Daniel Webster
1782–1852Daniel Webster was an extremely successful politician and lawyer during the Antebellum Period—he served in the House of Representatives for ten years, the Senate for nineteen, and as Secretary of State for three presidents, and he also appeared in several Supreme Court cases regarding the authority of the federal government. Born in New Hampshire, Daniel attended Dartmouth College before being apprenticed to lawyer Thomas W. Thompson, but he held this position for only a short time before he was forced to become a schoolteacher to lessen his family’s financial woes. He later returned to his apprenticeship, and in 1805 he was accepted into the bar and established a practice in Boscawen. Webster at this time also became more interested in politics, which would have an immense effect upon his future career.
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In addition to his work in politics, Webster was hailed as one of the best lawyers of his era, and he won nearly half of the 223 cases he took before the Supreme Court. He also played important roles in the eight crucial cases between 1801 and 1824, among them Dartmouth College v. Woodard in 1819 and Gibbons v. Ogden in 1824, which applied to varying interpretations of the Constitution. In 1820, he was chosen as a delegate in the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention, and two years later he was elected to the Eighteenth Congress. After the conclusion of his second term as Member of the House, Webster was elected to the Senate, where he changed his opinions on several policies that he earlier opposed. He also entered into the famous Webster-Hayne debate regarding limits on western expansion, which soon expanded into a nasty debacle that strayed far from the original argument of land sales. In 1836, Webster campaigned for the presidency, but he was ultimately unable to garner support. He was offered the vice presidency under William Henry Harrison in 1839, but he refused.
Following Harrison’s victory, the new president appointed Daniel Secretary of State, a position that he retained under President John Tyler after Harrison’s untimely death. In 1845, he was again elected to the Senate, where he was attacked by abolitionists for his support of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, which required that runaway slaves be returned to their masters. His popularity declined greatly, and he was never able to recover the loss. After the conclusion of his term, he served once more as Secretary, this time under Millard Fillmore. In 1852, he once more made a bud for the presidency, but he was defeated once more, and he passed away later that year after falling off his horse and suffering severe head trauma.
Key events during the life of Daniel Webster:
| Born. | |
| Served as headmaster of the Fryeburg Academy in Maine. | |
| Moved to Portsmouth after the death of his father. | |
| Married Grace Fletcher. | |
| Delivered an address to the Washington Benevolent Society opposing the War of 1812. | |
| Selected for the Rockingham Convention. | |
| Elected to the House of Representatives. | |
| Elected to the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention. | |
| Elected to the Eighteenth Congress. | |
| Elected to the House of Representatives. | |
| Elected to the Senate. | |
| Death of Grace. | |
| Married Caroline LeRoy. | |
| Ran for president but failed to garner support. | |
| Served as Secretary of State to William Henry Harrison and John Tyler. | |
| Elected to the Senate. | |
| Served as Secretary of State to Millard Fillmore. | |
| Died. |
Other Resources
| Daniel Webster in | Four Great Americans by James Baldwin |
| Lad Who Rode Sidesaddle in | Fifty Famous People by James Baldwin |
| Webster and the Woodchuck in | Thirty More Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin |
| Daniel Webster and His Brother in | Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans by Edward Eggleston |
| Daniel Webster in | America First—100 Stories from Our History by Lawton B. Evans |
| Daniel Webster's Youth in | Story of the Great Republic by H. A. Guerber |
| Daniel Webster in | Heroes of Progress in America by Charles Morris |
| Home of Webster in | American History Stories, Volume III by Mara L. Pratt |
| Daniel Webster in | Builders of Our Country: Book II by Gertrude van Duyn Southworth |
Image Links | ||
|---|---|---|
Daniel Webster in Four Great Americans |
 Home of Daniel Webster in Four Great Americans |
 Daniel Webster in Thirty More Famous Stories Retold |
 Webster and the Poor Woman in Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans |
 Daniel Webster recites Bible verses in Story of the Great Republic |
Daniel Webster in Back Matter |
 Webster, Clay, and Jackson in Heroes of Progress in America |
 Daniel Webster in Builders of Our Country: Book II |
 A Session of the House of Representatives in the days of Webster and Clay in Builders of Our Country: Book II |
| Anti-slavery Senator from Massachusetts who was an imortant ally of Lincoln, and influential during the Reconstruction era. | |
| William Henry Harrison | War hero of Tippecanoe and the War of 1812, and briefly, President of the United States. |
| James Madison | One of the chief authors of the Constitution and writer of the Federalist papers. Fourth President of the U.S. |
| Congressman and Speaker of the house of the mid-nineteenth century, associated with Webster and Calhoun. | |
| Important Southern Statesman of the mid nineteenth century. Supported slavery and states rights. |