John Caldwell Calhoun

CALHOUN, JOHN CALDWELL

John Caldwell Calhoun achieved prominence as
a U.S. vice president, Southern politician, and a
staunch defender of STATES’ RIGHTS.
Calhoun was born March 18, 1782, in
Abbeville County, South Carolina. After graduating
from Yale University in 1804 and LITCHFIELD
LAW SCHOOL in 1806, Calhoun was
admitted to the South Carolina bar in 1807 and
established a successful legal practice there.
In 1808, Calhoun entered politics, beginning
as a member of the South Carolina legislature.
Three years later, he began his career in federal
government, representing South Carolina in the
House of Representatives until 1817. During his
tenure, he performed the duties of acting chairman
of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and in
1811 was a member of the War Hawks, a group
that advocated war with England in 1812.
Calhoun resigned from the House in 1817
and assumed the duties of secretary of war for
the next eight years. In 1825, he began his first
term as vice president of the United States, serving
under President JOHN QUINCY ADAMS for
four years. He remained in this office during the
presidency of ANDREW JACKSON, but relinquished
his post in 1832 after a disagreement
with Jackson concerning states’ rights. The dispute
between Jackson and Calhoun resulted in
the Nullification Controversy of 1832 and 1833.
Calhoun was a proponent of the right of a state
to declare a federal law null and void if the state
deemed such a law unconstitutional. His attitude
was a result of the passage of protective tariffs
that Calhoun believed favored the interests
of the North over those of the South. Calhoun
expressed his beliefs in his work, South Carolina
Exposition, in which he discussed his views of
sovereignty of the states. He believed that a state
had the right to secede from the Union in order
to keep the powers of the federal government in
check. The Nullification Controversy finally
ended with a compromise, and Calhoun
emerged as the foremost speaker for the South
during that era.
Calhoun represented South Carolina in the
U.S. Senate from 1832 to 1843, and again from
1845 to 1850. He continued his campaign for
states’ rights, supported SLAVERY, and introduced
a policy of “concurrent majorities,”
wherein every area of the United States would
participate equally in the exercise of federal
power. During the period between his two senatorial terms, Calhoun served as U.S. SECRETARY
OF STATE from 1843 to 1845. Calhoun died
March 31, 1850, in Washington, D.C.
As an author, Calhoun wrote many publications,
including Disquisition on Government and
Discourse on the Constitution and Government of
the United States. A compilation of his works
from 1851 to 1855 was published posthumously
by R. K. Crallé in a six-volume set.