INTRODUCTION:
From 1819 to 1821, Congress was debating over the Missouri Compromise. The north opposed and the south favored. The excitement spread to the state Legislature and to the people. Many meetings were held.
Finally Henry Clay succeeded in getting Congress to pass the Missouri Compromise. This act admitted Missouri as a slave state.
Hayne had spoken against a protective tariff and for nullification and Daniel Webster felt called upon to reply so he made a great speech. His speech was considered by good judges the best ever delivered in Congress. He was probably the greatest orator of his time.
South Carolina refused to pay the tariff in 1832 and nullified the law of Congress. President Jackson hurried the army and navy to make her pay.
John Calhoun was for nullification. He said to save the South from the North, a state had a right to nullify a law of Congress.
The third act will be Henry Clay, Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun, speaking on the right of nullification.
Speaker Clay: Gentlemen, we have been debating on the right of a state to nullify. We must think of this matter in a calm manner. It is one of the most serious times of our country. Our Union is in danger. We have heard Mr. Hayne speak on Nullification; also Mr. Calhoun.
Member of Congress: Congress has no right to force another state to pay a tariff and we declare a state has a right to nullify.
Member of Congress: President Jackson says the Federal Union must and shall be preserved. He has warned the people of South Carolina that any attempt at resistance will be put down with a high hand. We of the North feel that this must be done in order to save the Union.
Member of Congress: Tariff is helpful to the North but not to the South. There is always a difference between the North and South and we of the South feel that nullification is right to save us from the North.
Calhoun: Mr. Clay.
Clay: Mr. Calhoun.
Calhoun: The Southern people using slave labor will raise more tobacco and cotton than they need so the tariff is hurtful to them. The Northern people using free labor will manufacture all kinds of things and the tariff is helpful to them. The Southern people are for agriculture. The Northern people for manufacturing. The Southern are for slavery and the Northern are for free labor. To protect the South from the North the state has the right to nullify a law of Congress. The state has the right because the state is above the nation. The states made the constitution.
I believe that nullification is a means of saving the Union from secession.
Haynes: That is the way I feel, Gentlemen. Nullification is right.
Mr. Webster: Mr. Clay.
Mr. Clay: Mr. Webster.
Mr. Webster: We must not let South Carolina refuse to obey the laws of the Union. For if she does she leaves the Union. If South Carolina leaves the Union other states will also leave. Gentlemen of Congress: Nullification is another name for secession. When my eyes shall be turned to behold for the last time the sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious nation. But may I see our flag without a single stripe erased or polluted, not a single star obscured but everywhere spread all over in characters of living light, that sentiment dear to every American heart, Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable.
Mr. Clay: Gentlemen: I offer a compromise hoping it will please both the North and South. I propose that the tariff be gradually reduced till 1842 when all duties shall be 20% on the value of the articles imported. I think, gentlemen this will be a solution of the question. We will debate on it at the next meeting.
End of Act III.