Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/593

 CALHOUN 587 Buren had been appointed secretary of state. Two of Calhoun's friends had seats in the cabi- net, but their influence with the president was not so predominating as they had hoped, and the idea was soon started among them of super- seding Jackson at the end of his first term and electing Calhoun in his place. This idea was not agreeable to Jackson, and things tended fast toward a rupture. Personal alienation soon followed. Jackson had already sought and soon after obtained a statement from Mr. Crawford of what had occurred in Monroe's cabinet on the subject of the Seminole war. This statement he transmitted to Calhoun, who admitted its substantial correctness. There- upon Jackson concluded, from this in conjunc- tion with other circumstances, that Calhoun had been at the bottom of the congressional attacks upon him. The next step in this politi- cal schism was the establishment at Washing- ton of the " Globe " newspaper, with a design to supersede the "Telegraph," which had been always under the influence of Calhoun, to whom it still adhered. Early in 1831 Cal- houn published a pamphlet, with a preliminary address to the people of the United States, con- taining a body of correspondence in relation to the Sominole affair. But, though sustained by the " Telegraph " and by a few members of congress and a small section of the Jackson party, he was not able materially to diminish the popularity and influence of the president, who soon proceeded to reconstruct his cabinet, Calhoun's friends being requested to follow the example of resigning set by Van Buren. The latter was appointed minister to England, but at the ensuing session of congress, by a coali- tion between the old opposition led by Clay and Webster and Calhoun's friends, the nomi- nation was rejected, Calhoun presiding, and twice upon ties voting for the rejection. This rejection of Van Buren led to his nomination and election as vice president; whereupon, without waiting for the expiration of his term, Calhoun resigned, and was elected to fill the seat in the senate which Mr. Hayne had va- cated to become governor of South Carolina. In the summer of 1831, shortly after the recon- struction of Jackson's cabinet, Calhoun had published an address on the relation which the states and general government bear to each other. In this address he had maintained the right of the states to judge of infractions of the constitution, -and in such cases to protect them- selves. The greater part of this address was occupied in advocating the free-trade side of the tariff question, and in urging upon congress to take occasion from the paying off of the na- tional debt to reduce the revenue to the level of expenditure, abandoning any attempt at pro- tection beyond that which might be incidental to the collection of such a revenue. But no attention was paid to this advice. The new tariff of 1832 was as protective as the old one. On the application of Governor Hamilton of South Carolina, Calhoun now addressed to him a long and elaborate letter in defence of his doctrine of state rights, and of its practical efficiency. It was at once determined to act upon this doctrine, and the same legislature which elected Mr. Hayne governor and placed Calhoun in the senate proceeded to authorize a state convention, according to the scheme set forth in the " South Carolina Exposition." That convention had met, and had passed an ordinance, to go into effect on Feb. 1, to nul- lify the tariff of 1828 and 1832; and when Calhoun took his seat in the senate, December, 1832, the legislature was again in session enact- ing laws to carry out this nullifying ordinance. The president had issued a proclamation en- treating the people of South Carolina to recon- sider their position, and announcing his inten- tion to sustain the laws of the United States by force if necessary. He also sent to congress a special message calling for additional legisla- tion to aid him in enforcing the collection of the revenue. This message led- to a law which was stigmatized by its opponents as the " force bill," and very warmly opposed by Calhoun and his friends in the senate. He also intro- duced a series of resolutions on the powers of government, which he sustained in an elabo- rate speech, Feb. 15, 1833, in support of the right of nullification, which right, taken in connection with the power of amending the con- stitution by the consent of three fourths of the states, amounted, as he contended, to an appeal in contested cases from the general govern- ment to the states themselves, to be decided by a three-fourths vote. Though Calhoun and Clay were not at this time on speaking terms, Calhoun was consulted through a third party as to Clay's compromise tariff of 1833, the passage of which just at the close of the ses- sion prevented the impending collision between South Carolina and the general government. He agreed to accept it as an arrangement of the tariff controversy. It provided in fact for a gradual reduction of the revenue, and an abandonment of the protective system at the end of ten years. He spoke and voted for it, though very unwillingly as to some of its clauses, the home valuation clause especially. He spoke and voted against Mr. Clay's bill, passed at the same session, but defeated by the president's veto, for distributing among the states the proceeds of the public lands. The settlement of the tariff question was speedily followed by the removal, by the president's or- der, of the public deposits from the bank of the United States, the recharter of which had the year before been defeated by his veto. In the violent struggle in congress, as well as the country, which grew out of that removal, Cal- houn joined with Clay and Webster against the administration. In a speech in support of Clay's resolutions condemnatory of the re- moval of the deposits, he accused the president of attempting to seize on the powers of congress, and to unite in his own hands the sword and the purse. In his view this was a