My life upon it, sir, they would not. . 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. 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? The Virginia Resolution asserted that when the federal government undertook the deliberate, palpable, and dangerous exercise of powers not granted to it in the constitution, states had the right and duty to interpose their authority to prevent this evil. [was] fixed, forever, the character of the population in the vast regions Northwest of the Ohio, by excluding from them involuntary servitude. Mr. Hayne having rejoined to Mr. Webster, especially on the constitutional question. Under the circumstances then existing, I look upon this original and seasonable provision, as a real good attained. The gentleman has made an eloquent appeal to our hearts in favor of union. 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). We will not look back to inquire whether our fathers were guiltless in introducing slaves into this country. . They cherish no deep and fixed regard for it, flowing from a thorough conviction of its absolute and vital necessity to our welfare. The Union to be preserved, while it suits local and temporary purposes to preserve it; and to be sundered whenever it shall be found to thwart such purposes. 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. But it was the honor of a caste; and the struggling bread-winners of society, the great commonalty, he little studied or understood. . They will not destroy it, they will not impair itthey will only save, they will only preserve, they will only strengthen it! All of these contentious topics were touched upon in Webster and Hayne's nine day long debate. As sovereign states, each state could individually interpret the Constitution and even leave the Union altogether. Are we yet at the mercy of state discretion, and state construction? Is it the creature of the state legislatures, or the creature of the people? . In January 1830, a debate on the nature of sovereignty in the American federal union occurred in the United States Senate between Senators Daniel Webster of Massachusetts and Robert Hayne of South Carolina. The Most Famous Senate Speech January 26, 1830 The debate began simply enough, centering on the seemingly prosaic subjects of tariff and public land policy. . It was a speech delivered before a crowded auditory, and loud were the Southern exultations that he was more than a match for Webster. . Nor those other words of delusion and folly,liberty first, and union afterwardsbut everywhere, spread all over in characters of living light, blazing on all its ample folds, as they float over the sea and over the land, and in every wind under the whole Heavens, that other sentiment, dear to every true American heartliberty and union, now and forever, one and inseparable! I said, only, that it was highly wise and useful in legislating for the northwestern country, while it was yet a wilderness, to prohibit the introduction of slaves: and added, that I presumed, in the neighboring state of Kentucky, there was no reflecting and intelligent gentleman, who would doubt, that if the same prohibition had been extended, at the same early period, over that commonwealth, her strength and population would, at this day, have been far greater than they are. There was an end to all apprehension. . Judiciary Act of 1801 | Overview, History & Significance, General Ulysses S. Grant Takes Charge: His Strategic Plan for Ending the War. 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. . The Webster-Hayne debates began over one issue but quickly switched to another. . How do Webster and Hayne differ in regard to their understandings of the proper relationship among the several states and between the states and the national government? But to remove all doubt it is expressly declared, by the 10th article of the amendment of the Constitution, that the powers not delegated to the states, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.. The Webster-Hayne debate laid out key issues faced by the Senate in the 1820s and 1830s. Sir, if we are, then vain will be our attempt to maintain the Constitution under which we sit. I deem far otherwise of the Union of the states; and so did the Framers of the Constitution themselves. . Sir, all our difficulties on this subject have arisen from interference from abroad, which has disturbed, and may again disturb, our domestic tranquility, just so far as to bring down punishment upon the heads of the unfortunate victims of a fanatical and mistaken humanity. I understand the honorable gentleman from South Carolina to maintain, that it is a right of the state legislatures to interfere, whenever, in their judgment, this government transcends its constitutional limits, and to arrest the operation of its laws. What can I say? . During his first years in Congress, Webster railed against President James Madison 's war policies, invoking a states' rights argument to oppose a conscription bill that went down to defeat.. . . Gloomy and downcast of late, Massachusetts men walked the avenue as though the fife and drum were before them. In many respects, his speech betrays the mentality of Massachusetts conservatives seeking to regain national leadership and advance their particular ideas about the nation. . . Ham, one of Noahs sons, saw him uncovered, for which Noah cursed him by making Hams son, Canaan, a slave to Ham's brothers. 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. . succeed. Daniel Webster, in a dramatic speech, showed the danger of the states' rights doctrine, which permitted each State to decide for itself which laws were unconstitutional, claiming it would lead to civil war. We found that we had to deal with a people whose physical, moral, and intellectual habits and character, totally disqualified them from the enjoyment of the blessings of freedom. 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.. In this regard, Webster anticipated an argument that Abraham Lincoln made in his First Inaugural Address (1861). This feeling, always carefully kept alive, and maintained at too intense a heat to admit discrimination or reflection, is a lever of great power in our political machine. 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. We resolved to make the best of the situation in which Providence had placed us, and to fulfil the high trust which had developed upon us as the owners of slaves, in the only way in which such a trust could be fulfilled, without spreading misery and ruin throughout the land. At the foundation of the constitution of these new Northwestern states, . 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. On that system, Ohio and Carolina are different governments, and different countries, connected here, it is true, by some slight and ill-defined bond of union, but, in all main respects, separate and diverse. This debate exposed the critically different understandings of the nature of the American. . In this moment in American history, the federal government had relatively little power. Tariff of 1816 History & Significance | What was the Tariff of 1816? Webster-Hayne Debate 1830, 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. It is to state, and to defend, what I conceive to be the true principles of the Constitution under which we are here assembled. . The measures of the federal government have, it is true, prostrated her interests, and will soon involve the whole South in irretrievable ruin. And what has been the consequence? During the course of the debates, the senators touched on pressing political issues of the daythe tariff, Western lands, internal improvementsbecause behind these and others were two very different understandings of the origin and nature of the American Union. 