But most significant of all was the attitude assumed by the Federal
Government in dealing with the secession of the South. Long before that
secession some of the best observers had clearly pointed out how the
influence of climate, and much more the special type of industry and
character which slavery produced, had already created a profound and
lasting difference between the North and the South. Both Madison and
Story had foreseen that the great danger to the United States was the
opposition between the Northern and Southern interests. Calhoun was so
sensible of the difference that he proposed the establishment of two
presidents, one for the free, and the other for the slave States, each
with a veto on all national legislation. Guizot and Tocqueville had both
distinctly recognised the same truth. Though language and religion were
the same, and though race was not widely different, two distinct
nations had grown up, clearly separated in their merits and their
defects, in character, manners, aspirations, and interests.
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