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![handle is hein.slavery/adjcslv0001 and id is 1 raw text is: ADDRESS
OF THE
HO N. JOiN C. CALHOUN,
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES,
ON THE SUBJECT OF SLAVERY.
[READ FOR HIM BY HON. MR. MASON, MARCH 4. 1850.]
I HAv's, Senators, believed from thu first that the agitation of the subject of slavery
would, if not prevented by some timely and effective measure, end in disunion. Enter-
taining this opinion, I have, on all proper occasions, endeavored to call the attention
of both the two great parties which divide the country, to adopt some measure to pre-
vent so great a disaster, but without success. The agitation has been permitted to pro-
ceed, with almost no attempt to resist it, until it has reached A period when it can no
longer be disguised or denied that the Union is in danger. You have thus had forced
upon you the greatest and the gravest question that ever can come under your con-
nderation, How can the Union be preserved ?
To give a satisfactory answer to this mighty question, it is indispensable to have an
accurate and thorough knowledge of the nature and the character of the cause by
which the Union is endangered. Without such knowledge it is impossible to pronounce,
with any certainty, by what measure it can be saved; just as it would be impossible
for a physican to pronounce, in the case of some dangerous disease, with any certainty,
by what remedy the patient could be saved, without similar knowledge of the nature
and c'haracter of the cause of the disease. The first question, then, presented for con-
isideration, in the investigation I propose, in order to obtain such knowledge, is-what
is it that has endangered the Union ?
To this question there can be but one answer-that the immediatocause is, the al-
most universal discontent which pervades all the states composing the Southern section
of the Union. This widely extended discontent is not of recent origin It commenced
with the agitation of the slavery question, and has been increasing ever since. The
text question is,-What has caused this wide-diffused and almost universal discontent?
It is a great mistake to suppose, as is by some, that it originated with demagogues,
'who excited the discontent with the intention of aiding their personal advancement,
or with disappointed, ambitious individuals, who resorted to it as the means of raising
their fallen fortunes. There is no foundation for this opinion. On the contrary, all
the great political influences of the section were arrayed against excitement, and
exerted to the utmost to keep the people quiet. The great mass of the people of the
South were divided, as in the other section, into Whigs and Democrats. The leaders
and the presses of both parties in the South were very solicitous to prevent excitement
and restore quiet; because it was seen that the effects of the former would necessarily
tend to weaken, if not destroy, the political ties which united them with their respective
parties in the other section. Those who know the strength of party ties will readily
appreciate the immense force which this cause exerted against agitation, and in favor
of preserving quiet. But, as great as it was, it was not sufficiently so to prevent the
wide-spread discontent which now pervades the section. No; some cause far deeper
and more powerful mast exist to produce a discontent so wide and deep, than the one
inferred. The question then recurs, what is the cause of this discontent ? It will be
found in the 'belief -of the people of the Southern states, as prevalent as the discontent
itself, that they'cannot remain, as things now are, consistently with honor and safety,
in the Union. The next question, then, to be considered, is, what has caused this be-
lief?
One of the causes is, undoubtedly, to be traced to the long continued agitation of the
slave question on the part of, the North, and the many aggressions which they have](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.slavery/adjcslv0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)