Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster | |
---|---|
Hugh Nelson | |
Succeeded by | Philip P. Barbour |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives | |
In office March 4, 1823 – May 30, 1827 | |
Preceded by | Benjamin Gorham |
Succeeded by | Benjamin Gorham |
Constituency | Massachusetts's 1st district |
In office March 4, 1813 – March 3, 1817 | |
Preceded by | George Sullivan |
Succeeded by | Arthur Livermore |
Constituency | New Hampshire's at-large district |
Personal details | |
Born | Salisbury, New Hampshire, U.S. | January 18, 1782
Died | October 24, 1852 Marshfield, Massachusetts, U.S. | (aged 70)
Political party | Whig |
Other political affiliations |
|
Spouses | |
Children | 5, including Fletcher |
Education | |
Signature | |
Coat of arms | |
Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented
Born in Salisbury, New Hampshire, in 1782, Webster established a successful legal practice in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, after graduating from Dartmouth College and serving a legal apprenticeship. A prominent opponent of the War of 1812, he won election to the United States House of Representatives, where he served as a leader of the Federalist Party. Webster left office after two terms and moved to Boston, Massachusetts. He became a leading attorney before the U.S. Supreme Court, winning cases such as Dartmouth College v. Woodward, McCulloch v. Maryland, and Gibbons v. Ogden.
Webster returned to Congress in 1823 and became a key supporter of President
Webster supported Jackson's defiant response to the
Webster returned to the Senate in 1845 and resumed his status as a leading congressional Whig. During the
Early life
Daniel Webster was born on January 18, 1782, in
In 1796, he attended Phillips Exeter Academy, a preparatory school in Exeter, New Hampshire.[6] After studying the classics and other subjects for several months under a clergyman, Webster was admitted to Dartmouth College in 1797.[7] During his time at Dartmouth, he managed the school newspaper and emerged as a strong public speaker.[8] He was chosen as the Fourth of July orator in the college town of Hanover in 1800, and his speech contained the substance of the political principles which he would later become famous for developing.[9] Like his father, and like many other New England farmers, Webster was firmly devoted to the Federalist Party and favored a strong central government.[10] He graduated from Dartmouth in 1801 and was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa honor society.[11]
After graduating from Dartmouth, he apprenticed under Salisbury lawyer Thomas W. Thompson.[12] Though unenthusiastic about studying the law, he believed that becoming a lawyer would allow him to "live comfortably" and avoid the bouts of poverty that had afflicted his father.[13] In order to help support his brother Ezekiel's study at Dartmouth, Webster temporarily resigned from the law office to work as a schoolteacher at Fryeburg Academy in Maine.[14] In 1804, he obtained a position in Boston under the prominent attorney Christopher Gore. Clerking for Gore—who was involved in international, national, and state politics—he learned about many legal and political subjects and met numerous New England politicians.[15] He grew to love Boston, and, in 1805, was admitted to the bar.[16]
Rise to prominence
Immediately after winning admission to the bar, Webster set up a legal practice in Boscawen, New Hampshire.[17] He became increasingly involved in politics and began to speak locally in support of Federalist causes and candidates.[18] After his father's death in 1806, he handed over his practice to his brother, Ezekiel, and opened a new practice in the larger town of Portsmouth.[19] Over the decade-long period he lived in Portsmouth, he handled over 1700 cases, becoming one of the most prominent attorneys in New Hampshire.[20] Along with two other lawyers, he was appointed to revise the New Hampshire criminal code and devise regulations for state prisons.[21]
During this time the ongoing Napoleonic Wars began to more strongly affect Americans, as Britain impeded U.S. trade with France and impressed American sailors who were allegedly British deserters. President Thomas Jefferson retaliated with the Embargo Act of 1807, stopping all trade to both Britain and France. As New England relied on commerce with the two nations, the region strongly suffered from the embargo, and Webster wrote an anonymous pamphlet attacking Jefferson's policies.[22] He also campaigned for various Federalist candidates, including presidential candidate Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and gubernatorial candidate Jeremiah Smith. Although Jefferson's Democratic-Republican Party dominated national elections, the Federalist Party was competitive throughout the states of New England.[23] In 1812, the United States declared war against Britain, beginning the War of 1812. On July 4, 1812, Webster was invited to give a speech before the Washington Benevolent Society. His speech, which strongly attacked the war but warned against secession, was reprinted in newspapers throughout New England.[24]
After the speech, he was selected as a delegate to the
Congressman and constitutional lawyer
First stint in the House, 1813–1817
By May 1813, when he arrived in the House of Representatives for the first time, the United States had seen numerous setbacks in the War of 1812. Nonetheless, Madison's Democratic-Republican Party dominated the Thirteenth Congress, controlling over three-fifths of the seats in the House of Representatives and over two-thirds of the seats in the Senate.[28] Webster continued to criticize the war and attacked effort to impose conscription, wartime taxes, and a new trade embargo.[29] He was appointed to a steering committee that coordinated Federalist actions in the House of Representatives and, by the end of the Thirteenth Congress, he had emerged as a respected speaker on the House floor.[30] In early 1815, the war came to an end after news of the signing of the Treaty of Ghent reached the United States.[31]
After the war, President Madison called for the establishment of the
Leading lawyer
"This, sir, is my case. It is the case not merely of that humble institution, it is the case of every college in our land... Sir, you may destroy this little institution; it is weak; it is in your hands! I know it is one of the lesser lights in the literary horizon of our country. You may put it out. But if you do so you must carry through your work! You must extinguish, one after another, all those greater lights of science which for more than a century have thrown their radiance over our land. It is, sir, as I have said, a small college. And yet there are those who love it!"
