Download Who has the Power?

Who has the Power?
States vs. the Federal
Government
The Two Sides of the Debate
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John C. Calhoun (top)
believed that the 10th
amendment gave States
the ultimate authority
Daniel Webster (bottom)
believed that the Union
should be preserved,
meaning the country as a
whole was more
important than state
rights
John C. Calhoun 1782-1850

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Senator and Vice President (under John Quincy Adams
and Andrew Jackson) from South Carolina
Slave owner
Supporter of States’ Rights and Nullification (a belief that
States could deny a federal law that the state feels is
unconstitutional)
Daniel Webster 1782-1852
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
Senator from Massachusetts (Born in New Hampshire)
Worked with Henry Clay on the Compromise of 1850
Tried to avoid conflict over slavery in order to preserve
the union.
Webster’s View

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secession would lead
to Civil War, it could
not be done
peacefully.
His main goal was to
keep the country
United
Calhoun’s View


It was each States’
right to leave the
Union
The Constitution was
an agreement among
the states, if you no
longer agreed with
the laws, you could
leave the union