LAD 11- Calhoun Speech

Calhoun's Speech

When presenting the issue of slavery and how it is dividing the nation Calhoun must wonder how the union can be perserved. Party alliances were at one point were even used as an attempt to unite the union. The idea was that Democrats in the South could find common ground with Democrats in the North. However even this fell through. The origin of the discontent is that the Southern states felt that they could not continue with “honor and safety” and still be a part of the union. These feelings were incited partly because of slavery, but also because it was and had been clear that the North more representation in government since they have a greater population. As well as this new states were added giving the North more states and throwing off the balance of power in the senate. The South has paid most of the tariff since they are the exporting more than other parts of the country, yet the North has reaped most of the benefits from this tariff money. In addition more immigrants end up in the North, which contributes to their larger population. The South is now left with the choice between abolition and secession. It was not easy for the South to secede however, because many ‘cords’ bound the union together and it would take significant time to severe all of them. To save the union it is clear that we must make continually compromises and move to resovle all of the problems between the sections. .