Daniel Webster (Dartmouth College v. Woodward)
Webster continued to practice law while serving in the House of Representatives, and he argued his first case before the Supreme Court of the United States in early 1814.[37] He had been highly regarded in New Hampshire since his days in Boscawen and was respected for his service in the House of Representatives, but he came to national prominence as counsel in a number of important Supreme Court cases.[38] Between 1814 and 1852, he argued at least one case in the vast majority of the sessions of the Supreme Court; he served as counsel in a total of 223 cases, and won approximately half of those cases.[39] He also represented numerous clients outside of Supreme Court cases, including prominent individuals such as George Crowninshield, Francis Cabot Lowell, and John Jacob Astor.[40]
Though Congress was dominated by Democratic-Republicans, Chief Justice John Marshall ensured that the Federalist ideology retained a presence in the courts. Webster quickly became skilled at articulating arguments designed to appeal to Marshall and another influential Supreme Court justice, Joseph Story.[41] He played an important role in eight of the most celebrated constitutional cases decided by the Court between 1814 and 1824. In many of these—particularly in Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819) and Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)—the Supreme Court handed down decisions based largely on his arguments. Marshall's most famous declaration, "the power to tax is the power to destroy," in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), was taken from Webster's presentation against the state of Maryland. As a result of his series of successes in Supreme Court cases, many people began calling him the "Great Expounder and Defender of the Constitution."[42] He would continue to argue cases before the Supreme Court after Marshall's death in 1835, but he generally found the Taney Court to be less receptive to his arguments.[43]
In Dartmouth College v. Woodward, Webster was retained by the Federalist trustees of his alma mater, Dartmouth College, in their case against the newly elected New Hampshire Democratic-Republican
He remained politically active during his time out of Congress, serving as a
Second stint in the House, 1823–1827
At the behest of Federalist leaders and the business elite in Boston, Webster agreed to run for the United States House of Representatives in 1822. He won the election and returned to Congress in December 1823.[51] In recognition of his mastery of legal issues, Speaker of the House Henry Clay assigned him the chairmanship of the House Judiciary Committee. In that role, he tried to pass a bill that would relieve Supreme Court justices of having to travel to far-flung western districts, but his bill did not receive a vote in the House.[52] Seeking to re-establish his reputation for oratorical prowess on the floor of the House of Representatives, he gave a speech supporting the Greek cause in the Greek War of Independence.[53] In another speech, he attacked the bill imposing the Tariff of 1824, arguing that high tariff rates unfairly benefited manufacturing to the detriment of agriculture and commerce.[54] In a third speech, he defended the construction of internal improvements by the federal government, arguing that roads helped unite the nation both economically and in creating a "feeling truly national."[55]
While a Representative, he continued accepting speaking engagements in New England, most notably his oration on the fiftieth anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill.[56] He also continued his legal work, though his government service required him to rely more on his law partners.[57]
In the
In 1825, President Adams set off a partisan realignment by putting forward an ambitious domestic program, based on Clay's
First period in the Senate
Adams administration, 1827–1829
In 1827, the Massachusetts legislature elected him to the
Jackson administration, 1829–1837
Second Reply to Hayne
When my eyes shall be turned to behold for the last time the sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union; on States dissevered, discordant, belligerent; on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, it may be, in fraternal blood! Let their last feeble and lingering glance rather behold the gorgeous ensign of the republic... not a stripe erased or polluted, nor a single star obscured, bearing for its motto, no such miserable interrogatory as "What is all this worth?" nor those other words of delusion and folly, "Liberty first and Union afterwards"; but everywhere, spread all over in characters of living light, blazing on all its ample folds, as they float over the sea and over the land, and in every wind under the whole heavens, that other sentiment, dear to every true American heart,— Liberty and Union, now and for ever, one and inseparable!
Daniel Webster (Second Reply to Hayne)
After Jackson took office, Webster opposed most of the measures favored by the new administration, including the Indian Removal Act and the establishment of the spoils system.[70] The Jackson administration suffered from factionalism between supporters of Secretary of State Van Buren and Vice President Calhoun, the latter of whom took a prominent role in propounding the doctrine of nullification. Calhoun held that the states had the power to "nullify" laws, and he and his allies sought to nullify the high tariff rates imposed by the Tariff of 1828 (which they referred to as the "Tariff of Abominations").[71] During a debate over land policy in January 1830, South Carolina Senator Robert Y. Hayne, in an effort to sway the West against the North and the tariff, accused the North of attempting to limit Western expansion for their own benefit. Hayne served as a surrogate for Vice President Calhoun, who could not himself address the Senate on the issue due to his status as the Senate's presiding officer.[72][page needed] Webster objected to the sectional attack on the North, but even more strongly objected to Hayne's pro-states' rights position. Speaking before the Senate, he articulated his belief in a "perpetual" union and attacked the institution of slavery, baiting Hayne into expounding on the doctrine of nullification on the Senate floor.[73]
Replying to his first speech, Hayne accused him of "making war upon the unoffending South," and he asserted that nullification was constitutional because the federal government was ultimately subservient to the states.
