A Representative from New Hampshire and a Representative and a Senator from Massachusetts;
Born in Salisbury, N.H., January 18, 1782;
Attended district schools and Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, N.H.; graduated from Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H., in 1801;
Principal of an academy at Fryeburg, Maine, in 1802;
Studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1805 and commenced practice in Boscawen, near Salisbury, N.H.;
Moved to Portsmouth, N.H., in 1807 and continued the practice of law;
Elected as a Federalist from New Hampshire to the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Congresses (March 4, 1813-March 3, 1817);
Not a candidate for reelection in 1816 to the Fifteenth Congress; moved to Boston, Mass., in 1816;
Achieved national fame as counsel representing Dartmouth College before the United States Supreme Court in the Dartmouth College case 1816-1819;
Delegate to the Massachusetts State constitutional convention in 1820;
Elected from Massachusetts to the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Congresses and served from March 4, 1823, to May 30, 1827;
Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary (Eighteenth and Nineteenth Congresses);
Elected June 8, 1827 to the United States Senate for the term beginning March 4, 1827;
Reelected as a Whig in 1833 and 1839 and served until his resignation, effective February 22, 1841;
Chairman, Committee on Finance (Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Congresses);
Webster's reply to Senator Robert Y. Hayne of South Carolina in January 1830 in opposition to the principles of Nullification won him nation-wide fame, as did his widely-circulated '7th of March' speech in 1850, in which he argued for excluding slavery from the territories;
Unsuccessful Whig candidate for president in 1836;
Appointed Secretary of State by President William Henry Harrison and again by President John Tyler and served from 1841 to 1843; again elected as a Whig to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1845, to July 22, 1850, when he resigned;
Appointed Secretary of State by President Millard Fillmore and served from July 22, 1850, until his death in Marshfield, Mass., October 24, 1852;
Interment in the Winslow Cemetery.
Source: Biograhical Directory of the United States Congress: 1774-1989. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1989.
More Info:
Webster-Hayne Debate, 1830 The Hayne-Webster Debate was an unplanned series of speeches in the Senate, during which Robert Hayne of South Carolina interpreted the Constitution as little more than a treaty between sovereign states, and Daniel Webster expressed the concept of the United States as one nation. The debate cemented the image of Daniel Webster, as a legendary defender of Constitution and Union. It was the subject of great popular paintings, showing Webster in the golden glow of the Senate dome, his glowering eyes fixed on John C. Calhoun, who besides being a more prominent advocate of Hayne's doctrine, was the president of the Senate at the time.
Great speeches of Daniel Webster Peroration, The Dartmouth College Case (March 10, 1818), The Plymouth Oration (December 22, 1820), The Bunker Hill Monument (June 17, 1825), Adams and Jefferson (August 2, 1826), The Second Reply to Hayne (January 26-27, 1830), The Seventh of March Speech (March 7, 1850), The Dignity and Importance of History (February 23, 1852)
The United States Senate, A.D. 1850 Today, The United States Senate, A.D. 1850, is recognized as one of the finest examples of 19th century American engraving. Originally published in limited numbers, the engraving remains a popular and very collectable work.
Daniel Webster photograph Whole plate daguerreotype by Albert Sands Southworth (1811-1894) and Josiah Johnson Hawes (1808-1908), 1851.
Daniel Webster Statue The full size version of this statue is in Central Park, New York City.
Daniel Webster Image Gallery The following are selected portraits of Daniel Webster from the Dartmouth College collections. They have been chosen either because of particular historical interest, artistic interest, or because they seem to be representative of Webster at a certain period of his life.
The Fugitive Slave Act 1850 In no trial or hearing under this act shall the testimony of such alleged fugitive be admitted in evidence; and the certificates in this and the first [fourth] section mentioned, shall be conclusive of the right of the person or persons in whose favor granted, to remove such fugitive to the State or Territory from which he escaped, and shall prevent all molestation of such person or persons by any process issued by any court, judge, magistrate, or other person whomsoever.