John C. Calhoun
John C.
Calhoun was a South Carolina statesman who served as Vice President, Senator, and Secretary of State in the early nineteenth century.
He became the foremost intellectual defender of slavery and states' rights, arguing that slavery was a "positive good" rather than a necessary evil.
His theories of nullification—that states could void federal laws they deemed unconstitutional—laid ideological groundwork for Southern secession.
Calhoun's ghost haunts every states' rights argument.
Southeastern Atlantic coastal state
- plantationLarge-scale farming operation
- proslaveryFavoring legalized human ownership
- slaveryOwnership of people
- Old SouthPre-Civil War Southern states
secession · War of 1812 · Andrew Jackson · Henry Clay · Daniel Webster · Missouri Compromise · Compromise of 1850 · Monroe Doctrine
Safeguards for underrepresented populations
- sectionalismGeographic loyalty over national
- agrarianismDoctrine valuing farm life
- political philosophyTheory of governance and justice
- slaveholderOwner of enslaved persons
Provincial governmental autonomy
- interpositionPlacing something between others
- ordinanceOfficial government regulation
- sovereigntySupreme independent authority
- secessionFormal withdrawal from union
federalism · disunion · resistance · protest · constitutional crisis · autonomy · decentralization · self-government
Legislative body, often bicameral's elder
- legislationOfficial enactment of statutes
- CongressU.S. lawmaking body
- debateFormal argument on issues
- oratoryFormal eloquent discourse
Compromise of 1850 · constituents · amendment · bill · filibuster · caucus · floor speech · chamber
Seventh U.S. president
- Secretary of WarFormer cabinet position overseeing military
- Secretary of StateTop diplomatic cabinet position
- resignationVoluntary relinquishment of position
- administrationOrganizational oversight and control
succession · second-in-command · running mate · executive branch · cabinet · term
South Carolina
Southeastern Atlantic coastal state
- plantationLarge-scale farming operation
- proslaveryFavoring legalized human ownership
- slaveryOwnership of people
Old South · secession · War of 1812 · Andrew Jackson · Henry Clay · Daniel Webster · Missouri Compromise · Compromise of 1850 · Monroe Doctrine · Manifest Destiny
minority rights
Safeguards for underrepresented populations
- sectionalismGeographic loyalty over national
- agrarianismDoctrine valuing farm life
- political philosophyTheory of governance and justice
states' rights
Provincial governmental autonomy
- interpositionPlacing something between others
- ordinanceOfficial government regulation
- sovereigntySupreme independent authority
secession · federalism · disunion · resistance · protest · constitutional crisis · autonomy · decentralization · self-government
Senate
Legislative body, often bicameral's elder
- legislationOfficial enactment of statutes
- CongressU.S. lawmaking body
- debateFormal argument on issues
oratory · Compromise of 1850 · constituents · amendment · bill · filibuster · caucus · floor speech · chamber · statesman
Andrew Jackson
Seventh U.S. president
- Secretary of WarFormer cabinet position overseeing military
- Secretary of StateTop diplomatic cabinet position
- resignationVoluntary relinquishment of position
administration · succession · second-in-command · running mate · executive branch · cabinet · term
- VeepsJoe Biden, Kamala Harris, Al Gore, Dick Cheney, Mike Pence
- Antebellum Americaantebellum era, Compromise of 1850, sectionalism, states' rights, Fugitive Slave Act
- Jacksonian EraAndrew Jackson, Democratic Party, spoils system, Indian Removal Act, Trail of Tears
- Secretaries of War
- foundersfounders, founder, co-founders, cofounders, co-founder
- 19th Century LeadersLincoln, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, Napoleon III, Victoria
John C. CalhounFrederick Douglass
John Brown · Harriet Tubman · Harriet Beecher Stowe · Sojourner Truth · John Quincy Adams
John C. CalhounAndrew Jackson
Seventh U.S. president
Daniel Webster · Abraham Lincoln · John Quincy Adams · Henry Clay · John Marshall