Indivisible: Daniel Webster and the Birth of American Nationalism

When the United States was founded in 1776, its citizens didn’t think of themselves as “Americans.” They were New Yorkers or Virginians or Pennsylvanians. It was decades later that the seeds of American nationalism—identifying with one’s own nation and supporting its broader interests—began to take root. But what kind of nationalism should Americans embrace? The state-focused and racist nationalism of Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson? Or the belief that the U.S. Constitution made all Americans one nation, indivisible, which Daniel Webster and others espoused?

Paul tells the fascinating story of how Webster, a young Dartmouth graduate and New Hampshire attorney, rose to political prominence by capturing the national imagination through his powerful oratory and unwavering belief in the United States. In his speeches—on the floors of the House and the Senate, in court, and as secretary of state—Webster argued that the Constitution was not a compact made by states but an expression of the will of all Americans. As the greatest orator of his age, Webster saw his speeches and writings published widely, and his stirring rhetoric convinced Americans to see themselves differently, as a nation bound together by a government of laws, not parochial interests. As these ideas took root, they influenced future leaders, among them Abraham Lincoln, who drew on them to hold the nation together during the Civil War.

This program is part of The Commonwealth Club's Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation.

Photo by Scott R. Kline.

December 7, 2022

SPEAKERS

Joel Richard Paul
Professor, Constitutional and International Law, University of California Hastings College of the Law; Author, Indivisible: Daniel Webster and the Birth of American Nationalism

In Conversation with George Hammond
Author, Conversations With Socrates

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[anabaird]

This conversation ended WAAYY TOO SOON. 😔. One of the very best Ive ever heard.

[roscoerigby]

Most enjoyable presentation and I look forward to reading this book. I first heard of Daniel Webster as a child when my mom read to me "The Devil and Daniel Webster." He is, in my mind's eye, a hero.

[danielrice]

Love the interview. As a Canadian. Nice

[gyrene_asea]

Thank you for this. I will look for Mr. Paul's book at our local independent bookseller (Changing Hands, Tempe, AZ) partly because I really enjoyed how much he enjoyed the stories of our history. Including that of his subject. GADS, I LOVES ME SOME 'lernen' !

[nathanngumi]

Very interesting... I expected Mr. Joel to mention at least in passing JFK's Pulitzer-winning book Profiles in Courage in which Daniel Webster got featured, although to be fair he was only answering questions posed to him by the host and audience.

[qingzhou]

Great talk, Great history, Real Complex Reality, especially the Webster and Fugitive Law AND the Enforcement of Fugitive Law and North Anti-slave movement.

[donaldcarpenter]

There was going to be a FIGHT, there is STILL a FIGHT FOR

[OHz]

I think he discounted the fact that all monies from the South was funneled into and through New York banks; the New York establishment was very against the abolishment of slavery and the war.

[OHz]

and the idea of “American Exceptionalism” came out of the University of Chicago in the 1950’s. The myth continues.

[pierrettegagnon]

13:40. Got sum tweeter interactive substitute?

[anabaird]

So 3/5 was an UPGRADE to black human life. WOW. I definitely never thought of it that way.

[pierrettegagnon]

Or 7:58. Darker Purple create more thrust

[willielee]

@Fillmore vs Lincoln, sounds like the hand of God to me.
1850 vs 1860, being out gunned and out man, plus the North had the money.
I preferred Hillary over Biden, but Biden second State of Union speech says it all.
God bless us on our journey!!!

[michaelwoodsmccausland]

Now the 2/3 RDS do. We burned both down

[donaldcarpenter]

He COMPROMISED his CORE VALUES and he couldn't "live" with himself.

[michaelwoodsmccausland]

We are still enslaved with a Fiat Currency! The Kinetic Labor Vs industrialization that grinds people to death bits about Labor

[SameAsAnyOtherStranger]

How is it someone has a void in their own self they think needs to be filled some identity that overlaps with other people? It's the same void that people try to fill with materials like consumer goods and substances of abuse. All of this bloviation about some shared "spirit" that is so different between people and even so different to any one person day to day that it never fits any definition for very long.

Lacking inspiration to approach the subject on some furtive new ground, quasi-intellectuals lower themselves into common group-think. Unable or unconfident enough to postulate on the thoughts of greater minds, they assign themselves positions of authority to moderate the rancor of the middling classes. And among them the middling classes only promote those who make intellectualism seem more expendable. Although they work hard for what they have the middling classes venerate those who came by the most worldly goods the easiest.

[michaelwoodsmccausland]

And The Bear Flag RePublic is Growing!

[michaelwoodsmccausland]

There where more Free People in the West! Than Spaniards MWM

[michaelwoodsmccausland]

Go West as we never had any slaves. The Jesuits are another issue.