Bank War and 1832 election
By 1830, he considered Clay to be the likely National Republican nominee in the
Biddle requested a renewal of the national bank's charter in January 1832, setting off what became known as the "Bank War."[83] With Clay focusing on a tariff bill, Webster became the unofficial leader of pro-national bank forces in the Senate. He helped ensure that Congress approved a renewal of the charter without making any major modifications, such as a provision that would allow states to prevent the national bank from establishing branches within their borders.[84] Congress approved the charter renewal, but, as was expected, Jackson vetoed the bill in July 1832; Jackson argued the bank was unconstitutional and served to "make the rich richer and the potent more powerful." On the Senate floor, Webster attacked the veto, arguing that only the judicial branch could judge a bill's constitutionality.[85] Afterward he supported Clay's presidential campaign and continued his efforts on behalf of the national bank, but Jackson was re-elected by a decisive margin.[86]
Nullification Crisis
Though Congress replaced the "Tariff of Abominations" with the
Rise of the Whig Party and 1836 candidacy
As Calhoun drifted away from the Democratic Party and occasionally cooperated with the National Republicans to oppose Jackson, some contemporaries began to refer to Calhoun, Webster, and Clay as "the
In the aftermath of the battle over the national bank, Jackson's political opponents coalesced into the
He was nominated for president by the Massachusetts legislature, but Harrison won the backing of most Whigs outside of the South. Although his reputation as a national figure was far greater than that of Harrison, many Whigs hoped that Harrison's military record would allow him to replicate Jackson's 1832 victory.
Van Buren administration, 1837–1841
External videos | |
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Presentation by Robert Remini on Daniel Webster: The Man and His Time, October 5, 1997, C-SPAN |
Shortly after Van Buren took office, a major economic downturn known as the
He entertained hopes of winning the Whig nomination in the
Secretary of State in the Tyler administration
Harrison extensively consulted Webster and Clay regarding presidential appointments, and the two Whig leaders competed to place their supporters and allies in key positions. Harrison initially hoped that Webster would serve as secretary of the treasury in order to spearhead his economic program, but Webster instead became secretary of state, giving him oversight of foreign affairs.[120] Just one month after taking office, Harrison died from pneumonia, and was succeeded by John Tyler. Though Tyler and Webster strongly differed regarding ideology (Tyler was a devotee of states' rights) and personality, they initially enjoyed a strong working relationship, partly because each saw Clay as a rival for power in the Whig Party.[121] As Tyler, a former Democrat, had long been skeptical of the need for a national bank, Webster urged Whig congressmen to back a compromise bill put forward by Secretary of the Treasury Thomas Ewing which would have re-established the national bank but restricted its branching power. Congress rejected the compromise and instead passed Clay's bill, which was subsequently vetoed by Tyler. After Tyler vetoed another Whig bill, every Cabinet member except for Webster resigned, and a caucus of Whigs voted to expel Tyler from the party in September 1841. When Webster informed Tyler that he would not resign, Tyler responded, "give me your hand on that, and now I will say to you that Henry Clay is a doomed man."[122]
Facing a hostile Congress, Tyler and Webster turned their attention to foreign policy.[123] The administration put a new emphasis on American influence in the Pacific Ocean, reaching the first U.S. treaty with China, seeking to partition Oregon Country with Britain, and announcing that the United States would oppose any attempt to colonize the Hawaiian Islands.[124] The most pressing foreign policy issue involved relations with Britain, as the United States had nearly gone to war with Britain over the Caroline affair and a border conflict between Maine and Canada.[125] Seeking improved relations with the United States, British Prime Minister Robert Peel dispatched Lord Ashburton on a special mission to the United States.[126] After extensive negotiations, the United States and Britain reached the Webster–Ashburton Treaty, which clearly delineated Maine's northern border and other sections of the U.S.-Canada border that had been in dispute.[127] Senator Thomas Hart Benton led Senate opposition to the treaty, arguing that it "needlessly and shamelessly" relinquished American territory, but few others joined Benton in voting against the treaty, and it won ratification.[128]
After mid-1841, congressional Whigs continually pressured Webster to resign, and by early 1843, Tyler had also begun to pressure Webster to leave office.
