It was very very clear that Calhoun was all about protecting slavery. He was nervous about the recent tariffs and the possibility that in the future South Carolina would have to deal with unfair tariffs as well as laws meddling with slavery. In South Carolina Exposition and Protest he talks a lot about “minority rights”. That is, the rights of slave-holders. He wanted to give the south permanent veto power in the senate.
Jackson didn’t want to send troops to South Carolina to keep them in the union, so he was agreeable to a compromise…but I wonder if he had subdued South Carolina with force (SC was pretty much by itself in the issue, the other states weren’t involved) would things have esculated to the point of Civil War?
It was interesting that Calhoun was so concerned, though. Jackson was from the south, after all, and had slaves.
Yes, absolutely Calhoun wanted to protect slavery. He thought that without slavery, the South that he “knew” would end. That’s impossible for me to imagine, that someone would defend such evil rather than figure out a way to stop it.
Good question about Jackson! Why didn’t he oppose SC by force? He used force to uproot the Cherokees. Clearly, his activism extended only to “white” people.
My history Prof said (and this may be another myth that I’m spreading…) Jackson said on his death bed that he only regretted 2 things. That he didn’t shoot Clay in the street like the dog he was and that he didn’t hang Calhoun for treason…