Originally published on December 5, 2018 (Episode 88)
Introduction
Before Lincoln and Douglas, there was Webster and Hayne. In 1830, their Senate debate helped inaugurate what historians now call the “Golden Age” of the Senate. It shaped national arguments over union, liberty, and slavery. Once northern schoolchildren had to memorize chunks of Daniel Webster’s oratory. Now he and the entire debate have slipped into near obscurity.
Christopher Childers joins me to revisit this pivotal moment, its larger context, and how political breakdown created a stage where oratory could move nations.
About the Guest
Christopher Childers is the author of The Webster-Hayne Debate: Defining Nationhood in the Early American Republic (Johns Hopkins, 2018).
For Further Investigation
Christopher Childers, The Webster-Hayne Debate: Defining Nationhood in the Early American Republic (Johns Hopkins, 2018)
Listen & Discuss
How did Webster and Hayne define nationhood in different ways?
Why did debates in the Senate once matter so deeply?
Send this episode to anyone who thinks the Senate has always been gridlock and grandstanding.
