Editing John C. Calhoun (section)

==House of Representatives==

===War of 1812===
With a base among the Irish and Scotch Irish, Calhoun won election to [[South Carolina's 6th congressional district]] of the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] in [[1810 and 1811 United States House of Representatives elections|1810]], defeating [[John Archer Elmore]]. He immediately became a leader of the [[War Hawk]]s, along with Speaker [[Henry Clay]] of Kentucky and South Carolina congressmen [[William Lowndes (congressman)|William Lowndes]] and [[Langdon Cheves]]. Brushing aside the vehement objections of both anti-war New Englanders and ardent [[Democratic-Republican Party|Jeffersonians]] led by [[John Randolph of Roanoke]], they demanded war against Britain, claiming that American honor and republican values had been violated by the British refusal to recognize American shipping rights.<ref name="John C. Calhoun, 7th Vice President (1825–1832)" />{{sfn|Perkins|1961|p=359}} As a member, and later acting chairman, of the [[United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs|Committee on Foreign Affairs]], Calhoun played a major role in drafting two key documents in the push for war, the Report on Foreign Relations and the War Report of 1812. Drawing on the linguistic tradition of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]], Calhoun's committee called for a declaration of war in ringing phrases, denouncing Britain's "lust for power", "unbounded tyranny", and "mad ambition".<ref>"War Report of 1812," ''Papers of John C. Calhoun,'' 1:110</ref>

The United States [[United States declaration of war upon the United Kingdom|declared war on Britain]] on June 18, inaugurating the [[War of 1812]]. The opening phase involved multiple disasters for American arms, as well as a financial crisis when the Treasury could barely pay the bills. The conflict caused economic hardship for Americans, as the [[Royal Navy]] blockaded the ports and cut off imports, exports, and the coastal trade. Several attempted invasions of [[Canada]] were fiascos, but the U.S. in 1813 seized control of [[Southwestern Ontario|Lake Erie]] and broke the power of hostile Indians in battles such as the [[Battle of the Thames]] in Canada in 1813 and the [[Battle of Horseshoe Bend (1814)|Battle of Horseshoe Bend]] in Alabama in 1814. These Indians had, in many cases, cooperated with the British or [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]] in opposing American interests.{{sfn|Stagg|2012|pp=117, 161}}

Calhoun labored to raise troops, provide funds, speed logistics, rescue the currency, and regulate commerce to aid the war effort. One colleague hailed him as "the young Hercules who carried the war on his shoulders".<ref name="John C. Calhoun, 7th Vice President (1825–1832)" /> Disasters on the battlefield made him double his legislative efforts to overcome the obstructionism of John Randolph, [[Daniel Webster]], and other opponents of the war. By 1814 the British were thwarted at the [[Battle of Plattsburgh|invasions of New York]] and [[Battle of Baltimore|Baltimore]], but [[Napoleon|Napoleon Bonaparte]] capitulated, meaning America would now face Britain's formidable reinforcement with units previously committed to Europe if the war were to continue. British and American diplomats signed the [[Treaty of Ghent]] undertaking a return to the borders of 1812 with no gains or losses. Before the treaty reached the Senate for ratification, and even before news of its signing reached New Orleans, a British invasion force was decisively defeated in January 1815 at the [[Battle of New Orleans]], making a national hero of General [[Andrew Jackson]]. Americans celebrated what they called a "second war of independence" against Britain. This led to the beginning of the "[[Era of Good Feelings]]", an era marked by the formal demise of the Federalist Party and increased nationalism.{{sfn|Langguth|2006|pp=375, 387}}

===Postwar planning===
Despite American successes, the mismanagement of the Army during the war very much distressed Calhoun, and he resolved to strengthen and centralize the [[United States Department of War|War Department]].{{sfn|Wiltse|1944|pp=103–105}} The militia had proven itself quite unreliable during the war and Calhoun saw the need for a permanent and professional military force. In 1816 he called for building an effective navy, including steam frigates, as well as a standing army of adequate size. The British blockade of the coast had underscored the necessity of rapid means of internal transportation; Calhoun proposed a system of "great permanent roads". The blockade had cut off the import of manufactured items, so he emphasized the need to encourage more domestic manufacture, fully realizing that industry was based in the Northeast. The dependence of the old financial system on import duties was devastated when the blockade cut off imports. Calhoun called for a system of internal taxation that would not collapse from a war-time shrinkage of maritime trade, as the tariffs had done. The expiration of the charter of the [[First Bank of the United States]] had also distressed the Treasury, so to reinvigorate and modernize the economy Calhoun called for a new national bank. A new bank was chartered as the [[Second Bank of the United States]] by Congress and approved by President [[James Madison]] in 1816. Through his proposals, Calhoun emphasized a national footing and downplayed sectionalism and states rights. Historian [[Ulrich Bonnell Phillips|Ulrich B. Phillips]] says that at this stage of Calhoun's career, "The word ''nation'' was often on his lips, and his conviction was to enhance national unity which he identified with national power."{{sfn|Phillips|1929|loc=3:412–414}}

===Rhetorical style===
Regarding his career in the House of Representatives, an observer commented that Calhoun was "the most elegant speaker that sits in the House&nbsp;... His gestures are easy and graceful, his manner forcible, and language elegant; but above all, he confines himself closely to the subject, which he always understands, and enlightens everyone within hearing."{{sfn|Jewett|1908|p=143}}

His talent for public speaking required systematic self-discipline and practice. A later critic noted the sharp contrast between his hesitant conversations and his fluent speaking styles, adding that Calhoun "had so carefully cultivated his naturally poor voice as to make his utterance clear, full, and distinct in speaking and while not at all musical it yet fell pleasantly on the ear".{{sfn|Meigs|1917|loc=Vol. 1, p. 221}} Calhoun was "a high-strung man of ultra intellectual cast".{{sfn|Meigs|1917|loc=Vol. 2, p. 8}} As such, Calhoun was not known for charisma. He was often seen as harsh and aggressive with other representatives.{{sfn|Peterson|1988| pp= 280, 408}}{{sfn|Hofstadter|2011|p=96}} But he was a brilliant intellectual orator and strong organizer. Historian [[Russell Kirk]] says, "That zeal which flared like Greek fire in Randolph burned in Calhoun, too; but it was contained in the Cast-iron Man as in a furnace, and Calhoun's passion glowed out only through his eyes. No man was more stately, more reserved."{{sfn|Kirk|2001|p=168}}

John Quincy Adams concluded in 1821 that "Calhoun is a man of fair and candid mind, of honorable principles, of clear and quick understanding, of cool self-possession, of enlarged philosophical views, and ardent patriotism. He is above all sectional and factious prejudices more than any other statesman of this Union with whom I have ever acted."{{sfn|von Holst|1883|p=54}} Historian Charles Wiltse noted Calhoun's evolution, "Though he is known today primarily for his sectionalism, Calhoun was the last of the great political leaders of his time to take a sectional position—later than Daniel Webster, later than Henry Clay, later than Adams himself."{{sfn|Wiltse|1944|p=234}}