John C. Calhoun

Born

Mar 18, 1782

Born in Abbeville, South Carolina

Graduated from Yale

Sep 12, 1804

Elected to the SC General Assembly

Oct 1, 1807

Served 2 years in the SC General Assembly

Led the "War Hawks" in Congress

Period: Jan 1, 1811 to Dec 31, 1812

He was a staunch Nationalist and called for war against England.

Married

Jan 8, 1811

Married his cousin, Floride Bonneau Calhoun

Started Congressional career

Nov 4, 1811

Elected to US House of Representatives

Oct 1, 1812

1st of three terms- Twelfth Congress

Appointed as Secretary of War

Oct 8, 1817

Resigned from the House, was appointed to be the Secretary of War.

Announced bid for Presidency of US

Feb 7, 1821

Elected as Vice-President

Dec 3, 1824

Elected Vice-President of the United States, under John Q. Adams.

Sworn in as 7th Vice President

Mar 4, 1825

"Tariff of Abominations" is passed

May 19, 1828

Calhoun started to turn away from supporting a strong national government. He viewed the "Tariff of Abominations" as being favorable to the industrial North and detrimental to the agrarian South.

Elected Vice-President

Nov 1, 1828

Elected Vice-President of the United States under Andrew Jackson

SC declared "Tariff of Abominations" unconstitutional

Dec 18, 1828

Calhoun secretly wrote "The South Carolina Exposition and Protest."

Jefferson Day dinner

Apr 13, 1830

The Jefferson Day Dinner is held. President Jackson toasted,"Our Union: It must be preserved!" In response, Calhoun stated "The Union, next to our liberty, most dear. May we always remember that it can only be preserved by distributing equally the benefits and burdens of the Union." These statements solidified the contrasting ideas of the two statesmen.

Breaks with Andrew Jackson

Period: Jan 1, 1831 to Dec 31, 1832

Nullification Crisis of 1832

Nov 19, 1832

South Carolina declared the Tariff of 1832 "null and void."

Returned to SC

Dec 12, 1832

The South Carolina Legislature appointed Calhoun to fill a vacancy in the United States Senate.

Resigned as Vice-President

Dec 28, 1832

Calhoun resigned as Vice President under Andrew Jackson

Webster debate

Feb 8, 1833

Defended nullification and debated with Webster in the United States Senate.

"Compromise Tariff of 1833"

Feb 12, 1833

Joined with Henry Clay in support of the "Compromise Tariff of 1833." It aimed to lower the tariff, but still granted Congress the authority to enact whatever tariffs they deemed necessary.

Force Bill enacted

Feb 20, 1833

US Senate passed the Force Bill. President Jackson was granted authority to use military force to make South Carolina comply with federally imposed tariffs.

SC Nullification Convention

Mar 18, 1833

South Carolina held a "Nullification Convention" in Columbia, SC and ultimately nullified the Force Bill.

Retired from Senate

Feb 8, 1843

Retired from the Senate to seek the Presidency and started his work on two books, "A Disquisition on Government" and "A Discourse on the Constitution of the United States."

Became Secretary of State

Mar 6, 1844

Became Secretary of State under President John Tyler. Negotiated Texas annexation treaty which failed in the Senate. Later drafted the joint resolution for annexation which passed the two houses of Congress.

Re-elected to US Senate

Nov 26, 1845

Rallied the South to Take a United Stand

Jun 30, 1849

Tried to rally the Southern congressmen to a united stand. He was nearly finished with writing his two books, "A Disquisition on Government" and "A Discourse on the Constitution of the United States."

Last Speech in Senate

Mar 4, 1850

Last speech from Calhoun was read to Senate by Senator James Mason of Virginia.

Last Remarks in Senate

Mar 14, 1850

Died

Mar 31, 1850

Died in Washington, DC. He is buried at St. Philip's Episcopal Church (western cemetery) in Charleston, SC.