The real significance of this debate was in each man's interpretation of the United States Constitution. But, sir, the gentleman is mistaken. 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. Its like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. If the government of the United States be the agent of the state governments, then they may control it, provided they can agree in the manner of controlling it; if it be the agent of the people, then the people alone can control it, restrain it, modify, or reform it. Webster's argument that the constitution should stand as a powerful uniting force between the states rather than a treaty between sovereign states held as a key concept in America's ideas about the federal government. Read reviews from world's largest community for readers. . All of these ideas, however, are only parts of the main point. Besides that, however, the federal government was still figuring out its role in American society. It was of a partizan and censorious character and drew nearly all the chief senators out. Connecticut and other northeastern states were worried about the pace of growth and wanted to slow this down. . In this moment in American history, the federal government had relatively little power. . I propose to consider it, and to compare it with the Constitution. While the Union lasts, we have high, exciting, gratifying prospects spread out before us, for us and our children. One of the most storied match-ups in Senate history, the 1830 Webster-Hayne debate began with a beef between Northeast states and Western states over a plan to restrict . In the course of my former remarks, I took occasion to deprecate, as one of the greatest of evils, the consolidation of this government. . In January 1830, a debate on the nature of sovereignty in the America. . Lincoln-Douglas Debates History & Significance | What Was the Lincoln-Douglas Debate? What interest, asks he, has South Carolina in a canal in Ohio? Sir, this very question is full of significance. God grant that on my vision never may be opened what lies behind. . New England, the Union, and the Constitution in its integrity, all were triumphantly vindicated. The Constitutional Convention: The Great Compromise, The Webster-Hayne Debate of 1830: Summary & Issues, The History of American Presidential Debates, Jonathan Edwards and the Great Awakening: Sermons & Biography, Who Was Susan B. Anthony? On the one side it is contended that the public land ought to be reserved as a permanent fund for revenue, and future distribution among the states, while, on the other, it is insisted that the whole of these lands of right belong to, and ought to be relinquished to, the states in which they lie. What can I say? . Congress could only recommendtheir acts were not of binding force, till the states had adopted and sanctioned them. . The arena selected for a first impression was the Senate, where the arch-heretic himself presided and guided the onset with his eye. I'm imagining that your answer is probably 'I do.' . Sir, I cordially respond to that appeal. . . I supposed, that on this point, no two gentlemen in the Senate could entertain different opinions. Speech of Senator Robert Y. Hayne of South Carolina, January 27, 1830. . Webster-Hayne Debate. It was a speech delivered before a crowded auditory, and loud were the Southern exultations that he was more than a match for Webster. Hayne was a great orator, filled with fiery passion and eloquent prose. 1824 Presidential Election, Candidates & Significance | Who Won the Election of 1824? He entered the Senate on that memorable day with a slow and stately step and took his seat as though unconscious of the loud buzz of expectant interest with which the crowded auditory greeted his appearance. But I take leave of the subject. The people of the United States cherish a devotion to the Union, so pure, so ardent, that nothing short of intolerable oppression, can ever tempt them to do anything that may possibly endanger it. . Ham, one of Noahs sons, saw him uncovered, for which Noah cursed him by making Hams son, Canaan, a slave to Ham's brothers. What followed, the Webster Hayne debate, was one of the most famous exchanges in Senate history. We resolved to make the best of the situation in which Providence had placed us, and to fulfil the high trust which had developed upon us as the owners of slaves, in the only way in which such a trust could be fulfilled, without spreading misery and ruin throughout the land. Who, then, Mr. President, are the true friends of the Union? 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. Get unlimited access to over 88,000 lessons. It is not the creature of state Legislatures; nay, more, if the whole truth must be told, the people brought it into existence, established it, and have hitherto supported it, for the very purpose, amongst others, of imposing certain salutary restraints on state sovereignties. 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. While the debaters argued about slavery, the economy, protection tariffs, and western land, the real implication was the meaning of the United States Constitution. I wish to see no new powers drawn to the general government; but I confess I rejoice in whatever tends to strengthen the bond that unites us, and encourages the hope that our Union may be perpetual. Gloomy and downcast of late, Massachusetts men walked the avenue as though the fife and drum were before them. 