Second period in the Senate
Polk administration, 1845–1849
Webster considered retiring from public office after the 1844 election, but he accepted election to the United States Senate in early 1845.[138] Webster sought to block the adoption of Polk's domestic policies, but Congress, controlled by Democrats, reduced tariff rates through the Walker tariff and re-established the Independent Treasury system. In May 1846, the Mexican–American War began after Congress, responding to a clash instigated by U.S. troops against the Mexican Army at the disputed Texas–Mexico border, declared war on Mexico.[139] During the war, Northern Whigs became increasingly split between "Conscience Whigs" like Charles Sumner, who strongly favored anti-slavery policies, and "Cotton Whigs" like Webster, who emphasized good relations with Southern leaders.[140] Webster had been a long-standing opponent of slavery; in an 1837 speech he called slavery a "great moral, social, and political evil," and added that he would vote against "any thing that shall extend the slavery of the African race on this continent, or add other slaveholding states to the Union."[141] But, unlike his more strongly anti-slavery constituents, he did not believe that Congress should interfere with slavery in the states, and he placed less emphasis on preventing the spread of slavery into the territories.[142] Nonetheless, because Webster opposed the acquisition of Mexican territory (with the exception of San Francisco), he voted against the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, in which the United States acquired the Mexican Cession.[143]
General
Taylor administration, 1849–1850
I shall stand by the Union...with absolute disregard of personal consequences. What are personal consequences...in comparison with the good or evil that may befall a great country in a crisis like this?...Let the consequences be what they will.... No man can suffer too much, and no man can fall too soon, if he suffer or if he fall in defense of the liberties and constitution of his country.
Daniel Webster (July 17, 1850 address to the Senate)
Having only tepidly endorsed Taylor's campaign, Webster was excluded from the new administration's Cabinet and was not consulted on major appointments.
Clay had won Webster's backing for his proposal before presenting it to Congress, and Webster provided strong support for Clay's bill in the Senate.[154] In what became known as the "Seventh of March Speech", Webster attacked Northerners and Southerners alike for stirring up tensions over slavery. He admonished Northerners for obstructing the return of fugitive slaves but attacked Southern leaders for openly contemplating secession.[155] After the speech, Webster was bitterly attacked by New England abolitionists. Theodore Parker complained, "No living man has done so much to debauch the conscience of the nation," while Horace Mann described Webster as "a fallen star! Lucifer descending from Heaven!"[156] In contrast to that view, James G. Blaine wrote a few decades later:
Mr. Webster had in his own lifetime seen the thirteen colonies grow into thirty powerful States. He had seen three millions of people, enfeebled and impoverished by a long struggle, increased eightfold in number, surrounded by all the comforts, charms, and securities of life. All this spoke to him of the Union and of its priceless blessings. He now heard its advantages discussed, its perpetuity doubted, its existence threatened. * * * * Mr. Webster felt that a generation had been born who were undervaluing their inheritance, and who might, by temerity, destroy it. Under motives inspired by these surroundings, he spoke for the preservation of the Union.[157]
The debate over Clay's compromise proposal continued into July 1850, when Taylor suddenly and unexpectedly died of an illness.[158]
Secretary of State in the Fillmore administration
Compromise of 1850
Millard Fillmore ascended to the presidency upon Taylor's death. Shortly after taking office, Fillmore dismissed Taylor's Cabinet appointees, named Webster as his secretary of state,[d] and came out in favor of Clay's compromise.[159] Fillmore chose the remaining members of his Cabinet in consultation with Webster, and Webster became the unofficial leader in the Cabinet.[160] After Fillmore took office, Clay took a temporary leave from the Senate, but Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois took the lead in advocating for a compromise based largely on Clay's proposals.[161] On behalf of the president, Webster drafted a special message to Congress calling for an end to the crisis over the territories, and he used the power of patronage to woo potential supporters. Soon after the Fillmore administration delivered the special message, Congress passed Douglas's legislative package, which became known as the Compromise of 1850.[162]
Due to a prosperous economy and various other trends, few Whigs pushed for a revival of the national bank and other long-standing party policies during the Fillmore administration, and the Compromise of 1850 became the central political issue.[163] While Fillmore hoped to reconcile with anti-Compromise Northern Whigs, Webster sought to purge them from the party, and he frequently intervened to block the election or appointment of anti-Compromise Whigs.[164] In the North, the most controversial portion of the Compromise of 1850 was the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and Webster became closely involved in enforcing the law.[165] Disputes over fugitive slaves were widely publicized North and South, inflaming passions and raising tensions in the aftermath of the Compromise of 1850. Many of the administration's prosecutions or attempts to return slaves ended badly for the government, as in the case of Shadrach Minkins.[166] In Massachusetts, anti-slavery Whigs allied with Democrats and, in a major rebuke to Webster, elected Free Soil leader Charles Sumner to the Senate.[167]
Opening of the New York & Erie Rail Road
When the New York & Erie Rail Road was completed in May 1851, President Fillmore and several members of his cabinet, including Webster, made a special, two-day excursion run to open the railway. It is reported that Webster viewed the entire run from a rocking chair attached to a flatcar, with a steamer rug and jug of high-quality Medford rum.[168][169] At stops, he would get down and speechify.
Foreign affairs
Fillmore appointed Webster not only for his national stature and pro-Compromise position, but also for his experience in foreign affairs, and Fillmore relied on Webster to guide his administration's foreign policy.
