Webster, Daniel, 1782–1852, American statesman, lawyer, and orator, b. Salisbury (now in Franklin), N.H.

Early Career

He graduated (1801) from Dartmouth College, studied law, and, after an interval as a schoolmaster, was admitted (1805) to the bar. Webster practiced law at Boscawen and Portsmouth, N.H., and rapidly gravitated toward politics. As a Federalist and a defender of the New England shipping interests, he sat (1813–17) in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he opposed James Madison Madison, James, 1751–1836, 4th President of the United States (1809–17), b. Port Conway, Va.

Early Career

A member of the Virginia planter class, he attended the College of New Jersey (now Princeton Univ.), graduating in 1771.
..... Click the link for more information. 's administration, although he did not join forces with members of the Hartford Convention Hartford Convention, Dec. 15, 1814–Jan. 4, 1815, meeting to consider the problems of New England in the War of 1812 ; held at Hartford, Conn. Prior to the war, New England Federalists (see Federalist party ) had opposed the Embargo Act of 1807 and other
..... Click the link for more information. .

In 1816 he transferred his residence to Boston. Before he was returned (1822) to the House, Webster won fame as a lawyer, defending (1819) his alma mater in the Dartmouth College Case Dartmouth College Case, decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1819. The legislature of New Hampshire, in 1816, without the consent of the college trustees, amended the charter of 1769 to make Dartmouth College public. The trustees brought suit.
..... Click the link for more information. and the Bank of the United States in McCulloch v. Maryland McCulloch v. Maryland, case decided in 1819 by the U.S. Supreme Court, dealing specifically with the constitutionality of a Congress-chartered corporation, and more generally with the dispersion of power between state and federal governments.
..... Click the link for more information. . Again in Congress (1823–27), Webster began to gain repute as one of the greatest orators of his time; his brilliant speeches in the House were matched by his eloquent public addresses—notably the Plymouth address (1820), the Bunker Hill oration (1825), and the speech (1826) on the deaths of Thomas Jefferson Jefferson, Thomas, 1743–1826, 3d President of the United States (1801–9), author of the Declaration of Independence, and apostle of agrarian democracy.

Early Life

Jefferson was born on Apr.
..... Click the link for more information. and John Adams Adams, John, 1735–1826, 2d President of the United States (1797–1801), b. Quincy (then in Braintree), Mass., grad. Harvard, 1755. John Adams and his wife, Abigail Adams , founded one of the most distinguished families of the United States; their son, John
..... Click the link for more information. .

Senator and Secretary of State

As a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts (1827–41), he became a leading political figure of the United States. The dominant interest of his constituency had changed from shipping to industry, so Webster now abandoned his earlier free-trade views and supported the tariff of 1828. In the states' rights controversy that followed he took a strong pro-Union stand, defending the supremacy of the Union in the famous debate with Robert Y. Hayne Hayne, Robert Young, 1791–1839, American statesman, b. Colleton District, S.C. Having served in the South Carolina legislature (1814–18) and as attorney general of South Carolina (1818–22), Hayne was a U.S.
..... Click the link for more information. in 1830. Although Webster supported President Jackson Jackson, Andrew, 1767–1845, 7th President of the United States (1829–37), b. Waxhaw settlement on the border of South Carolina and North Carolina (both states claim him).

Early Career

A child of the backwoods, he was left an orphan at 14.
..... Click the link for more information. in the nullification crisis, he vehemently opposed him on most issues, especially those concerning financial policy.

Webster became a leader of the Whig party Whig party, one of the two major political parties of the United States in the second quarter of the 19th cent.

Origins

As a party it did not exist before 1834, but its nucleus was formed in 1824 when the adherents of John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay
..... Click the link for more information. and in 1836 was put forward as a presidential candidate by the Whig groups in New England. However, he won only the electoral votes of Massachusetts. His prominence brought him into consideration in later presidential elections, but he never attained his ambition. After William Henry Harrison Harrison, William Henry, 1773–1841, 9th President of the United States (Mar. 4–Apr. 4, 1841), b. "Berkeley," Charles City co., Va.; son of Benjamin Harrison (1726?–1791) and grandfather of Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901).
..... Click the link for more information. was elected (1840) President on the Whig ticket, Webster was appointed (1841) U.S. Secretary of State. Although every other cabinet officer resigned (1841) after John Tyler Tyler, John, 1790–1862, 10th President of the United States, b. Charles City co., Va.

