John C. Calhoun: The Starter Of The Civil War

1431 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: John calhoun slavery

John C. Calhoun: The Starter of the Civil War

If one person could be called the instigator of the Civil War, it was John C. Calhoun -- Unknown.

The fact that he never wanted the South to break away from the United States as it would a decade after his death, his words and life's work made him the father of secession. In a very real way, he started the American Civil War. Slavery was the foundation of the antebellum South. More than any other characteristic, it defined Southern social, political, and cultural life. It also unified the South as a section distinct from the rest of the nation. John C. Calhoun, the South's recognized intellectual and political leader from the 1820s until his death in 1850, devoted much of his remarkable intellectual energy to defending slavery. He developed a two-point defense. One was a political theory that the rights of a minority section in particular, the South needed special protecting in the federal union. The second was an argument that presented slavery as an institution that benefited all involved. John C. Calhoun's commitment to those two points and his efforts to develop them to the fullest would assign him a unique role in American history as the moral, political, and spiritual voice of Southern separatism.

Born in 1782 in upcountry South Carolina, Calhoun grew up during the boom in the area's cotton economy. The son of a successful farmer who served in public office, Calhoun went to New Haven, Connecticut, in 1801 to attend Yale College. After graduating, he attended the Litchfield Law School, also in Connecticut, and studied under Tapping Reeve, an outspoken supporter of a strong federal government. Seven years after Calhoun's initial departure from South Carolina, he returned hom...

... middle of paper ...

... American political thought -- if only for this irony: while he fought to protect the Southern minority's rights and interests from the Northern majority, he felt free to subordinate the rights of the African American minority to the interests of the South's white majority. After Calhoun's death on March 31, 1850, one of his greatest foes, U.S. Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, sternly rebuked an associate who suggested that he honor Calhoun with a eulogy in Congress. "He is not dead, sir -- he is not dead," remarked Benton, a staunch Unionist. "There may be no vitality in his body, but there is in his doctrines. (Addressed to John C. Calhoun pg. 347 – 409)" A decade later, a bloody civil war would prove Benton was right.

Bibliography

• www.en.wikipedia.org

• www.bioguide.congress.gov

• Wiltse pg. 1,944 vol. 1

• Addressed to John C. Calhoun pg. 347 – 409

Show More
Related

  • Apostles of Disunion by Charles B. Dew

    961 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Apostles of Disunion, Dew presents compelling documentation that the issue of slavery was indeed the ultimate cause for the Civil War. This book provided a great deal of insight as to why the South feared the abolition of slavery as they did. In reading the letters and speeches of the secession commissioners, it was clear that each of them were making passionate pleas to all of the slave states in an effort to put a stop to the North’s, and specifically Lincoln’s, push for the abolishment of slavery. There should be no question that slavery had everything to do with being the cause for the Civil War. In the words of Dew, “To put it quite simply, slavery and race were absolutely critical elements in the coming of the war” (81). This was an excellent book, easy to read, and very enlightening.

    Read More

  • Sectionalism Versus Nationalism and the Era of Good Feelings

    627 Words  | 2 Pages

    The United States began to dissatisfy some of its citizens and so the concerns of sectionalism, or the split of the country began to arise. There was a continuous riff between the south and the north over a few issues, a major one being slavery. The south argued that the slaves were necessary to support the southern economy. According to document A, the south were angry that the north was creating taxes that hurt the southern economy, thus increasing the need for slavery since they had to make up for the expense of the taxes. The south felt that the north was able...

    Read More

  • Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, And Daniel Webster And Their Differing Vi

    596 Words  | 2 Pages

    Perhaps the three most influential men in the pre-Civil War era were Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, and Daniel Webster. These men all died nearly a decade before the civil war began, but they didn’t know how much they would effect it. States’ rights was a very controversial issue, and one which had strong opposition and radical proposals coming from both sides. John C. Calhoun was in favor of giving states the power to nullify laws that they saw unconstitutional, and he presented this theory in his “Doctrine of Nullification”. Daniel Webster strongly disagreed with this proposal and showed this by giving powerful support to President Jackson in resisting the attempt by South Carolina to nullify the ‘tariff of abominations’, as they called it; a shipping tax passed in 1828 that they saw as unfairly favoring the industrial North.