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. . . This statement, though strong, is no stronger than the strictest truth will warrant. Go to these cities now, and ask the question. Ah! An undefinable dread now went abroad that men were planning against the peace of the nation, that the Union was in danger; and citizens looked more closely after its safety and welfare. . There was no winner or loser in the Webster-Hayne debate. Judiciary Act of 1801 | Overview, History & Significance, General Ulysses S. Grant Takes Charge: His Strategic Plan for Ending the War. The Webster-Hayne debate was a famous debate in the United States between Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts and Senator Robert Y. Hayne of South Carolina.It happened on January 19-27, 1830. The debate was important because it laid out the arguments in favor of nationalism in the face of growing sectionalism. Well, the southern states were infuriated. I understand him to insist, that if the exigency of the case, in the opinion of any state government, require it, such state government may, by its own sovereign authority, annul an act of the general government, which it deems plainly and palpably unconstitutional. Having thus distinctly stated the points in dispute between the gentleman and myself, I proceed to examine them. In our contemplation, Carolina and Ohio are parts of the same country; states, united under the same general government, having interests, common, associated, intermingled. This leads us to inquire into the origin of this government, and the source of its power. . Are we yet at the mercy of state discretion, and state construction? .Readers will finish the book with a clear idea of the reason Webster's "Reply" became so influential in its own day. . Try refreshing the page, or contact customer support. An equally. . So soon as the cessions were obtained, it became necessary to make provision for the government and disposition of the territory . Speech of Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, January 26 and 27, 1830. The WebsterHayne debate was a debate in the United States between Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts and Senator Robert Y. Hayne of South Carolina that took place on January 1927, 1830 on the topic of protectionist tariffs. Edited and introduced by Jason W. Stevens. Religion and the Pure Principles of Morality: The American Anti-Slavery Society, Declaration of Sent Constitution of the American Anti-Slavery Society, Appeal to the Christian Women of the South, Protest in Illinois Legislature on Slavery. Every scheme or contrivance by which rulers are able to procure the command of money by means unknown to, unseen or unfelt by, the people, destroys this security. Record of the Organization and Proceedings of The Massachusetts Lawmakers Investigate Working Condit State (Colonial) Legislatures>Massachusetts State Legislature. To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member. Daniel webster, in a dramatic speech, showed the. . Those who would confine the federal government strictly within the limits prescribed by the Constitutionwho would preserve to the states and the people all powers not expressly delegatedwho would make this a federal and not a national Unionand who, administering the government in a spirit of equal justice, would make it a blessing and not a curse. Southern states advocated for strong, sovereign state governments, a small federal government, the western expansion of the agricultural economy, and with it, the maintenance of the institution of slavery. It impressed on the soil itself, while it was yet a wilderness, an incapacity to bear up any other than free men. we find the most opposite and irreconcilable opinions between the two parties which I have before described. Is it the creature of the state legislatures, or the creature of the people? But it was the honor of a caste; and the struggling bread-winners of society, the great commonalty, he little studied or understood. He accused them of a desire to check the growth of the West in the interests of protection. Van Buren responded to the Panic of 1837 with the idea of the independent treasury, which was a. a system of depositing money in select independent banks Foot calling for the temporary suspension of further land surveying until land already on the market was sold (to effectively stop the introduction of new lands onto the market). I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. Eloquence threw open the portals of eternal day. Webster rose the next day in his seat to make his reply. . Sir, as to the doctrine that the federal government is the exclusive judge of the extent as well as the limitations of its powers, it seems to be utterly subversive of the sovereignty and independence of the states. In this regard, Webster anticipated an argument that Abraham Lincoln made in his First Inaugural Address (1861). For the next several days, the men traded speeches which contemporaries of the time described as the greatest orations ever delivered in the Senate. Hayne's few but zealous partizans shielded him still, and South Carolina spoke with pride of him. Union, of itself, is considered by the disciples of this school as hardly a good. . These verses recount the first occurrence of slavery. Sir, when gentlemen speak of the effects of a common fund, belonging to all the states, as having a tendency to consolidation, what do they mean? They will not destroy it, they will not impair itthey will only save, they will only preserve, they will only strengthen it! Speech on Assuming Office of the President. He remained a Southern Unionist through his long public career and a good type of the growing class of statesman devoted to slave interests who loved the Union as it was and doted upon its compromises. He was dressed with scrupulous care, in a blue coat with metal buttons, a buff vest rounding over his full abdomen, and his neck encircled with a white cravat.