John Calhoun
John Caldwell Calhoun was born in 1782 in South Carolina. Calhoun was born near Abbeville District, South Carolina, and was an honors graduate at Yale College in 1804. He practiced law in Abbeville District until his election to the South Carolina legislature in 1808. He was a major American political figure before the Civil War. Calhoun played an important part in national affairs for 40 years. He was Vice President of the United States from 1825 to 1832, and he ran for President several times but never won. He also served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and of the Senate, and as secretary of war and secretary of state. Calhoun is best known for his doctrine of states' rights, in which he claimed that each U.S. state had a right to reject national laws. He wanted to use the doctrine to protect slavery and other Southern interests without requiring the Southern States to
Calhoun argued that because state conventions had originally approved the Constitution of the United States, such conventions could also stop any national law by declaring it unconstitutional. But after Jackson became President, the two men quarreled, especially over Calhoun's support of nullification. He was a firm believer in the preservation of slavery, yet did not disagree with the Union in many aspects. He was a fiery nationalist, and together with other young congressmen he was called a War Hawk for advocating the War of 1812. A statue of Calhoun represents South Carolina in the U. He actively supported the government's postwar program, which included a protective tariff, a national bank, and an enlarged army and navy. In 1844, he became secretary of state under President John Tyler. He served until March 1845 and then returned to the Senate, serving there until his death. Calhoun felt that South Carolina, and the south in general, were being used by the nation's protective tariff, a high tax on imported goods. He favored the south and strived to satisfy his people. This action caused a constitutional crisis. The House of Representatives picked Adams.
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Acceptance Essays
