what idea was espoused with the webster hayne debates what idea was espoused with the webster hayne debates

What idea was espoused with the Webster-Hayne debates? 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. . 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. The Revelation on Celestial Marriage: Trouble Amon Hon. Pet Banks History & Effects | What are Pet Banks? 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. The gentleman takes alarm at the sound. 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. 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 moves vast bodies, and gives to them one and the same direction. In many respects, his speech betrays the mentality of Massachusetts conservatives seeking to regain national leadership and advance their particular ideas about the nation. . 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. The significance of Daniel Webster's argument went far beyond the immediate proposal at hand. . Nor shall I stop there. copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. Why? . If this is to become one great consolidated government, swallowing up the rights of the states, and the liberties of the citizen, riding and ruling over the plundered ploughman, and beggared yeomanry,[8] the Union will not be worth preserving. Regional Conflict in America: Debate Over States' Rights. 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. Webster rose the next day in his seat to make his reply. It has always been regarded as a matter of domestic policy, left with the states themselves, and with which the federal government had nothing to do. Sir, I deprecate and deplore this tone of thinking and acting. Hayne quotes from the Virginia Resolution (1798), authored by Thomas Jefferson, to protest the Alien and Sedition Acts (1798). When, however, the gentleman proceeded to contrast the state of Ohio with Kentucky, to the disadvantage of the latter, I listened to him with regret. They cherish no deep and fixed regard for it, flowing from a thorough conviction of its absolute and vital necessity to our welfare. 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. South Carolina Ordinance of Nullification 1832 | Crisis, Cause & Issues. South Carolinas Declaration of the Causes of Sece Distribution of the Slave Population by State. Hayne entered the U.S. Senate in 1823 and soon became prominent as a spokesman for the South and for the . Benton was rising in renown as the advocate not only of Western settlers but of a new theory that the public lands should be given away instead of sold to them. 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? . It is, sir, the peoples Constitution, the peoples government; made for the people; made by the people; and answerable to the people. MTEL Speech: Public Discourse & Debate in the U.S. Webster scoffed at the idea of consolidation, labeling it "that perpetual cry, both of terror and delusion." What Hayne and his supporters actually meant to do, Webster claimed, was to resist those means that might strengthen the bonds of common interest. If these opinions be thought doubtful, they are, nevertheless, I trust, neither extraordinary nor disrespectful. . The object of the Framers of the Constitution, as disclosed in that address, was not the consolidation of the government, but the consolidation of the Union. It was not to draw power from the states, in order to transfer it to a great national government, but, in the language of the Constitution itself, to form a more perfect union; and by what means? Ostend Manifesto of 1854 Overview & Purpose | What was the Ostend Manifesto? Get unlimited access to over 88,000 lessons. . Sir, I have had some opportunities of making comparisons between the condition of the free Negroes of the North and the slaves of the South, and the comparison has left not only an indelible impression of the superior advantages of the latter, but has gone far to reconcile me to slavery itself. 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 . . 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 . . It was of a partizan and censorious character and drew nearly all the chief senators out. . This statement, though strong, is no stronger than the strictest truth will warrant. 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. 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. Excerpts from Ratification Documents of Virginia a Ratifying Conventions>New York Ratifying Convention. Hayne maintained that the states retained the authority to nullify federal law, Webster that federal law expressed the will of the American people and could not be nullified by a minority of the people in a state. The gentleman has made an eloquent appeal to our hearts in favor of union. . Speech of Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, January 26 and 27, 1830. 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. Far, indeed, in my wishes, very far distant be the day, when our associated and fraternal stripes shall be severed asunder, and when that happy constellation under which we have risen to so much renown, shall be broken up, and be seen sinking, star after star, into obscurity and night! 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. 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. Webster believed that the Constitution should be viewed as a binding document between the United States rather than an agreement between sovereign states. 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. There is not, and never has been, a disposition in the North to interfere with these interests of the South. Create your account. That led into a debate on the economy, in which Webster attacked the institution of slavery and Hayne labeled the policy of protectionist tariffs as the consolidation of a strong central government, which he called the greatest of evils. . The excited crowd which had packed the Senate chamber, filling every seat on the floor and in the galleries, and all the available standing room, dispersed after the orator's last grand apostrophe had died away in the air, with national pride throbbing at the heart. But his reply was gathered from the choicest arguments and the most decadent thoughts that had long floated through his brain while this crisis was gathering; and bringing these materials together in a lucid and compact shape, he calmly composed and delivered before another crowded and breathless auditory a speech full of burning passages, which will live as long as the American Union, and the grandest effort of his life. Sir, when the gentleman provokes me to such a conflict, I meet him at the threshold. But his calm, unperturbed manner reassured them in an instant. . Liberty has been to them the greatest of calamities, the heaviest of curses. 136 lessons The debate was important because it laid out the arguments in favor of nationalism in the face of growing sectionalism. His ideas about federalism and his interpretation of the Constitution as a document uniting the states under one supreme law were highly influential in the eyes of his contemporaries and would influence the rebuilding of the nation after the Civil War. Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819) | Case, Significance & Summary. The gentleman, indeed, argues that slavery, in the abstract, is no evil. They will also better understand the debate's political context. Webster's articulation of the concept of the Union went on to shape American attitudes about the federal government. 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. An error occurred trying to load this video. All rights reserved. All of these ideas, however, are only parts of the main point. 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. . Rush-Bagot Treaty Structure & Effects | What was the Rush-Bagot Agreement? We had no other general government. Are we yet at the mercy of state discretion, and state construction? Some of Webster's personal friends had felt nervous over what appeared to them too hasty a period for preparation. They switched from a. the tariff of 1828 to national power . Religious Views: Letter to the Editor of the Illin Democratic Party Platform 1860 (Douglas Faction), (Northern) Democratic Party Platform Committee. 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. . 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?