Daniel Webster and The Compromise of 1850

       By 1850, U.S. Senator Daniel Webster had achieved a very successful career in U.S. politics. He served ten years in the House of Representatives and another 19 years in the Senate. As one of the nation's leading attorney's he appeared in several high profile legal cases earning him the reputation as being of the leading Constitutional scholars in the country.  As Secretary of State Webster successfully negotiated a treaty with Great Britain establishing the border between Maine and Canada.
        Webster was also one of the most vocal critics of slavery in the Senate earning him a great deal of praise from abolitionist across the country. So when Senator Henry Clay sought out Webster's help in January of 1850 it came as quite a shock to many Americans.
         The debate over admitting California as a state brought the issue of slavery to the front of American politics.  California's statehood meant that the balance between free and slave states in the Senate would be gone.  The issue of how settlers in other newly acquired territories would decide on slavery was also brought up.  Should the Federal Government declare those areas open or closed to slavery, or should the residents of those territories decide?  There were even some people in the South and the North calling for the Union of the country to break apart because of slavery.
      In the past Webster and Clay had worked together in Congress as well as been on opposing sides of an issue.  Clay knew that Webster's number one goal was to preserve the United States and prevent a civil war from taking place.  Webster's  support of  Clay's new compromise would be appealing to many Northerners and help Clay get his plan passed.  Webster had the reputation and the ability to get other Northerners to back up Clay, without  Webster's help Clay knew that his plan would look like a southern strategy and alienate Northern Senators and Congressmen.

Tonight for H.W.:

Read and Markup the handout on Daniel Webster.