John+C+Calhoun

ARS (Could I have comments on my wiki posts please?) John C. Calhoun was against the Tariff of 1828, or what was known to the Southerners as the Tariff of Abominations. Industries in the North were being driven out of business by low-priced imported goods. The goal of the tariff was to put a tax on these imported goods in order to protect the Northern industries. Western support for this tariff was only obtained if there was a tax increase on duties for the importation of certain raw materials. When this request was granted, New Englanders objected. Calhoun disagreed with the tariff because it hurt the South. Southerners had to pay higher prices on goods the region did not even produce. In addition it reduced the cotton exports to Britain because with the increase of taxes, Britain could no longer afford the same amount of cotton they once could. Succinctly, no one was pleases with the Tariff of 1828. John Quincy Adams was hesitant when signing the tariff measure because he knew he was being made the scapegoat by his political opponents. With this John Quincy Adams’ hopes for reelection were crushed. The Tariff of 1828 was drafted on purpose to make Andrew Jackson appear as a free trade advocate in the South and as a protectionist in the North. Calhoun opposed the tariff so much that he anonymously authorized the pamphlet, //The South Carolina Exposition and Protest//. Nullification in South Carolina was urged by Calhoun. When Jackson was elected in 1828 and had failed to address the Tariff opponents, it incited the Nullification Crisis. According to Calhoun the Tariff was “detrimental to the Union”, which it was. The difference between the rich and poor or in this case, the north and south became more strongly marked. Conflict between the two became ever more inevitable. While researching for this wiki post, I found this short video: []. Thought you might enjoy it. :)

SMR

John C. Calhoun was born in South Carolina, in a slaveholding family. This, no-doubt, affected his views on slavery. Calhoun believed that slavery in the United States should not be viewed as an evil, but rather as a positive good. His argument behind this statement is that: unlike the Blacks in Europe who were inadequately cared for and were poorhouse inmates, the Blacks in the United States were given work, they were cared for, and Calhoun argued, it was the best relationship between Blacks and Whites. Although he did not assert that slavery was better than free labor relations, Calhoun contended that emancipation would lead to an apocalyptic catastrophe, and the eventually the slave holders would have to abandon the United States to the former slaves. While there is some truth in his argument, the liberation of the slaves would have caused the southern economy to be more diversified, employing workers rather than instituting forced labor. The South would have become more independent, and therefore, would have been more able to make it's economy flourish. In addition, it is not only the fact that the Old South would have had to resort to hired labor, cutting their profits, it was also the loss of White supremacy--the southern caste system. The southern planters were terrified of becoming equals with someone who had once belonged to them, consequently, voluntary emancipation was out of the question. Although he was a nationalist, Calhoun's policies and ideas were controversial and always changing. His followers and partisans resented his inability to stay loyal to one idea or person. In fact, instead of looking after his friends, Calhoun was constantly buying over his enemies. Calhoun's followers saw the radicalism in his ideas and his undependability. His inability to gain presidency was, without question, attributed to these factors. Nevertheless, Calhoun's inability to gain presidency is somewhat positive, because his ineptitude could have caused a period of of serious tensions with the South and the North. Being a Southerner, he would have probably favored southern interest over northern interest. He had already displayed this bias with the Tariff of Abominations when he said that South Carolina would not concur. A positive aspect that could have come from Calhoun's presidency was an increase in industry and development. Calhoun had favored a federal role in creating transportation networks.

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