source: http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/cwvm/exhibit2cw.htm

Anchors need Fix

Exhibit Hall 2

Many people in the South believed that each state had the right to make its own laws and to decide for itself such issues as slavery. Between 1820 and 1860 this issue was argued by people in the streets and homes and churches of the United States. This issue of States' Rights was also very hotly debated in the Senate of the United States.

In this exhibit you will have the opportunity to visit with three statesmen of this time who had conflicting interpretations regarding state and federal authority. Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and John C. Calhoun.

Start your cyber investigation by reading Politics.

Activity 2a

Use the following chart to record and organize your information on these key issues as you visit with these great statesmen in cyberspace. Read at least one biography and one speech from each of the three men and then fill in the chart.

Activity 2b

Take the role of one of the three men that you have visited in this exhibit and write a short article expressing your opinion about whether you feel that the Union should try to work out it's differences or should it divide. Be sure to use facts that you gathered to support your point of view.
 

	Library of Congress Prints&Photographs Division [LC-USZ62-109953 DLC]  Henry Clay	Library of Congress Prints&Photographs Division [Reproduction Number LC-USZ81-1321] John Calhoun	Library of Congress Prints&Photographs Division [Reproduction Number LC-B816-13] Daniel Webster
States' Rights	+	+	+
Tariffs	+	+	+
Sectionalism	+	+	+
Slavery	+	+	+
Secession	+	+	+
Nullification	+	+	+

Links to biographies Henry Clay Estate from the Henry Clay Museum 1777-1852, American statesman from Information Please Almanac	Library of Congress Prints&Photographs Division [Reproduction Number LC-B816-1321]
Links to Speeches On President Jackson's Veto of the Bank Bill  (primary source)	Henry Clay  "I have heard something said about allegiance to the South. I know no South, no North, no East, no West, to which I owe any allegiance." Speech, 1848. pictures

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Library of Congress Prints&Photographs  Division LC-USZ6-2084 DLC

Links to biographies Daniel Webster 1--biographical information from the Grolier Encyclopedia Daniel Webster 2--biographical information from the Library of Congress Daniel Webster 3--biographical information from ThinkQuest Historical Personalities site   Speeches Seventh of March Speech. Webster begins this speech by offering his support for the Fugitive Slave Law.  The Dignity and Importance of History (February 23, 1852). "Gentlemen, I must bring these desultory remarks to a close. I terminate them where perhaps I ought to have begun, - namely, with a few words on the present state and condition of our country, and the prospects which are before her." Daniel Webster's notes for his speech to the United States Senate favoring the Compromise of 1850, 7 March 1850. If this does not link, go to the Library of Congress , then enter Webster speech AND Compromise of 1850

Daniel Webster "One country, one constitution, one destiny."

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Links to biographies: Calhoun, John Caldwell from the Columbia Encyclopedia. John Caldwell Calhoun (1782-1850) from the Netherlands collection??? John C. Calhoun is best remembered as an American statesman and political philosopher from the US GeneralWeb, an archive of information about American military generals. Serving (1842-43, 1845-50) in the Senate, Calhoun was a powerful spokesman for slavery and Southern rights until his death--from the Grolier Encyclopedia. Calhoun studied law under Tapping Reeve at Litchfield, Conn., and began (1808) his public career in the South Carolina legislature--from the Columbia Encyclopedia .

John C. Calhoun Library of Congress Prints&Photographs Division [Reproduction Number LC-B816-1321]

Links to speeches (Primary Sources) John Calhoun, "Slavery a Positive Good," 6 February 1837 John Calhoun, "Against the Force Bill," 15 February 1833 John C. Calhoun's Southern Address of 1849 John C. Calhoun's speech to the United States Senate against the Compromise of 1850, 7 March 1850. (If this does not link, go to the Library of Congress , then enter Webster speech AND Compromise of 1850.) Proposal to Preserve the Union (1850)

Calhoun issued a doctrine that proclaimed it was "the right of any state" (from the Columbia Encyclopedia) to overrule or modify not only the tariff but also any federal government law deemed unconstitutional. (Tariff article by Michael J. Swogger, student of Civil War history.)
 
 

States' Rights, in United States history, political doctrine that advocates limiting federal powers to those explicitly assigned in the Constitution of the United States and giving to the states all other powers not explicitly forbidden--from Encarta.

Nullification

Nullification was a word that has been attributed to John C. Calhoun. (Library of Congress)

After enactment of the tariff act of 1832 South Carolina called a state convention, which passed (1832) the ordinance of nullification. (Columbia Encyclopedia)

John Calhoun, Vice-President (Jackson administration) promoted nullification as a moderate alternative to secession. (North Park University)

 

 

 

ADD ANY NEW INFORMATION TO YOUR TIME LINE THAT YOU FOUND WHILE VISITING THIS EXHIBIT.