THE ZINGER THAT SAVED AMERICA: WEBSTER'S REPLY TO HAYNE

The Union threatened by legislative fiat, a Senator rose to reply to another. For Daniel Webster, it was a real comeback, What we might call a "zinger" today.

"Not Liberty First and Union Afterwards! ...but Liberty and Union now and Forever One and Inseparable,"

Though since it was a 19th century zinger, it took 4 hours to deliver the line. Still it would become some of the most famous oratory in Senate history.

When South Carolina's Senator Robert Hayne spoke in the Senate in 1830 to criticize Massachusetts and its Senator Daniel Webster, his comments were governmental but his intentions were personal. Haynes was an ally of John Calhoun, and he sought to reduce that Senator's reputation and the New England influence in federal government with a stunning interpretation of how the Constitution should work. A state could interpret any law the way it wished, he argued. .

And although several friends told him not to, Haynes aimed his remarks purposefully at the Senate's best Speaker.

Then Webster replied, He defended the patriotism of his home state, attacked the logical points Hayne and made about a state's right to veto a federal law, and called for the Union to be cherished. Although he and Andrew Jackson were not allies, Daniel Webster's speech set the stage for the Jackson administration's position in the upcoming South Carolina tariff nullification crisis.

His speech, and the resulting consensus of agreement in Congress with his side, also set standards for federal and state roles in government, and that still has lots of relevance today.

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