I am in the midst of a busy stretch during which my posting will be more sparse. But I hope to get back to normal soon.
I had the occasion to visit Marion Square in Charleston, SC earlier this month. The spot where the John C. Calhoun monument stood is now vacant. There is now a plan to re-erect the monument, but it is unclear when or where.
Clyde Wilson wrote a book about Calhoun a few years ago. As I perused its contents, I learned even more what a substantive figure he was:
- He was elected to Congress at age 29 and quickly became one of the chief advocates of the War of 1812 against the British;
- He served as Secretary of War under James Monroe and established himself as a very skilled administrator;
- He served as Vice President of the United States under both John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson; and
- He also served as U.S. Senator.
His family home was the upstate of South Carolina. He was not originally from Charleston, although he lived there for a time.
Calhoun dealt with the major questions of his time. Wilson imparts about this particular historical figure two things. First, he was a true statesman on a wide variety of issues. Second, he was a constitutional conservative– an “originalist”– in the tradition of Thomas Jefferson.
He was recognized by a congressional committee chaired by John F. Kennedy in 1950 as one of the five greatest U.S. Senators of all time.
His memory has been sullied by those on the left who try to diminish his contributions by representing his career was all about slavery. But in fact, he died during 1850– long before the Civil War began. A group of older women formed a group to raise money for his monument during 1854. His views about slavery were a bit more nuanced than the left would represent.
Clyde Wilson wrote a great little book. It reveals much about the history of the first half of the 19th Century, and of course, about one of its greatest leaders.
Calhoun certainly left his everlasting mark on the Republic. Yes, his views on slavery were nuanced. He is reported to have said that it was a necessary evil. He will forever be remembered as a nullifier. His views on states rights presaged the War Between The States …A very important figure.
Calhoun was a Yale graduate and also served as Secretary of State.
Thanks, Fred. Yes, he left his mark; and was a very important figure. I can’t wait to see his monument displayed again.
I read the Robert Elder biography of him. (I suspect Wilson’s is more sympathetic to his subject.) Fred, I believe he was actually valedictorian at Yale, top of his class.
Re ‘nuance’, he had some complicated but worthy thoughts (restraints on the federal govt.) on protecting the rights of the minority in a federal republic.
As Sec. of War (1817-24), he funded 32 schools for Indians in hopes of civilizing and assimilating them. He viewed it as an experiment that might not work. He funded one exceptional student, a James McDonald [half-breed?], who became a very successful lawyer. When McDonald committed suicide after his marriage proposal to a white girl was rejected in 1831, it influenced several to change in favor of the removal (that became known as the trail of tears). The author implied there was a hardening of racial attitudes between ~1818 & 1831.
Calhoun seems to have been a remarkably honest and virtuous man (within the cultural beliefs of his time) for a politician.
Thanks, J. Sobran. You are right– Wilson’s book is a sympathetic portrait. The situation with the Indian schools and James McDonald was not covered in the book, but it is pretty interesting…