    Read More

  • Clay, Calhoun, Webster

    588 Words  | 2 Pages

    John Calhoun, a representative from South Carolina, also played a large roll in the congressional debates in the early 1800's. A fierce nationalist and former warhawk, he was much in favor of the Tariff of 1816. He believed that the South's future lay in the hands of manufacturing of cotton and other such products. With England trying to crush these industries, he saw the tariff as a helpful resource for his region. He later changed his position, opposing the tariff as he came to believe that the tariff only benefited the wealthy factory owners of the North, and did little to help the South. He looked out for the best interest of his state and the other states of the South.

    Read More

  • The Secession of the Southern States in 1860 and 1861

    750 Words  | 2 Pages

    Eventually slavery did die out and the southern states were once again apart of the union, but not without a civil war. Ultimately the North and South’s differences could not be resolved through anything other than a Civil War. These causes, as well as others, left the South no other viable option, in their eyes, than to secede from the union, leading to the Civil War. Political, societal, and philosophical conflicts combined with one another to form the ultimate disagreement over slavery between the two regions. All in all, admitting a disproportionate amount of free states to slave states into the union, preventing slavery from expanding, and President Lincoln’s election were significant factors that lead to the secession of the southern states in 1860 and 1861.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Radical And The Republican

    1023 Words  | 3 Pages

    . .’, concludes James Oakes’ book with the aftermath of the Civil War and Lincoln’s assassination. Oakes discussed the respect Douglass gathered for Lincoln over the years and the affect his assassination had on both himself and America as a whole. Oakes even brushed over Douglass’ relationship with Andrew Johnson, the president succeeding Lincoln. Analyzing his experience with the new president, it was safe to say that Andrew Johnson had no consideration as to what Douglass and Lincoln previously fought for. Johnson did not have the same political skills as Lincoln did, and he did not retain the same view for America that Lincoln did. It was obvious that Douglass held Lincoln at a higher standard than Andrew Johnson, stating that he was a “progressive man, a humane man, an honorable man, and at heart an anti-slavery man” (p. 269). Oakes even gave his own stance on Andrew Jackson, “It was a legacy that Andrew Johnson could ever match. When all of Lincoln’s attributes were taken into consideration - his ascent from the obscurity to greatness, his congenial temperament, his moral courage - it was easy for Douglass to imagine how much better things would be ‘had Mr. Lincoln been living today’.” (p. 262). It is hard to imagine the pre-war Douglass to have said something like that as opposed to an older, much more reserved Douglass. With the abolishment of slavery, so came much discrimination. Without

    Read More

  • The American Civil War: The Inevitable Confrontation

    1753 Words  | 4 Pages

    Since the beginning of the Market Revolution, the institution of slavery became the leading factor that intensified the relations between the North and the South. Regarding the geographic differences between the North and South, the South was primarily agrarian and the North was mainly urban. Therefore, the North rapidly industrialized while the South remained relatively rural and cotton-slave based. As a result, the Market Revolution economically separated the North and the South and created a second party system. Thus, the issues of pro-slavery and anti-slavery arose between the Southern Democrats and Northern Republicans in the 1850s. The North desired to halt the expansion of slavery into western territories while the South strongly opposed. These two opposing parties led to radical abolitionism in the North, William Henry Seward and John Brown, and extreme secessionism in the South, James Henry Hammond, and South Carolina Ordinance of Secession. Due to their strict ideologies regarding slavery, both parties could not compromise on the issue of the expansion of slavery. Therefore, according to Americans in the years prior to the Civil War, conflict was inevitable.

    Read More

  • James F. Byrnes Analysis

    1118 Words  | 3 Pages

    He was noticing intellectual abilities. He continued his interest in military affairs. His career began in 1808 and he was elected to the South Carolina State Legislature and in 1810 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives. Then, he resigned from the House of Representatives. He was also began Vice president in 1824 .In the election of 1824, Calhoun ran for president however he didn't win, however he served as the 7th vice president. Calhoun resigned from being the vice president. Calhoun resigned from being the vice president. In 1832 and he was elected to the U.S Senate, representing the state of South Carolina. He also joined Henry Clay during the nullification crisis and they were working out the compromise tariff. When he was served as U.S Senate he attacked the abolitionists in the 1830s, and by the 1840s he was a constant defender of the institution of slavery. That means that they defended slavery by the Abolitionists. The defenders of slavery included economics, history, religion, legality, social good, and even humanitarianism, to further their arguments. Humanitarianism is the promotion of human welfare. Calhoun returned to the senate where he was going to defend slavery. Later in 1850 he felt like the slave rights should let owners take their slaves to new territories. Calhoun thought of it as a positive thing to do since he made the

