Compromise of 1850

John C. Calhoun (1782-1850)
Manuscript in the hand of Joseph Scoville
with corrections and emendations
in the hand of Calhoun,
March 4, 1850

Daniel Webster (1782-1852)
Autograph notes for introductory
remarks, March 7, 1850
Page 1 - Page 2

Manuscript Division

South Carolina Senator John C. Calhoun prepared his last speech during the course of the great debate over the Compromise of 1850, a controversial set of resolutions sponsored by Henry Clay that moved the slavery question squarely to the forefront.

On March 4, 1850, too ill to deliver the speech himself, Calhoun watched Virginia Senator James M. Mason read for him. The emphasis was wholly on northern aggression and against the trend for conciliation and compromise. Calhoun would return to the Senate on March 7 to listen to the speech given by Daniel Webster in favor of Clay's resolutions, but died shortly after, on March 31, 1850.