Was Calhoun's speech about the benefits of slavery effective?

John C. Calhoun gave a speech in which he stated that slavery is good. Whether this speech was effective for the time depends on one’s viewpoint. From a southern point of view, this was a good speech. It focused on why the South shouldn’t compromise at all on the issue of slavery. Calhoun believed that compromise will lead to more compromise, and this will eventually doom the existence of slavery in the United States. He...

John C. Calhoun gave a speech in which he stated that slavery is good. Whether this speech was effective for the time depends on one’s viewpoint. From a southern point of view, this was a good speech. It focused on why the South shouldn’t compromise at all on the issue of slavery. Calhoun believed that compromise will lead to more compromise, and this will eventually doom the existence of slavery in the United States. He also argued that the slaves were better off in the South as slaves than they would be in the North as freed people. Many southerners agreed with this position.

Many northerners would have felt that this speech was not effective, but instead counterproductive to compromise. They believed this speech encouraged southerners to refuse to consider compromise regarding the issue of slavery. To northerners, it appeared that the southerners would rather fight to keep slavery than reach compromises about it. This speech also condemned the way of life in the North. It implied that there was much poverty in the North and that there was much suffering in the region. The northerners believed that Calhoun thought that being a slave was better than being free. Many northerners strongly disagreed with Calhoun’s point of view regarding slavery.