    Read More

  • Advantages Of The South In The Civil War

    570 Words  | 2 Pages

    What started as a war to prevent the South from seceding quickly turned into a war against slavery following President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. At the start of the Civil War, both Union and Confederate sides believed that they would had a quick and decisive victory. The North’s population and industry was vastly greater than the South’s, but the South had superior military leadership, a large white population that was united against invading Union armies and a hope that France or Britain would intervene on their behalf.

    Read More

  • The Secession of the South

    778 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tensions between the North and South had grown steadily since the anti slavery movement in 1830. Several compromises between the North and South regarding slavery had been passed such as the Nebraska-Kansas and the Missouri act; but this did little to relieve the strain. The election of President Lincoln in 1861 proved to be the boiling point for the South, and secession followed. This eventually sparked the civil war; which was viewed differently by the North and the South. The Northern goal was to keep the Union intact while the Southern goal was to separate from the Union. Southern leaders gave convincing arguments to justify secession. Exploring documents from South Carolina’s secession ordinance and a speech from the Georgia assembly speech will explain how the Southern leaders justify the secession from the United States.

    Read More

  • The Road to the American Civil War

    1339 Words  | 3 Pages

    The majority of speculations regarding the causes of the American Civil War are in some relation to slavery. While slavery was a factor in the disagreements that led to the Civil War, it was not the solitary or primary cause. There were three other, larger causes that contributed more directly to the beginning of the secession of the southern states and, eventually, the start of the war. Those three causes included economic and social divergence amongst the North and South, state versus national rights, and the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Dred Scott case. Each of these causes involved slavery in some way, but were not exclusively based upon slavery.

    Read More

  • Events that Led to the Civil War

    1792 Words  | 4 Pages

    The existence of slavery was the central element of the conflict of the north and south. Other problems existed that led to this succession but none were as big as the slavery issue. The only way to avoid the war was to abolish slavery, but this was not able to be done because slavery is what kept the south running. When the south seceded it was said by Abraham Lincoln that “ a house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.” Because slavery formed two opposing societies and slavery could never be abolished, the civil war was inevitable. These were all the reasons why the south seceded from the union, this succession was eminent and there was no plausible way to avoid it.

    Read More

  • Abraham Lincoln and the Kansas-Nebraska Act

    1503 Words  | 4 Pages

    Abraham Lincoln’s original views on slavery were formed through the way he was raised and the American customs of the period. Throughout Lincoln’s influential years, slavery was a recognized and a legal institution in the United States of America. Even though Lincoln began his career by declaring that he was “anti-slavery,” he was not likely to agree to instant emancipation. However, although Lincoln did not begin as a radical anti-slavery Republican, he eventually issued his Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves and in his last speech, even recommended extending voting to blacks. Although Lincoln’s feeling about blacks and slavery was quite constant over time, the evidence found between his debate with Stephen A. Douglas and his Gettysburg Address, proves that his political position and actions towards slavery have changed profoundly.

    Read More

  • The Secession Crisis

    903 Words  | 2 Pages

    Contrary to what today’s society believes about Lincoln, he was not a popular man with the South at this period in time. The South wanted to expand towards the West but Lincoln created a geographical containment rule keeping slavery in the states it currently resided in. Despite his trying to rationalize with the South, Lincoln actually believed something different ”Lincoln claimed that he, like the Founding Fathers, saw slavery in the Old South as regrettable reality whose expansion could and should be arrested, thereby putting it on the long and gradual road ”ultimate extinction” (216). He believed it to be “evil” thus “implying that free southerners were evil for defending it”(275). Lincoln wanted to wipe out slavery for good and the South could sense his secret motives. By trying to trick them, the South rebelled as soon as Lincoln became president and launched what is today known as the Civil war.

    Read More

  • Slavery in America

    653 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...the South to maintain its economy and way of life without the use of slaves was the focal point of their defense. Southerners were desperate to keep slavery intact for future generations and the North was determined to see its end. This lead to the American Civil War of 1861, when South intended to stand its ground with the use of force in South Carolina.

    Read More

More about John C. Calhoun: The Starter Of The Civil War

Open Document