1852 election
Encouraged by Fillmore's professed lack of desire to pursue the Whig nomination in the
On the first presidential ballot of the 1852 Whig National Convention, Fillmore received 133 of the necessary 147 votes, while Scott won 131 and Webster won 29.[183] Although both Webster and Fillmore were willing to withdraw in favor of the other, their respective delegates at the convention were unable to unite around one candidate, and Scott took the nomination on the 53rd ballot.[184] Webster was personally devastated by the defeat, and he refused to endorse Scott's candidacy.[185] Webster allowed various third party groups to nominate him for president, although he did not openly condone these efforts.[186] Scott proved to be a poor candidate, and he suffered the worst defeat in Whig history, losing to Democratic nominee Franklin Pierce.[187] Thousands of anti-Scott Whigs and members of the nativist Native American Party cast their vote for Webster.[188]
Personal life, family, and religious views
If we work upon marble, it will perish; if we work upon brass, time will efface it; if we rear temples, they will crumble to dust; but if we work on men's immortal minds, if we impress on them with high principles, the just fear of God and love for their fellow-men, we engrave on those tablets something which no time can efface, and which will brighten and brighten to all eternity.
Daniel Webster (May 22, 1852)
Webster and his family lived in Portsmouth until 1816 when they relocated to Boston.[195] In 1831, Webster purchased a 150-acre estate (now known as the Thomas–Webster Estate) in Marshfield, Massachusetts. In the ensuing years, Webster spent much of his earnings making various improvements to his estate, and he made it his primary residence in 1837. After 1829, Webster also owned his father's home, The Elms, in Franklin, New Hampshire.[196] Webster's older son, Fletcher, married a niece of Joseph Story, established a profitable law practice, served as chief clerk of the State Department, and was the only one of his siblings to outlive his father.[197] Fletcher died at the 1862 Second Battle of Bull Run while serving as a colonel in the Union army.[198] Webster's younger son, Edward, died of typhoid fever in January 1848 while serving in the Mexican-American War.[199] Webster's daughter, Julia, married Samuel Appleton Appleton, but died of tuberculosis in April 1848.[200]
Conflicting opinions have been voiced as to his religion. The
Death
By early 1852, Webster had begun to suffer from cirrhosis of the liver, and his poor health increasingly made it difficult for him to serve as secretary of state. In September 1852, Webster returned to his Marshfield estate, where his health continued to decline due to cirrhosis and a subdural hematoma.[204] He died in Marshfield, Massachusetts on October 24, 1852, at the age of 70, and is buried in Winslow Cemetery near his estate. His last words were, "I still live."[205]
Legacy
Historical evaluations
Secession! Peaceable secession! Sir, your eyes and mine are never destined to see that miracle. The dismemberment of this vast country without convulsion! ... There can be no such thing as a peaceable secession. Peaceable secession is an utter impossibility... We could not separate the states by any such line if we were to draw it...
Daniel Webster (March 7, 1850 A Plea for Harmony and Peace)
Remini writes that "whether men hated or admired [Webster], all agreed ... on the majesty of his oratory, the immensity of his intellectual powers, and the primacy of his constitutional knowledge."
Several historians suggest Webster failed to exercise leadership for any political issue or vision. Lodge describes Webster's "susceptibility to outside influences that formed such an odd trait in the character of a man so imperious by nature. When acting alone, he spoke his own opinions. When in a situation where public opinion was concentrated against him, he submitted to modifications of his views with a curious and indolent indifference."[210] Similarly, Arthur Schlesinger cites Webster's letter requesting retainers for fighting for the national bank, one of his most inveterate causes; he then asks how Webster could "expect the American people to follow him through hell or high water when he would not lead unless someone made up a purse for him?"[211] Remini writes that "Webster was a thoroughgoing elitist—and he reveled in it."[212]
Webster retains his high prestige in some recent historiography. Baxter argues that his nationalistic view of the union as one and inseparable from liberty helped the union to triumph over the states-rights Confederacy, making it his greatest contribution.[213] Bartlett, however, emphasizing Webster's private life, says his great oratorical achievements were in part undercut by his improvidence with money, his excessively opulent lifestyle, and his numerous conflict of interest situations.[214] Remini points out that Webster's historical orations taught Americans their history before textbooks were widely available.[215] In 1957, a Senate Committee headed by then Senator John F. Kennedy named Webster, Clay, Calhoun, Robert M. La Follette, and Robert A. Taft as the five greatest senators in history—portraits of the "famous five" were added to the Senate Reception Room.[216]
While evaluations on his political career vary, Webster is widely praised for his talent as an orator and attorney. Former Solicitor General Seth P. Waxman writes that "in the realm of advocacy, Webster doesn't merely sit in the Pantheon: He is Zeus himself."[217] Kennedy praised Webster's "ability to make alive and supreme the latent sense of oneness, of union, that all Americans felt but few could express."[218][219] Webster's "Reply to Hayne" in 1830 was generally regarded as "the most eloquent speech ever delivered in Congress," and was a stock exercise for oratory students for 75 years.[220] Schlesinger, however, notes that he is also an example of the limitations of formal oratory: Congress heard Webster or Clay with admiration, but they rarely prevailed at the vote. Plainer speech and party solidarity were more effective, and Webster never approached Jackson's popular appeal.[221]
Memorials
Webster's legacy has been commemorated with statues and other memorials. A statue stands in the
In media
Webster is the major character in a fictional short story, The Devil and Daniel Webster, by Stephen Vincent Benét. It serves as the basis for a one-act opera of the same name written by American composer Douglas Moore and the 1941 film directed by William Dieterle.
