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Historical Almanac of the U.S. Senate
Contents:
Daniel Webster Resigns from the Senate
On July 22, 1850, Daniel Webster resigned from the Senate to become secretary of state in the cabinet of President Millard Fillmore. One of the most outstanding members in the body’s entire history, Webster, the great orator, joined with Henry Clay, the brilliant tactician, and John C. Calhoun, the gifted theorist, to lead the Senate through its Golden Age.
Webster capped his thirty-seven-year public career amidst the bitter conflict that marked the tumultuous year of 1850. While the Senate was embroiled in the controversial slavery issue and the nation tottered on the brink of disunion, the Massachusetts senator did his best to restore peace and order. Beginning with his famous Seventh of March speech, he urged a compromise between southern and northern views. Webster emphasized the importance of maintaining the union between the states above and beyond any conflict that might threaten this sacred bond, such as slavery and possible secession.
As the debate raged, Webster’s resonant voice could be heard echoing throughout the crimson and gold old Senate chamber. He said: "My object is peace [and] reconciliation. I am against local ideas, North and South, and against all local and narrow contests." The end of Webster’s Senate career was brought about by the unexpected death of President Zachary Taylor on July 9, 1850, and by his decision to join the new president’s cabinet. On July 22, in the final speech of his long career, Webster called earnestly for the end of the strife that had plagued the Senate and, in words that retain their rich meaning even today, he proclaimed: "I mean to stand upon the Constitution. I need no other platform. I shall know but one country. No man can suffer too much, and no man can fall too soon, if he suffer or if he fall in defense of the liberties and constitution of his country."
Contents:
Chicago: Robert J. Dole, "Daniel Webster Resigns from the Senate," Historical Almanac of the U.S. Senate: A Series of Bicentennial Minutes Presented to the Senate During the One Hundredth Congress (Washington, D.C.: U.S Government Printing Office, 1989), in Original Sources, accessed March 19, 2025, http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=4UPY6XMECIVV2BE.
MLA: Dole, Robert J. "Daniel Webster Resigns from the Senate." Historical Almanac of the U.S. Senate: A Series of Bicentennial Minutes Presented to the Senate During the One Hundredth Congress, Washington, D.C., U.S Government Printing Office, 1989, in , Original Sources. 19 Mar. 2025. http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=4UPY6XMECIVV2BE.
Harvard: Dole, RJ 1989, 'Daniel Webster Resigns from the Senate' in Historical Almanac of the U.S. Senate: A Series of Bicentennial Minutes Presented to the Senate During the One Hundredth Congress, U.S Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.. cited in , . Original Sources, retrieved 19 March 2025, from http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=4UPY6XMECIVV2BE.
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