John C. Calhoun was prophetic in his estimate of
growing federal power in the 1840s, and predicted the autocratic powers
wielded by those in control of the federal government apparatus. Calhoun
did not live to witness the rise of a purely sectional political party
and election by a 39% plurality of a president who wielded the
autocratic power he predicted.
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
Calhoun on the Primary Cause of the War:
“I have, Senators, believed from the first that the agitation of the subject of slavery would, if not prevented by some timely and effective measure, end in disunion. The agitation has been permitted to proceed, with almost no attempt to resist it, until it has reached a point when it can no longer be disguised or denied that the Union is in danger. You have thus had forced upon you the greatest and the gravest question that can ever come under your consideration – How can the Union be preserved?
What is the cause of this discontent? It will be found in the belief of the people of the Southern States, as prevalent as the discontent itself, that they cannot remain, as things are now, consistently with honor and safety, in the Union. The next question to be considered is – What has caused this belief?
One of the causes is, undoubtedly, to be traced to the long-continued agitation of the slave question on the part of the North, and the many aggressions they have made on the rights of the South during the time.
There is another [cause] lying back of it….that may be regarded as the primary cause. This is to be found in the equilibrium between the two sections, in the government as it stood when the Constitution was ratified and the government put in action, has been destroyed. At that time there was nearly perfect equilibrium between the two, which afforded ample means to each to protect itself against the aggression of the other; but, as it now stands, one section has the exclusive power of controlling the [federal] government which leaves the other without any adequate means of protecting itself against its encroachment and oppression.
The result of [immigration and representation increase since 1790] is to give the Northern section a predominance in every department of the government, and thereby concentrate in it the two elements which constitute the Federal government – a majority of States, and a majority of their population, estimated in Federal numbers. Whatever section concentrates the two in itself possesses the control of the entire government.
[The destruction of this equilibrium] has been caused by the legislation of this government, which was appointed as the common agent of all, and charged with the protection of the interests and security of all. The legislation by which it has been effected may be classed under three heads.
The first is that series of acts by which the South has been excluded from the common territory belonging to all the States….which have had the effect of extending vastly the portion allotted to the Northern section….The next consists in adopting a system of revenue and disbursements, by which an undue proportion of the burden of taxation has been imposed upon the South , and an undue proportion of its proceeds appropriated by the North; and the last is a system of political measures by which the original character of the government has been radically changed.
A single [geographic] section, governed by the will of a numerical majority, has now, in fact, the control of the government and the entire powers of the system. What was once a constitutional federal republic is now converted, in reality, into one as absolute as that of the autocrat of Russia and as despotic in its tendency as any absolute government that ever existed.”
(The Life of John C. Calhoun, Gustavus M. Pinckney, Walker, Evans & Cogswell, 1903, excerpts pp. 166-180)
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
Calhoun on the Primary Cause of the War:
“I have, Senators, believed from the first that the agitation of the subject of slavery would, if not prevented by some timely and effective measure, end in disunion. The agitation has been permitted to proceed, with almost no attempt to resist it, until it has reached a point when it can no longer be disguised or denied that the Union is in danger. You have thus had forced upon you the greatest and the gravest question that can ever come under your consideration – How can the Union be preserved?
What is the cause of this discontent? It will be found in the belief of the people of the Southern States, as prevalent as the discontent itself, that they cannot remain, as things are now, consistently with honor and safety, in the Union. The next question to be considered is – What has caused this belief?
One of the causes is, undoubtedly, to be traced to the long-continued agitation of the slave question on the part of the North, and the many aggressions they have made on the rights of the South during the time.
There is another [cause] lying back of it….that may be regarded as the primary cause. This is to be found in the equilibrium between the two sections, in the government as it stood when the Constitution was ratified and the government put in action, has been destroyed. At that time there was nearly perfect equilibrium between the two, which afforded ample means to each to protect itself against the aggression of the other; but, as it now stands, one section has the exclusive power of controlling the [federal] government which leaves the other without any adequate means of protecting itself against its encroachment and oppression.
The result of [immigration and representation increase since 1790] is to give the Northern section a predominance in every department of the government, and thereby concentrate in it the two elements which constitute the Federal government – a majority of States, and a majority of their population, estimated in Federal numbers. Whatever section concentrates the two in itself possesses the control of the entire government.
[The destruction of this equilibrium] has been caused by the legislation of this government, which was appointed as the common agent of all, and charged with the protection of the interests and security of all. The legislation by which it has been effected may be classed under three heads.
The first is that series of acts by which the South has been excluded from the common territory belonging to all the States….which have had the effect of extending vastly the portion allotted to the Northern section….The next consists in adopting a system of revenue and disbursements, by which an undue proportion of the burden of taxation has been imposed upon the South , and an undue proportion of its proceeds appropriated by the North; and the last is a system of political measures by which the original character of the government has been radically changed.
A single [geographic] section, governed by the will of a numerical majority, has now, in fact, the control of the government and the entire powers of the system. What was once a constitutional federal republic is now converted, in reality, into one as absolute as that of the autocrat of Russia and as despotic in its tendency as any absolute government that ever existed.”
(The Life of John C. Calhoun, Gustavus M. Pinckney, Walker, Evans & Cogswell, 1903, excerpts pp. 166-180)
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