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. Daniel webster (ma) and sen. Hayne of . 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. Webster and the northern states saw the Constitution as binding the individual states together as a single union. . Foote Idea To Limit The Sale Of Public Lands In The West To New Settlers. 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. But until they shall alter it, it must stand as their will, and is equally binding on the general government and on the states. The Confederation was, in strictness, a compact; the states, as states, were parties to it. For the next several days, the men traded speeches which contemporaries of the time described as the greatest orations ever delivered in the Senate. I did not utter a single word, which any ingenuity could torture into an attack on the slavery of the South. . I regard domestic slavery as one of the greatest of evils, both moral and political. Speech to the U.S. House of Representatives. . But that was found insufficient, and inadequate to the public exigencies. Record of the Organization and Proceedings of The Massachusetts Lawmakers Investigate Working Condit State (Colonial) Legislatures>Massachusetts State Legislature. And now, Mr. President, let me run the honorable gentlemans doctrine a little into its practical application. Now that was a good debate! They switched from a. the tariff of 1828 to national power . 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. . Will it promote the welfare of the United States to have at our disposal a permanent treasury, not drawn from the pockets of the people, but to be derived from a source independent of them? . Chris has a master's degree in history and teaches at the University of Northern Colorado. 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. Finally, sir, the honorable gentleman says, that the states will only interfere, by their power, to preserve the Constitution. Congress could only recommendtheir acts were not of binding force, till the states had adopted and sanctioned them. The faction of voters in the North were against slavery and feared it spreading into new territory. 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 Northwest Ordinance. Speech of Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, January 26 and 27, 1830. God grant that on my vision never may be opened what lies behind. All rights reserved. Hayne quotes from Thomas Jefferson to William Branch Giles, December 26, 1825, https://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/letter-to-william-branch-giles/?_sft_document_author=thomas-jefferson. 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. . Debate on the Constitutionality of the Mexican War, Letters and Journals from the Oregon Trail. 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: 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.) 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 between New Hampshire Senator Daniel Webster and South Carolina Senator Robert Young Hayne highlighted the sectional nature of the controversy. Correct answers: 2 question: Which of the following is the best definition of a hypothesis? Webster and the North treated it as binding the states together as a single union. . 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. Religious Views: Letter to the Editor of the Illin Democratic Party Platform 1860 (Douglas Faction), (Northern) Democratic Party Platform Committee. 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]. Jackson himself would raise a national toast for 'the Union' later that year. Excerpts from Ratification Documents of Virginia a Ratifying Conventions>New York Ratifying Convention. The debaters were Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts and Senator Robert Y. Hayne of South Carolina. Webster stood in favor of Connecticut's proposal that the federal government should stop surveying western land and sell the land it had already surveyed to boost it's revenue and strengthen it's authority. I would strengthen the ties that hold us together. Get unlimited access to over 88,000 lessons. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. . I have but one word more to add. The 1830 WebsterHayne debate centered around the South Carolina nullification crisis of the late 1820s, but historians have largely ignored the sectional interests underpinning Webster's argument on behalf of Unionism and a transcendent nationalism. It is one from which we are not disposed to shrink, in whatever form or under whatever circumstances it may be pressed upon us. The speech is also known for the line Liberty and union, now and forever, one and inseparable, which would subsequently become the state motto of North Dakota, appearing on the state seal. Ostend Manifesto of 1854 Overview & Purpose | What was the Ostend Manifesto? Those who would confine the federal government strictly within the limits prescribed by the Constitutionwho would preserve to the states and the people all powers not expressly delegatedwho would make this a federal and not a national Unionand who, administering the government in a spirit of equal justice, would make it a blessing and not a curse. She has worked as a university writing consultant for over three years. The debate can be seen as a precursor to the debate that became . . . 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 dominant historical opinion of the famous debate between Daniel Webster of Massachusetts and Robert Young Hayne of South Carolina which took place in the United States Senate in 1830 has long been that Webster defeated Hayne both as an orator and a statesman. It was plenary then, and never having been surrendered, must be plenary now. Webster pursued his objective through a rhetorical strategy that ignored Benton, the principal opponent of New England sectionalism, and that provoked Hayne into an exposition and defense of what became the South Carolina doctrine of nullification. Visit the dark and narrow lanes, and obscure recesses, which have been assigned by common consent as the abodes of those outcasts of the worldthe free people of color. On this subject, as in all others, we ask nothing of our Northern brethren but to let us alone; leave us to the undisturbed management of our domestic concerns, and the direction of our own industry, and we will ask no more. President John Quincy Adams and the Election of 1824. The 1830 Webster-Hayne debate centered around the South Carolina nullification crisis of the late 1820s, but historians have largely ignored the sectional interests underpinning Webster's argument on behalf of Unionism and a transcendent nationalism. I am opposed, therefore, in any shape, to all unnecessary extension of the powers, or the influence of the Legislature or Executive of the Union over the states, or the people of the states; and, most of all, I am opposed to those partial distributions of favors, whether by legislation or appropriation, which has a direct and powerful tendency to spread corruption through the land; to create an abject spirit of dependence; to sow the seeds of dissolution; to produce jealousy among the different portions of the Union, and finally to sap the very foundations of the government itself.
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