Three Speeches that Saved the Union: Clay, Calhoun, Webster, and the Crisis of 1850

How three skilled orators navigated a polarized political landscape

For the generation of politicians who inherited the Republic and the Union, the opening months of 1850 were a desperate time filled with increasing animosity between free and slave state leaders over issues of the expansion of slavery. Following the end of the Mexican-American War and the subsequent expansion of American territory came a series of fiery debates over how this new territory would be governed, and whether to al...