Webster is briefly discussed in Chapter XIX of MacKinlay Kantor's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Andersonville (1955).
Jefferson Smith sits at what is said to be Webster's desk when he takes his seat in the Senate in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939).
On film, Webster has been portrayed by
- George MacQuarrie in The Mighty Barnum (1934)
- Sidney Toler in The Gorgeous Hussy (1936)
- Emmett Vogan in The Monroe Doctrine (1939)
- Harry Humphries in Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940)
- Edward Arnold in The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)
- Anthony Hopkins in Shortcut to Happiness (2007)
- John Rubinstein in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Episode: "The Trial of Sabrina Spellman")
See also
- List of deaths through alcohol
- Origins of the American Civil War
- Webster/Sainte-Laguë method
Notes
- ^ Under the Constitution, the House can select from the top three electoral vote winners in a contingent election for president. Thus, Jackson, Adams, and Crawford were eligible to be selected, while Clay was not. Calhoun dropped out early in the campaign and won election as vice president.
- Masonic fraternity.[79]
- ^ Webster's service in the Fillmore administration made him the first individual to serve as secretary of state under three different presidents. James G. Blaine would later match Webster's feat of serving as secretary of state under three different presidents.
References
- ^ "Membership of the Finance Committee (By Congress and Session)" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on Finance. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
- ^ "APS Member History". American Philosophical Society. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 29–33.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 47–48.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 35–37.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 38–40.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 41–42.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 49–53.
- ^ public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Webster, Daniel". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 459–462. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 53–54.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 55–56.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 58–59.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 58–59, 66–67.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 60–61.
- ^ Lodge 1883, p. 12.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 73–77.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 78–79.
- ^ Cheek, H. Lee Jr. "Webster, Daniel." In Schultz, David, ed. Encyclopedia of American Law,New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2002. Facts On File, Inc. American History Online
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 83–84.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 89–90.
- ^ Remini 1997, p. 97.
- ^ Norton (2005). A People & A Nation. p. 228.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 95–96.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 96–99.
- ^ a b "Daniel Webster." Discovering Biography. Online Edition. Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center. Thomson Gale. June 16, 2006.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 100–101.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 101–102.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 103–105.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 107–109, 112–113.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 109, 120–122.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 131–132.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 135–136, 141.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 136–137.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 137–140.
- ^ Remini 1997, p. 131.
- ^ a b Remini 1997, pp. 141–145.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 115–117.
- ^ "Daniel Webster", in American Eras, Volume 5: The Reform Era and Eastern U.S. Development, 1815–1850, Gale Research, 1998. Student Resource Center. Thomson Gale. June 16, 2006.
- ^ Remini 1997, p. 119.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 145–146.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 116–118.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 162, 208.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 443–444.
- ^ Baker, Thomas E. "Dartmouth College v. Woodward." In Schultz, David, ed. Encyclopedia of American Law. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2002. Facts On File, Inc. American History Online.
- ^ O'Brien, Patrick K., gen. ed. "Dartmouth College case." Encyclopedia of World History. Copyright George Philip Limited. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2000. Facts On File, Inc. World History Online. Schlesinger Age of Jackson. p. 324–5.
- ^ a b Remini 1997, pp. 170–171.
- ^ Schlesinger 1945, pp. 12–15.
- ^ Lodge 1883, p. 113.
- ^ Lodge 1883, p. 38.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 178–185.
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- ^ Schouler, James (1891). History of the United States. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company.
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- ^ a b Remini 1997, pp. 466–467.
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- ^ Smith 1988, pp. 111–112.
- ^ Smith 1988, pp. 112–113, 117.
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- ^ Smith 1988, pp. 136–142.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 665–666.
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- ^ Kennedy (2004). Profiles in Courage. pp. 69–70.
- ^ Blaine, James Gillespie, Twenty Years of Congress, Vol. 1, Ch. V.
- ^ Remini 1997, p. 683.
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- ^ Holt 1999, pp. 635–636.
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- ISBN 9781557530660.
- ISBN 9780415921404.
- ^ Remini 1997, p. 689.
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- Stringer & Townsend.
- ^ Smith 1988, pp. 96–98.
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- ^ a b Smith 1988, pp. 239–244.
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- ^ Gienapp 1988, pp. 20–21.
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- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 485, 643.
- ISBN 1-4191-9210-8.
- ^ Banvard, Joseph (1856). The American Statesman: The Life and Character of Daniel Webster. Gould and Lincoln [etc ., etc.] pp. 302, 303, 306.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 86–88.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 753–756, 761.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 759–760.
- ^ Remini 1997, p. 9.
- ^ Mott, Wesley T., and Burkholder, Robert E., eds., Emersonian Circles: Essays in Honor of Joel Myerson, University of Rochester Press (1997), p. 60.
- ^ Andrew Glass (March 6, 2007). "This Day on Capitol Hill: March 7". POLITICO. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
- ^ Lodge 1883, pp. 103, 105.
- ^ Lodge 1883, p. 18.
