Three Men and a Union

A Delicate Balance

• 15 free states, 15 slave states

• Westward expansion + Slavery = Civil War

• From 1812 to 1850 three senatorial giants were the glue that held the union together.

Is that a Hattori Hanzo sword, Grasshopper?

The West: Henry Clay

• Whig from Kentucky

• The Great Compromiser

• Missouri Compromise

• Compromise tariff of 1833

• Brilliant dancer, gambler, ladies man

• Engineered Compromise of 1850

1.21 Jiggawatts!

The South: John Calhoun

• Democrat/Whig, South Carolina

• The Great Nullifier

• Constitution protects the minority interest

• Calhoun’s son-in-law was Thomas Green Clemson (University)

Cheap, Cheap! Fun, Fun!

The North: Daniel Webster

• Whig, Massachusetts

• Greatest orator of his day

• “…the states revolving in harmony around a common center.”

• Gives in to Fugitive Slave Act in the name of compromise

IF CLAY AND WEBSTER HAD A CHILD….

Compromise of 1850

• North: California enters as a free state

• North: Abolition of slave trade in D.C.

• South: Fugitive Slave Act

• South: New Mexico & Utah subject to popular sovereignty

• South: Texas awarded $10 million in settlement claims

Death of Compromisers

• Clay, Calhoun & Webster are all dead by 1852

• Extremists in North: Freesoilers

• Extremists in South: Fire Eaters

• No practicioners of compromise left

• Guess what happens next, son?!