LAD #13

John Calhoun opens his statement to the senators by claiming that he knows deep down slavery will end in the disunity of the United States if things are left the way they are. He asks them the question "how can the union be preserved?" and answers it himself by stating that the only way they can stop the union from falling apart is by understanding what it is that's causing the damage in the first place. He explains how the Southerners discontent over the matter is part of the root of the problem. The political parties of the South, Whigs and Democrats, worked to keep their half of the nation under control and calm, but Calhoun goes as far as to remind his audience that political parties often have another angle to the ordeal. He explains how the parties needed the south to be calm and quiet in order to maintain their grip on their followers. The south eventually came to the conclusion over their discontent with slavery that they may no longer be able to remain a part of the union. Calhoun explains that the south has witnessed the North's rise to power in government and felt they were being pushed farther out of the balance of power in the union. Calhoun states that the only way to stop the south from seceding or being forced to abolish slavery as a whole was to give them what they wanted. He proposed they give the south an equal voice in government and the land they desire to keep them at bay, otherwise the unrest within the union will eventually lead to its downfall.