- ^ Schlesinger 1945, p. 84.
- ^ Remini 1997, pp. 352–353.
- ^ Maurice G. Baxter, One and Inseparable: Daniel Webster and the Union (1984)
- ^ Irving H. Bartlett, Daniel Webster (1978)
- ^ Remini 1997, p. 187.
- ^ "The "Famous Five"". United States Senate. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
- ^ Waxman, Seth P. (2001). "In the Shadow of Daniel Webster: Arguing Appeals in the Twenty-First Century". J. App. Prac. & Process. 3: 523.
- ^ Kennedy (2004). Profiles in Courage. p. 58.
- ^ Lodge 1883, p. 66.
- ^ Allan Nevins, Ordeal of the Union (1947) 1:288.
- ^ Schlesinger 1945, pp. 50–52.
- ^ "Smithsonian National Postal Museum". Arago.si.edu. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
- ^ Scotts US Stamp Catalogue
Works cited
- Cole, Donald B. (1993). The Presidency of Andrew Jackson. University Press of Kansas. ISBN 0-7006-0600-9.
- Gienapp, William E. (1988). The Origins of the Republican Party, 1852-1856. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195055016.
- Holt, Michael (1999). The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party: Jacksonian Politics and the Onset of the Civil War. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199772032.
- Howe, Daniel Walker (2007). What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199743797.
- Lodge, Henry Cabot (1883). Daniel Webster. Houghton, Mifflin. OCLC 16440580.
- Peterson, Norma Lois (1989). The Presidencies of William Henry Harrison and John Tyler. University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-0400-5.
- ISBN 0-393-04552-8.
- Schlesinger, Arthur M. (1945). The Age of Jackson. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 9780316773430.
- Smith, Elbert B. (1988). The Presidencies of Zachary Taylor & Millard Fillmore. University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-0362-6.
Further reading
Biographies
- Bartlett, Irving H. Daniel Webster (1978) online edition Archived July 29, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- Baxter, Maurice G. "Webster, Daniel"; American National Biography Online Feb. 2000. online edition at academic libraries
- Baxter, Maurice G. One and Inseparable: Daniel Webster and the Union. (1984).
- ISBN 978-0385542548.
- Current, Richard Nelson. Daniel Webster and the Rise of National Conservatism (1955), short biography
- Curtis, George Ticknor. Life of Daniel Webster (1870), useful for quotations online edition vol 1 Archived May 18, 2011, at the Wayback Machine; online edition vol 2 Archived July 21, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- Fuess, Claude Moore Daniel Webster. (2 vols. 1930). scholarly biography
- Ogg, Frederic Austin. Daniel Webster (1914) online edition, old scholarly biography
- Paul, Joel Richard. Indivisible: Daniel Webster and the Birth of American Nationalism (2022) Review
- Peterson, Merrill D. The Great Triumvirate: Webster, Clay, and Calhoun (1983)
- Remini, Robert V. Daniel Webster: The Man and His Time (1997)
Specialized scholarly studies
- Arntson, Paul, and Craig R. Smith. "The Seventh of March Address: A Mediating Influence." Southern Speech Communication Journal 40 (Spring 1975): 288–301.
- Bartlett, Irving H. "Daniel Webster as a Symbolic Hero." New England Quarterly 45 (December 1972): 484–507. in JSTOR
- Baxter, Maurice G. Daniel Webster and the Supreme Court (1966)
- Birkner, Michael. "Daniel Webster and the Crisis of Union, 1850." Historical New Hampshire 37 (Summer/Fall 1982): 151–73.
- Brauer, Kinley J. "The Webster-Lawrence Feud: A Study in Politics and Ambitions." Historian 29 (November 1966): 34–59.
- Brown, Thomas. "Daniel Webster: Conservative Whig." In Politics and Statesmanship: Essays on the American Whig Party, (1985) pp. 49–92. online
- Carey, Robert Lincoln. Daniel Webster as an Economist. (1929). online edition
- Dalzell, Robert F. Jr. Daniel Webster and the Trial of American Nationalism, 1843–1852. (1973).
- Dubofsky, Melvyn. "Daniel Webster and the Whig Theory of Economic Growth: 1828–1848." New England Quarterly 42 (December 1969): 551–72. in JSTOR
- Eisenstadt, Arthur A. "Daniel Webster and the Seventh of March." Southern Speech Journal 20 (Winter 1954): 136–47.
- Fields, Wayne. "The Reply to Hayne: Daniel Webster and the Rhetoric of Stewardship." Political Theory 11 (February 1983): 5–28. in JSTOR
- Foster, Herbert D. "Webster's Seventh of March Speech and the Secession Movement, 1850." American Historical Review 27 (January 1922): 245–70. in JSTOR
- Formisano, Ronald P. The Transformation of Political Culture: Massachusetts Parties, 1790s–1840s (1983)
- Jones, Howard. To the Webster–Ashburton Treaty: A Study in Anglo-American Relations, 1783–1843. (1977). 251 pp.
- Nathans, Sydney. Daniel Webster and Jacksonian Democracy. (1973).
