Road to the Civil WarObjective(s) -

I will be able to explain and analyze the impact of tariff policies on the North, South, and West.I will be able to identify the roles of John Quincy Adams, John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, and Daniel Webster in theCongressional conflicts and compromises prior to the Civil War. I will also be able to explain how sectionalism, states’ rights, and slavery caused the Civil War as well how there could be constitutional issues with the idea of state’s rights, especially regarding the Nullification Crisis.

Sectional Spokesmen

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John C. Calhoun

• spokesman for the cause of the Southern way of life

• avid supporter of slavery as a Southern institution and right

• supported the concept of states’ rights

• opposed high tariffs because he believed that they hurt the South

Henry Clay

• western politician• although he was a slave owner

himself, he was opposed to slavery

• did not agree with states’ rights but believed that the federal government should be more respectful of the states

• proposed several compromises which kept the nation together

Daniel Webster

• From Massachusetts was a staunch anti- slavery, anti-states’ rights, high tariff politician

• believed that the United States was more important than the individual states themselves

• in a debate over the rights of states to nullify a federal law within their borders, Webster made this famous statement: “Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable!”