are not to be allowed to examine and decide for themselves, when the barriers of the Constitution shall be overleaped, this is practically a government without limitation of powers; the states are at once reduced to mere petty corporations, and the people are entirely at your mercy. The people read Webster's speech and marked him as the champion henceforth against all assaults upon the Constitution. The other way was through the sale of federally-owned land to private citizens. Daniel Webster - Facts, Career & Legacy - HISTORY The Hayne-Webster Debate was an unplanned series of speeches in the Senate, during which Robert Hayne of South Carolina interpreted the Constitution as little more than a treaty between sovereign states, and Daniel Webster expressed the concept of the United States as one nation. The senator from Massachusetts, in denouncing what he is pleased to call the Carolina doctrine,[5] has attempted to throw ridicule upon the idea that a state has any constitutional remedy by the exercise of its sovereign authority against a gross, palpable, and deliberate violation of the Constitution. He called it an idle or a ridiculous notion, or something to that effect; and added, that it would make the Union a mere rope of sand. This absurdity (for it seems no less) arises from a misconception as to the origin of this government and its true character. 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. The Webster-Hayne debate was a series of unplanned speeches in the Senate between January 19th and 27th of 1830 between Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts and Senator Robert Y. Hayne of South Carolina. God grant that, in my day, at least, that curtain may not rise. I did not utter a single word, which any ingenuity could torture into an attack on the slavery of the South. Ham, one of Noahs sons, saw him uncovered, for which Noah cursed him by making Hams son, Canaan, a slave to Ham's brothers. Strange was it, however, that in heaping reproaches upon the Hartford Convention he did not mark how nearly its leaders had mapped out the same line of opposition to the national Government that his State now proposed to take, both relying upon the arguments of the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions of 179899. 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. The gentleman, indeed, argues that slavery, in the abstract, is no evil. 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Competing Conceptions of Union and Ordered Liberty in The Webster-Hayne . Winners and Losers History's Famous Debates - Medium . And what has been the consequence? If they mean merely this, then, no doubt, the public lands as well as everything else in which we have a common interest, tends to consolidation; and to this species of consolidation every true American ought to be attached; it is neither more nor less than strengthening the Union itself. 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. - Women's Rights Facts & Significance, Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points: Definition, Speech & Summary, Fireside Chats: Definition & Significance, JFK's New Frontier: Definition, Speech & Program.