- Nathans, Sydney. "Daniel Webster, Massachusetts Man," New England Quarterly 39 (June 1966): 161–81. in JSTOR
- Nevins, Allan. Ordeal of the Union: Fruits of Manifest Destiny, 1847–1852 (1947), highly detailed narrative of national politics.
- Parish, Peter J. "Daniel Webster, New England, and the West." Journal of American History 54 (December 1967): 524–49. in JSTOR
- Prince, Carl E., and Seth Taylor. "Daniel Webster, the Boston Associates, and the U.S. Government's Role in the Industrializing Process, 1815–1830." Journal of the Early Republic 2 (Fall 1982): 283–99. in JSTOR
- Rakestraw, Donald A. Daniel Webster: Defender of Peace. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2018.
- Shade, William G. "The Second Party System" in Paul Kleppner ed., Evolution of American Electoral Systems (1983)
- Sheidley, Harlow W. "The Webster–Hayne Debate: Recasting New England's Sectionalism." New England Quarterly 1994 67(1): 5–29. in Jstor
- Sheidley, Harlow W. "'Congress only can declare war' and 'the President is Commander in Chief': Daniel Webster and the War Power." Diplomatic History 12 (Fall 1988): 383–409.
- Shewmaker, Kenneth E. "Forging the 'Great Chain': Daniel Webster and the Origins of American Foreign Policy toward East Asia and the Pacific, 1841–1852." Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 129 (September 1985): 225–59.
- Shewmaker, Kenneth E. ed. Daniel Webster: "The Completest Man. (1990), specialized studies by scholars
- Simpson, Brooks D. "Daniel Webster and the Cult of the Constitution," Journal of American Culture 15 (Spring 1992): 15–23. online in Blackwell Synergy
- Smith, Craig R. "Daniel Webster's Epideictic Speaking: A Study in Emerging Whig Virtues" online edition
- Smith, Craig R. Daniel Webster and the Oratory of Civil Religion. (2005) 300pp
- Smith, Craig R. "Daniel Webster's July 17th Address: A Mediating Influence in the 1850 Compromise," Quarterly Journal of Speech 71 (August 1985): 349–61.
- Smith, Craig R. Defender of the Union: The Oratory of Daniel Webster. (1989).
- Szasz, Ferenc M. "Daniel Webster – Architect of America's 'Civil Religion'," Historical New Hampshire 34 (Fall/Winter 1979): 223–43.
- Wilson, Major L. "Of Time and the Union: Webster and His Critics in the Crisis of 1850." Civil War History 14 (December 1968): 293–306. ch 1 of Wilson, Space, Time, and Freedom: The Quest for Nationality and the Irrepressible Conflict, 1815–1861 (1974) online edition
Primary sources
- Select Speeches of Daniel Webster 1817–1845 edited by A. J. George, (1903) online at Project Gutenberg. Contains: Defence of the Kennistons; The Dartmouth College Case; First Settlement of New England; The Bunker Hill Monument; The Reply to Hayne; The Murder of Captain Joseph White; The Constitution Not a Compact Between Sovereign States; Speech at Saratoga; and Eulogy on Mr. Justice Story.
- The works of Daniel Webster edited in 6 vol. by Edward Everett, Boston: Little, Brown and company, 1853. online edition
- McIntyre, J. W., ed. The Writings and Speeches of Daniel Webster. 18 vols. (1903). vol 8 online
- Tefft, B. F., ed. The Speeches of Daniel Webster and His Master-Pieces. Alta ed. Philadelphia, Penn.: Porter and Coates, 1854.
- Van Tyne, Claude H., ed. The Letters of Daniel Webster, from Documents Owned Principally by the New Hampshire Historical Society (1902). online edition
- Webster, Fletcher, ed. The Private Correspondence of Daniel Webster. 2 vols. 1857. online edition vol 1
- Wiltse, Charles M., Harold D. Moser, and Kenneth E. Shewmaker (Diplomatic papers), eds., The Papers of Daniel Webster, (1974–1989). Published for Dartmouth College by the University Press of New England. ser. 1. Correspondence: v. 1. 1798–1824. v. 2. 1825–1829. v. 3. 1830–1834. v. 4. 1835–1839. v. 5. 1840–1843. v. 6. 1844–1849. v. 7. 1850–1852 – ser. 2. Legal papers: v. 1. The New Hampshire practice. v. 2. The Boston practice. v. 3. The federal practice (2 v.) – ser. 3. Diplomatic papers: v. 1. 1841–1843. v. 2. 1850–1852 – ser. 4. Speeches and formal writings: v. 1. 1800–1833. v. 2. 1834–1852.
External links
- Daniel Webster Estate
- Daniel Webster: A Resource Guide from the Library of Congress
- Works by Daniel Webster at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Daniel Webster at Internet Archive
- Webster–Hayne debate, 1830 on nullification & tariff
- The works of Daniel Webster... 6 vol, 1853 edition
- The private correspondence of Daniel Webster ed. by Fletcher Webster. 2v 1857 edition
- Portrait of Daniel Webster, painted by William Willard circa 1839–1985
- United States Congress. "Daniel Webster (id: W000238)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Daniel Webster Speeches Collection from the University of Missouri Division of Special Collections and Rare Books