9/29/2017 0 Comments The Devil And Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster - New World Encyclopedia. Daniel Webster. 14th United States Secretary of State. United States Secretary of State. In office. March 6, 1. May 8, 1. 84. 3July 2. October 2. 4, 1. 85. The Devil And Daniel Webster BookPreceded by. John Forsyth. John M. Clayton. Succeeded by. Abel P. Upshur. Edward Everett. Born. January 1. 8, 1. Salisbury, New Hampshire, USADied. October 2. 4, 1. 85. Marshfield, Massachusetts, USAPolitical party. ![]() Democrat, Federalist, National Republican, Whig. Spouse. Grace Fletcher Webster. Caroline Le. Roy Webster. Profession. Politician, Lawyer. Daniel Webster (January 1. October 2. 4, 1. 85. American statesman during the nation's antebellum era. Excerpts from the series of speeches in the state Senate on interpretations of the Constitution regarding state's rights. Webster first rose to regional prominence through his defense of New England shipping interests. His increasingly nationalistic views and the effectiveness with which he articulated them led Webster to become one of the most famous orators and influential Whig leaders of the Second Party System. As an attorney he served as legal counsel in several cases that established important constitutional precedents that bolstered the authority of the Federal government. As Secretary of State, Webster negotiated the Webster- Ashburton Treaty that established the definitive Eastern border between the United States and Canada. Primarily recognized for his Senate tenure, Webster was a key figure in the institution's "Golden Age." So well- known was his skill as a Senator throughout this period that Webster became a third of what was and still is known today as the "Great Triumvirate," or the "Immortal Trio," along with his colleagues Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun. Like Henry Clay, his desire to see the Union preserved and conflict averted led him to search out compromises designed to stave off the sectionalism that threatened war between the North and South. Though Webster made three bids he never achieved the Presidency, his final attempt failing in part because of his compromises. Like his attempts at gaining the White House, Webster's efforts to steer the nation away from civil war toward a definite peace would ultimately prove futile. Despite this, Webster came to be esteemed for his attempts, and was officially named by the Senate in 1. Life. Early life. Daniel Webster was born January 1. Ebenezer and Abigail Webster (née Eastman) in Salisbury, New Hampshire. He and his other nine siblings were raised on his parents' farm, a small parcel of land granted to his father in recognition of his service in the French and Indian War. As Daniel was a “sickly” child, his family indulged him, exempting him from the harsh rigors of eighteenth century New England farm life.[1]Though uneducated, Ebenezer Webster was made a judge on the local court in 1. Elder Webster resolved to use this money to educate young Daniel.[2] After attending local schools for most of his life, Daniel Webster was subsequently enrolled at the Phillips Exeter Academy at age 1. There the other boys laughed at his rustic clothing and mannerisms.[3] After nine months at Phillips, the Websters were unable to meet the academy's costs and were forced to bring Daniel home.[4] He studied under a private tutor until the summer of 1. Dartmouth College. Dartmouth had a mandatory declamation class, and he also practiced the art of oratory at the United Fraternity Literary Society. This helped him overcome his fear of public speaking, instigated by the ridicule of his schoolmates. This training helped him develop his mature, classicizing style. According to John F. Kennedy, Webster could "think out a speech, sentence by sentence, correct the sentences in his mind without the use of a pencil, and then deliver it exactly as he thought it out."[5] Webster soon became known throughout Hanover as an orator and in 1. Independence Day celebration. Dartmouth graduated Webster as a member of Phi Beta Kappa in 1. Rise to prominence. After graduation, Webster was apprenticed to the lawyer Thomas W. Thompson. Webster was forced to resign and become a schoolmaster (as young men often did then, when public education consisted largely of subsidies to local schoolmasters), when his older brother's own quest for education put a financial strain on the family that consequently required Webster's support. When his brother's education could no longer be sustained, Webster returned to his apprenticeship. Webster left New Hampshire, enter the employ of prominent Boston attorney Christopher Gore in 1. While clerking for Gore—who was involved in international, national, and state politics—Webster educated himself on various political subjects and met other New England politicians.[6]In 1. Webster was accepted into the bar, returning to New Hampshire to set up a practice in Boscawen, in part to be near his ailing father. During this time, Webster took a more active interest in politics. Raised by an ardently Federalist father and taught by a predominantly Federalist- leaning faculty at Dartmouth, Webster, like many New Englanders, supported Federalism. Accordingly, he accepted a number of minor local speaking engagements in support of Federalist causes and candidates.[7]After his father's death in 1. Webster handed over his practice to his older brother, Ezekiel, who had by this time finished his schooling and been admitted to the bar. Webster then moved to the larger town of Portsmouth in 1. During this time the Napoleonic wars began to affect Americans as Britain, short of sailors, strengthened its navy by impressing American sailors thought to be British deserters. President Jefferson retaliated with the Embargo Act of 1. Britain and France. As New England was heavily reliant upon commerce with the two nations, Webster, like many in the region, vehemently opposed Jefferson's attempt at "peaceable coercion." He wrote an anonymous pamphlet attacking it.[8]Eventually the trouble with England escalated into the War of 1. That same year, Daniel Webster gave an address to the Washington Benevolent Society, an oration that proved critical to his career. The speech decried the war and the violation of New England's shipping rights that preceded it, but it also strongly denounced the extremism of those more radical among the unhappy New Englanders who were beginning to call for the region's secession from the Union. The Washington oration was widely circulated and read throughout New Hampshire, leading to Webster's 1. Rockingham Convention, an assembly that sought to formally declare the state's grievances with President Madison and the federal government. There, he was a member of the drafting committee and was chosen to compose the Rockingham Memorial to be sent to Madison. The report included much of the same tone and opinions held in the Washington Society address, except that, uncharacteristic for its chief architect, it alluded to the threat of secession saying, "If a separation of the states shall ever take place, it will be, on some occasion, when one portion of the country undertakes to control, to regulate, and to sacrifice the interest of another."[4]"The Administration asserts the right to fill the ranks of the regular army by compulsion.. Is this, sir, consistent with the character of a free government? Is this civil liberty? Is this the real character of our Constitution? No sire, indeed it is not…. Where is it written in the Constitution, in what article or section is it contained, that you may take children from their parents from their children, and compel them to fight the battles of any war in which the folly or the wickedness of government may engage it? Under what concealment has this power lain hidden which now for the first time comes forth, with a tremendous and bailful aspect, to trample down and destroy the dearest rights of personal liberty? Daniel Webster (December 9, 1. House of Representatives Address)Webster's efforts on behalf of New England Federalism, shipping interests, and war opposition resulted in his election to the House of Representatives in 1. March 1. 81. 7. He was an outspoken critic of the Madison Administration and its wartime policies, denouncing its efforts at financing the war through paper money and opposing Secretary of War James Monroe's conscription proposal. Notable in his second term was his support of the reestablishment of a stable specie- based national bank; but he opposed the tariff of 1. House Speaker Henry Clay's American System.
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