LAD #11: John Calhoun's Speech

South Carolina Senator John C. Calhoun prepared his last speech during the course of the great debate over the Compromise of 1850, a set of resolutions supported by Henry Clay that emphasized on the controversial slavery question. The aspects of Clay's compromise calling for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia and the admission of California as a free state were not negotiable to Calhoun and his followers. In his view, the sovereignty of the states was in trouble. The emphasis was wholly on northern aggressions and against the trend for conciliation and compromise. Two "nations" now existed, torn between the question of whether slavery should be allowed or not in the union, and Calhoun stated that if the question could not be answered, the two "nations" should agree to disagree, and remove themselves from each other.