Editing Daniel Webster (section)

====Second Reply to Hayne====
{{quote box|align=right|style=background:#b0c4de; width:35em; max-width: 40%
|quote = When my eyes shall be turned to behold
for the last time the sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the
broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union; on States
dissevered, discordant, belligerent; on a land rent with civil feuds, or
drenched, it may be, in fraternal blood! Let their last feeble and
lingering glance rather behold the gorgeous ensign of the republic... not a stripe
erased or polluted, nor a single star obscured, bearing for its motto,
no such miserable interrogatory as "What is all this worth?" nor those
other words of delusion and folly, "Liberty first and Union afterwards";
but everywhere, spread all over in characters of living light, blazing
on all its ample folds, as they float over the sea and over the land,
and in every wind under the whole heavens, that other sentiment, dear to
every true American heart,— Liberty ''and''  Union, now and for ever, one
and inseparable!
|source = '''Daniel Webster''' (''[[Webster–Hayne debate|Second Reply to Hayne]]'')
}}

After Jackson took office, Webster opposed most of the measures favored by the new administration, including the [[Indian Removal Act]] and the establishment of the [[spoils system]].{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=313–315, 334}} The Jackson administration suffered from factionalism between supporters of Secretary of State Van Buren and Vice President Calhoun, the latter of whom took a prominent role in propounding the doctrine of [[Nullification (U.S. Constitution)|nullification]]. Calhoun held that the states had the power to "nullify" laws, and he and his allies sought to nullify the high tariff rates imposed by the Tariff of 1828 (which they referred to as the "Tariff of Abominations").{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=313–314}} During a debate over land policy in January 1830, South Carolina Senator [[Robert Y. Hayne]], in an effort to sway the West against the North and the tariff, accused the North of attempting to limit Western expansion for their own benefit. Hayne served as a surrogate for Vice President Calhoun, who could not himself address the Senate on the issue due to his status as the Senate's [[President of the Senate|presiding officer]].<ref>{{cite book
 | last = Schouler
 | first = James
 | year = 1891
 | title = History of the United States
 | publisher = Dodd, Mead & Company
 | location = New York
}}</ref>{{page needed|date=December 2018}} Webster objected to the sectional attack on the North, but even more strongly objected to Hayne's pro-states' rights position. Speaking before the Senate, he articulated his belief in a "perpetual" union and attacked the institution of [[slavery in the United States|slavery]], baiting Hayne into expounding on the doctrine of nullification on the Senate floor.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=318–320}}

[[File:Webster's Reply to Hayne, by Healy (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|''Webster's Reply to Hayne'' by [[George Peter Alexander Healy]], 1851]]

Replying to his first speech, Hayne accused him of "making war upon the unoffending South," and he asserted that nullification was constitutional because the federal government was ultimately subservient to the states.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=321–324}} On January 27, Webster delivered his response, titled the ''[[Webster–Hayne debate|Second Reply to Hayne]]''. He held that the people, and not the states, held ultimate power, and the people had established the Constitution as the supreme law of the land. He further argued that the doctrine of nullification "approach[ed] absurdity," and, by denying power to the federal government, would effectively restore the balance of power established under the [[Articles of Confederation]]. He argued that nullification constituted [[treason in the United States|treason]] against the United States, and would ultimately lead to civil war as state officials would call out the militia to resist federal laws and actions. He ended his speech with a call for "Liberty ''and''  Union, now and for ever, one and inseparable!"{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=325–328}} The ''Second Reply to Hayne'' was reprinted thousands of times, and was favorably received throughout the country. In assessing the speech's impact and popularity, some contemporaries compared it to the [[Federalist Papers]].{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=329–330}} Three months after he delivered the ''Second Reply to Hayne'', Calhoun openly broke with President Jackson when, in response to Jackson's [[Toast (honor)|toast]] of "Our Union, it be preserved," Calhoun replied, "The Union: Next to our liberty, the most dear."{{sfn|Remini|1997|p=335}}