The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 78, July 1974 - April, 1975 Page: 263
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The Reluctant Imperialist
of politicians were privately trying to stir up opposition to Calhoun. So far
as known the group included Congressmen James A. Black and Robert
Barnwell Rhett, novelist William Gilmore Simms, and ex-Senator William
C. Preston, a long-time Whig opponent of Calhoun. Some of the opposi-
tion was due to personal bitterness, some to genuine disagreement with
Calhoun over the war, and some to appreciation of the president's support
of the Walker Tariff and his opposition to internal improvements.
Hammond confided to Simms that he deplored Calhoun's and Butler's
break with a "Free Trade Administration." He believed Calhoun had "cut
his throat" and so had Butler. As for Calhoun's war views, Hammond
admitted "they may not be far from right," but he distrusted them because
"I think his leading motive now is to prove that he was right in not voting
for the war." Later, Hammond admitted that he too had been opposed to
the war from the first and that the administration had mismanaged it.
But now, he concluded: "We must not withdraw from Mexico unless we
do it in a blaze of glory." He was convinced that General Winfield Scott's
early victories would be "fatal" to Calhoun, whose "desperate ambition for
the Presidency has not only prostrated his judgment, but sapped his pa-
triotism." He added: "Alas how are the mighty fallen."27
However, no anti-Calhoun groundswell within South Carolina ever
surfaced. Instead, the senator's position became stronger with his introduc-
tion of anti-Wilmot Proviso resolutions in the Senate in late February and
his rousing speech in Charleston at a large anti-Wilmot Proviso rally on
March 9. The excitement in the port city to hear Calhoun on that occasion
had "rarely been equalled," according to a news story, and hundreds had
been turned away from the meeting for lack of room in the building. Mean-
while, Senator Butler was received in Columbia with great enthusiasm when
he addressed a public meeting on the same subject. The Richmond Whig
concluded that no matter the opposition to Calhoun elsewhere he would
be sustained "with almost unanimity by the people of South Carolina."28
At this juncture one may ask if Calhoun's presidential ambitions influ-
enced his position on the war? His biographer Charles M. Wiltse gives
27Hammond to W. G. Simms, February 23 (first four quotations), March 24 (fifth
quotation), April I (sixth and eighth quotations), Ig (seventh quotation), 1847, Ham-
mond Papers; Duff Green to Calhoun, March 6, 1847, Calhoun Papers (Clemson);
Laura A. White, Robert Barnwell Rhett: Father of Secession (New York, zg93), 88-89.
s2South Carolinian (Columbia), March 17, 1847, and March 24, 1847, quoting Rich-
mond Whig [n.d.]; Winyah Observer (Georgetown), March 17, 1847 (first quotation);
Charleston Courier, March Io, 1847.263
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 78, July 1974 - April, 1975, periodical, 1974/1975; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117149/m1/310/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.