Alfred H. Stone Collection
Volume: 97

30. John C. Calhoun and Daniel Webster, Speeches of Hon. John C. Calhoun, and Hon. Daniel Webster, on the Subject of Slavery. Delivered in the Senate of the United States, March, 1850 (New York: Stringer & Townsend, 1850). (32 p.)

Seminal speeches in the Senate concerning the debate over the extension of slavery into territory acquired as a result of the war with Mexico. Calhoun threatens secession; “The agitation [over the subject of slavery] has been permitted to proceed, with almost no attempt to resist it, until it has reached a period when it can no longer be disguised or denied that the Union is in danger.” Webster warns that secession will result in a war that would be disastrous for both the North and the South; “Secession! Peaceable secession! Sir, your eyes and mine are never destined to see that miracle.” (The collection has another copy of this pamphlet in volume 45 [no. 21].)