The Clay Compromise Measures
In John Calhoun's speech that he was to ill to actually give, he discusses the disunion that is present in the United States. He expresses his feelings that the North has a dominance over the South due to their role in Federal Government that mainly benefits them, and also the division that is present due to the slavery issue. The North is the only area that has territories. The South owns no territories. Because of this, John Calhoun fears that as new states are added they will all go to the North. This will disturb the equilibrium, not only in number of Northern vs. Southern states, but it will also create inequality within the Senate. Calhoun creates a great image, describing the United States as a Union that is bound together by many cords and the disunion that is present must be the work of time only. "It is only through a long process, and successively, that the cords can be snapped until the whole fabric falls asunder." This image that he creates explains that the disunion that is present in the U.S. is not solely based on slavery, it is also made up of other issues that have been brewing over time. He closes by saying that as Senators representing their states, they must come to a conclusion on how to proceed.
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