The Home of Daniel Webster, Marshfield, Mass.
But in spite of this bitter opposition in the South, Congress passed the high-tariff law in 1828, and another in 1832.
The people of South Carolina were indignant. So, under the guidance of Calhoun, some of the leading men there met in convention and declared: “We here and now nullify the tariff laws.” By these words they meant that the laws should not be carried out in South Carolina. Then they added: “If the United States Government tries to enforce these laws on our soil, South Carolina will go out of the Union and form a separate nation.”
Andrew Jackson was at that time President of the United States. Although he himself did not favor a high tariff, he was firm in his purpose that whatever law Congress might pass should be enforced in every State in the Union. When the news came to him of what South Carolina had done, he was quietly smoking his corn-cob pipe. In a flash of anger he declared: “The Union! It must and shall be preserved! Send for General Scott!” General Scott was commander of the United States army, and “Old Hickory,” as President Jackson was proudly called by many of his admirers, was ready to use the army and the navy, if necessary, to force any State to obey the law.
In this bitter controversy Daniel Webster, then senator from Massachusetts, had taken a bold stand for the Union. He said: “Congress passed the tariff law for the whole country. If the Supreme Court decides that Congress has the power, according to the Constitution, to pass such a law, that settles the matter. South Carolina and every other State must submit to this and every other law which Congress sees fit to make.”
This shows clearly that Daniel Webster’s belief was that the Union stood first and the State second. His deep love for the Union breathes all through his masterly speeches, the most famous of which is his “Reply to Hayne.” Hayne, a senator from South Carolina, was on the side of the South and set forth its views in a public debate. He had declared that the State was first and the Union second, and so powerful seemed his arguments that many doubted whether even Daniel Webster could answer them.
But he did answer them. In a remarkable speech of four hours he held his listeners spellbound, while he argued, with wonderful eloquence and power, that the Union was supreme over the States.
Again the great peacemaker, Henry Clay, brought forward a plan of settling the trouble between the two sections. By this compromise the duties were to be gradually lowered. This plan was adopted by Congress (1833), and again there was peace for a time.
THE COMPROMISE OF 1850
The next dangerous outbreak between the North and the South came at the end of the Mexican War. Then arose the burning question: “Shall the territory we have acquired from Mexico be free or open to slavery?” Of course, the North wanted it to be free; the South wanted it to be open to slavery.