ABSTRACT
The debate over Henry Clay’s Compromise of 1850 was a forum for three fundamental positions regarding the spread of slavery. John C. Calhoun supported slavery in the guise of the South’s Constitutional rights; Daniel Webster accorded with Clay’s accommodating position, arguing that slavery should be allowed to die a natural death; while William Seward put forth the strongest argument, adopting an uncompromising position against the extension of the slave owners’ rights based on Constitutional/legal and spiritual grounds.
The speeches by William Seward, Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun represent three foundational positions on slavery that were prevalent in ...
