Daniel Webster (1782-1852) Statesman, lawyer, orator. Born in Salisbury NH. Graduated Dartmouth 1801. Opened legal practice in Portsmouth NH in 1807. As the Federal party candidate elected to the US House of Representatives,opposed to the war of 1812. After two terms, left Congress and moved to Boston. Won major constitutional cases before the Supreme Court, establishing himself as the nation's leadinglawyer.. In 1823, returned to Congress from Boston, and in 1827 elected senator from Massachusetts. .Joined the Republican party, allied with Henry Clay. Webster and President Andrew Jackson joined forces in 1833 to suppress South Carolina's attempt to nullify the tariff. In 1841, President William Henry Harrison named Webster secretary of state. The death of Harrison (April 1841) brought John Tyler to the presidency, and in September 1841 all the Whigs but Webster resigned from the cabinet. He remained to settle a dispute with Great Britain on the Maine-Canada boundary and successfully concluded the WEBSTER-ASHBURTON TREATY (1842). Whig pressure finally induced Webster to leave the cabinet in May 1843. Opposing the annexation of Texas in 1845 and the war with Mexico he feared the dissolution of the Union. In a powerful Senate speech on Mar. 7 1850, he supported the COMPROMISE OF 1850, denouncing Southern threats of secession but urging Northern support for the recovery of fugitive slaves. Named secretary of state in July 1850 by President Millard Fillmore.Webster's stand alienated antislavery forces and divided the Whig party, but it helped preserve the Union.

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