Alive, John C. Calhoun exercised tremendous political influence over South Carolina. Dead, his legacy was the determining factor in her political course in the ensuing decade. The disruption of the National Democratic party in 1860 and the cooperative secession of the lower South, led by South Carolina, brought Calhoun's political legacy to fulfillment. This dissertation looked closely at the South Carolinian's post-nullification career, largely from his own perspective. Calhoun was clearly driven in this period to uniting the South in its own defense. Reform of the general government, even through the powerful instrument of southern union, had become impossible by 1850. By Calhoun's own reckoning, the cooperative action of the southern states must lead to a separate confederacy. / The thrust of the dissertation dealt with how Calhoun's legacy was acted upon by the South Carolinians in the 1850s. In the state's first secession crisis of 1851, his legacy of united southern resistance was sustained when the state chose not to secede alone. Her secession in 1860, prefaced by assurances of cooperation from the cotton states, put his legacy into play. References to Calhoun were frequent, encompassing such issues as the rise of a National Democratic party in South Carolina, the acquisition of Cuba, and the admission of Kansas. Indeed, South Carolina spent much of the decade lamenting his loss and the want of a worthy successor to his mantle. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-04, Section: A, page: 1361. / Major Professor: James Jones. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_78217 |
| Contributors | Dillenbeck, Bruce L., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 298 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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