268. Calhoun revives the nullification doctrine. Meanwhile there was much excitement about another serious matter. In 1828 Congress had passed a tariff law that levied higher duties on imports than had ever before been collected. In the South, where it was called "the Tariff of Abominations," there was intense indignation, and several

JOHN C. CALHOUN

State legislatures passed resolutions declaring it to be an outrage.

John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, then Vice-President of the United States, was the leader of this Southern opposition to the new tariff law.1 He now startled the nation by reviving the doctrine of "nullification." The tariff, he declared, was for the sole benefit of the North and greatly injured the South; it was, therefore, unconstitutional, and he said that his State would be justified in disobeying it.

269. "Our Federal Union must and shall be preserved." Thus there was again to the front the old, old question that had troubled our statesmen since the close of the Revolution: Which should be the stronger, the Union or the States that compose it? If Calhoun was right, and any State might at her pleasure nullify a Federal law and prevent its enforcement within that State, then the Union was indeed a mere of sand," no better than the Confederation that pre

rope ceded it.

1 Calhoun was born in South Carolina in 1782 and graduated from Yale College. He became a member of Congress in 1811, and was elected VicePresident in 1824 and in 1828. But when, in 1832, his State nullified the tariff laws of 1828 and 1832, he resigned as Vice-President and was elected to the United States Senate in order that he might champion the nullification policy. Mr. Calhoun was one of the most eloquent men of his times. Everybody recognized his courage and honesty in contending for what he believed to be right. Upon his death, in 1850, Daniel Webster, one of his chief opponents in debate, said of him: "He had the indispensable basis of all high character; and that was unspotted integrity and unimpeached honor. . . . I do not believe he had a selfish motive or selfish feeling."

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President Jackson sympathized with the South in its dissatisfaction with the new protective tariff; but he saw clearly that, however wrong might be that law, the nation must remain strong and enforce its laws, or there would no longer be a republic in North America. At a great dinner of Southerners in Washington he boldly proposed to them this toast: "Our Federal Un

ion: it must and shall be preserved!"

Another powerful voice in favor of the Union was that of Daniel Webster. In January, 1830, he replied in the United States Senate to Senator Hayne, from South Carolina, who upheld the nullification doctrine. This famous speech thrilled the North and made her people feel more strongly than ever that true patriotism lay in strength

ening the hands of the Federal

DANIEL WEBSTER

government. He closed with the ever memorable exclamation: "Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable!"

In 1832 Congress adopted a new tariff act, that lowered the duties to about what they were before the law of 1828. But the Southerners declared that they did not care so much about the amount of the duties; their objections were chiefly against protection itself. South Carolina voted that after the first of February, 1833, she would pay no duties on articles imported through the Charleston custom-house,

1 Daniel Webster was born on a New Hampshire farm in 1782, and died in Massachusetts in 1852. Graduating from Dartmouth College he soon commenced life as a lawyer, and in 1813 was sent to the lower house of Congress from New Hampshire. He soon moved to Massachusetts and in 1822 was again elected to Congress. After that he was constantly in public life, serving in both branches of Congress and in the Cabinet. On questions of constitutional law Webster stood without a rival. His Reply to Hayne is considered by good judges as in many ways the greatest speech ever delivered in Congress.

and would offer armed resistance to any Federal officer who should attempt to collect them.

Preparations were at once made to send troops and warships to Charleston to enforce the law. Before their departure Jackson dispatched this peremptory message to his South Carolina friends: “If a single drop of blood shall be shed there in opposition to the laws of the United States, I will hang the first man I can lay my hand on, engaged in such treasonable conduct!" These vigorous words were

From an old lithograph. Courtesy, Chicago Historical Society

CHICAGO (FORT DEARBORN) IN 1831

This sketch was made at the time by Mrs. John H. Kinzie, wife of one of the earliest settlers of Chicago. The Kinzie home, on the north bank of Chicago River, is at the right of the picture, fronted by poplar trees. Compare this illustration with the one on page 432

keenly resented in the South; but by this time it was clearly understood in that section that a forceful man was in the presidential chair, and that any attempt to weaken the Union would be resisted to the utmost of his power.

However, the quarrel did not then get so far as most people feared it would. Congress was inclined to soothe the anger of the South and in 1833 adopted what is known as "the Compromise Tariff," which was offered by Henry Clay. It provided for a gradual reduction of duties on many articles of necessity. This seemed to satisfy the South, and

South Carolina's threat of nullification was not carried out. 1

270. An American Dictionary. In 1828 Noah Webster, of Connecticut, first issued his famous American Dictionary of the English Language. Up to that time even the besteducated people had different ways of spelling the same English word. Webster aimed to make spelling uniform and introduced several changes with a view to greater simplicity. In our day, when dictionaries are numerous and every person who has been to school is supposed to know how to spell correctly, it is difficult for us to understand what a great sensation was created when the new dictionary appeared. 4

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QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

1. Be sure to keep up your outlines on the slavery question during the period from 1829 to 1860.

2. What arguments did the Southerners bring forward against the tariff of 1828? How did the Northerners answer them?

3. What internal improvements are going on to-day? By whom are they supported?

1 Another stirring incident of Jackson's Administration was his war on the Bank of the United States, to which Congress had granted a charter in 1816. This institution was quite similar to the Federal Bank, described in section 215 (page 219), and its branches in the leading cities of the country came into competition with the State banks, which were popular institutions. Moreover, the United States Bank was suspected of interfering in political affairs, and it had bitter enemies, especially in the West and South. When its charter expired in 1836, Congress voted to renew it; but Jackson, who hated the Bank, vetoed the bill, and the institution went out of business. There was much popular excitement over this affair.

2 Americans and Englishmen alike were then using a lexicon prepared seventy-three years before by the celebrated scholar, Dr. Samuel Johnson, of London. But hundreds of words familiar in the United States in the time of Jackson were not to be found in Johnson's book. Webster worked diligently for twenty years on this great volume, and it contained twelve thousand words and between thirty and forty thousand definitions not in Johnson.

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3 For example, Webster omitted the k after c at the end of words of more than one syllable thus "publick" was thereafter to be spelled "public." The u was omitted in words like "honour," which was now to be spelled "honor.' The final letters re, in such words as "chambre,' 'centre," and "theatre," were transposed so as to make them "chamber," " "center," and "theater.' These changes were accepted by most Americans, and are taught in our schools today; but in England, the old-fashioned spellings are still used by most people. 4 Another innovation of that time, was a one-cent newspaper the New York Daily Sun, which appeared in 1833. It was the first paper published in America at so low a price.

4. What is meant by the "Spoils System"? By "Civil Service Reform"? Of which do you approve? Why? What government employees, if any, in your city or town are under civil service rules?

5. What is the difference in meaning between "anti-slavery" and "abolition"?

6. Jackson, in his answer to South Carolina, said, "To say that any state may at pleasure secede from the Union is to say that the United States are not a nation." Explain.

7. What patriotic service did Jackson render to the nation?

8. Account for the popularity of Jackson with the people.

9. Recite the quotations from speeches, etc., given in this chapter and explain the circumstances of their first utterance.

10. Make an outline of the chapter.

COMPOSITION SUBJECTS

I. Write a letter to a weekly paper in 1832 upholding Jackson's course. 2. Imagine that you were a page in the Senate at the time of the Webster-Hayne debate. Describe the scene in a letter to a friend.

3. Imagine that you received a dictionary for your birthday present in 1829. Write a letter of appreciation, speaking of its value to you and others.

4. Describe and dramatize striking incidents in Jackson's life.