In the history of the Antebellum South, one man is remembered more than most for his stance on slavery. That man is none other than John C. Calhoun. Growing up on a South Carolina farming plantation during a boom in the cotton economy, Calhoun witnessed first hand how essential slaves were to southern living. His father was a successful farmer that also served in public office. After graduating, Calhoun went to Yale College and began to find his voice. He was so insistent on his beliefs that he wouldn't go unheard. For this reason, he followed in his father's footsteps and ran for the House of Representatives in 1810. This would only be the first stepping stone in a long political career fighting for southern rights.
Following his run with the House, Calhoun was made Secretary of War under President James Monroe. It was in that time that Calhoun decided he would run for the presidential position himself in the 1824 election. Although he didn't get the nomination for President, he did win the Vice President nomination by a landslide. In this role, he worked alongside John Quincy Adams, but the two did not see eye-to-eye as Adams supported high tariffs and centralization. For this reason, Calhoun reluctantly supported Andrew Jackson in the following election. However, Calhoun still didn't see eye-to-eye with his commander-in-chief so he resigned as Vice President to serve in the U.S. Senate.
With his platform in the Senate, Calhoun's beliefs were better heard. He made his position on high tariffs and nullification clear and angered President Jackson. Jackson once even threatened to travel to South Carolina and personally hang Calhoun for his "treasonous behavior". The bad blood between the two never seemed to simmer.
Going forward, Calhoun would continue to make his argument for slavery. He laid grown rules for the south that suggested they could and would refuse government limitations of slavery. Although Calhoun didn't push for succession, he made it clear that it was an option. In fact, he once said that if abolitionist bias didn't end then ‘we must become, finally, two peoples…. Abolition and the Union cannot co-exist.’
As abolitionist tension continued, Calhoun led a shift in the South's defense of slavery. He classified slavery as a "great good" that benefited all involved. "Never before has the black race…from the dawn of history to the present day, attained a condition so civilized and so improved, not only physically, but morally and intellectually,’ he argued in Congress. ‘It came to us in a low, degraded, and savage condition, and in the course of a few generations it has grown up under the fostering care of our institutions."
With the help of census reportings, Calhoun added: "look at the sick, and the old and infirm slave, on one hand, in the midst of his family and friends, under the kind superintending care of his master and mistress, and compare it with the forlorn and wretched condition of the pauper in the poor house’ in Europe and the North."
As we know, Calhoun would end up on the wrong side of the stick following his death. In contradiction to his thoughts, slavery would come to an end and the South would survive it. We also see that many African Americans have and will continue to achieve great excellence in our country, something Calhoun said could never be done in the black race. Because of his racist and crude viewpoints, his name will always go down in history as one with negative connotation. However, his impact will always be apparent.
Important Sources:
https://www.historynet.com/john-c-calhoun-the-man-who-started-the-civil-war.htm
https://www.history.com/topics/us-politics/john-c-calhoun
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