Early Career

Educated at the College of William and Mary, he studied law under his father, John Tyler (1747–1813), governor of Virginia from 1808 to
..... Click the link for more information. had succeeded to the presidency and had broken with the Whig leaders, Webster remained at his post until he had completed the settlement of the Webster-Ashburton Treaty Webster-Ashburton Treaty, Aug., 1842, agreement concluded by the United States, represented by Secretary of State Daniel Webster, and Great Britain, represented by Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton.
..... Click the link for more information. (1843).

Again (1845–50) in the Senate, Webster opposed the annexation of Texas and war with Mexico and faced the rising tide of sectionalism with his customary stand: slavery was an evil, but disunion was a greater one. He steadily lost his following and was sorely disappointed when the Whig party nominated Zachary Taylor Taylor, Zachary (zăk`ərē), 1784–1850, 12th President of the United States (1849–50), b. Orange co., Va.
..... Click the link for more information. for President in 1848. Cherishing the preservation of the Union above his own popularity, Webster, in one of his most eloquent and reasoned speeches, backed the Compromise of 1850 Compromise of 1850. The annexation of Texas to the United States and the gain of new territory by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo at the close of the Mexican War (1848) aggravated the hostility between North and South concerning the question of the extension of
..... Click the link for more information. and was reviled by antislavery groups in the North and by members of his own party. He served again (1850–52) as Secretary of State under President Millard Fillmore Fillmore, Millard, 1800–1874, 13th President of the United States (July, 1850–Mar., 1853), b. Locke (now Summerhill), N.Y. Because he was compelled to work at odd jobs at an early age to earn a living his education was irregular and incomplete.
..... Click the link for more information. .

Bibliography

His writings were edited by J. W. McIntyre (18 vol., 1903). See biographies by G. T. Curtis (1869), C. M. Fuess (1930, repr. 1968), J. B. McMaster (1939), and R. N. Current (1955); N. D. Brown, Daniel Webster and the Politics of Availability (1969); R. F. Dalzell, Daniel Webster and the Trial of American Nationalism, 1843–1852 (1972); S. Nathans, Daniel Webster and Jacksonian Democracy (1973). The diary kept by his second wife, C. L. R. Webster, was published as Mr. W. & I (1942).

Webster, Daniel

(born Jan. 18, 1782, Salisbury, N.H., U.S.—died Oct. 24, 1852, Marshfield, Mass.) U.S. lawyer and politician. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1813–17). After moving to Boston (1816), he built a prosperous law practice and represented Massachusetts in the House (1823–27). He argued several precedent-setting cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including the Dartmouth College case, McCulloch v. Maryland, and Gibbons v. Ogden. Elected to the U.S. Senate (1827–41, 1845–50), he became famous as an orator for his speeches supporting the Union and opposing the nullification movement and its advocates, John C. Calhoun and Robert Y. Hayne. As U.S. secretary of state (1841–43, 1850–52) he negotiated the Webster-Ashburton Treaty to settle the Canada-Maine border dispute.

Webster, Daniel (1782–1852) U.S. representative/senator, orator; born in Salisbury, N.H. He graduated from Dartmouth College and taught school while studying law. Admitted to the bar in 1805, he gained a local reputation as an orator and came to wider notice as an opponent of the U.S. undertaking the War of 1812. He was then elected to the U.S. House of Representatives (Fed., N.H.; 1813–17) where he became a leader in opposing the policies of the Democratic-Republication administration. He then moved to Boston to pursue his law career, including appearances before the U.S. Supreme Court. Elected again to the U.S. House of Representatives, but now from Massachusetts (Fed., 1823–27), he was a strong supporter of John Quincy Adams. Elected to the U.S. Senate (National Republican, 1827–41), he was a supporter of the National Bank, a protectionist, and a champion of the nascent New England woolen cloth industry, as well as an opponent of the annexation of Texas and the Mexican war. Although opposed to slavery, he was denounced by abolitionists for his support of compromises on sectional issues involving the slavery issue. Devoutly pro-union, he denounced the nullification arguments by states' rights advocates in a famous debate in 1830. As secretary of state (1841–43) he negotiated treaties settling a border dispute with Canada (Webster-Ashburton Treaty, 1842) and establishing relations with Chicago. He was reelected to the U.S. Senate (Whig, Mass.; 1845–50) where he delivered his famous speech (March 7, 1850) supporting the Compromise of 1850. This led to his being attacked by the antislavery forces, but he left the Senate to serve again as secretary of state (1850–52). He died in that office, greatly admired for his oratory, integrity, and commitment to preserving the union, but never having obtained the broad support that would have gained him the presidency he coveted.

Webster, Daniel

(1782–1852) noted 19th-century American orator-politician. [Am. Hist.: Jameson, 539]

See : Eloquence