Webster's Compromise Speech

Date: March 7, 1850 • Location: Washington, United States

United States senator Daniel Webster (pictured) delivered a speech advocating compromise on slavery, which proved to be unpopular with abolitionists in his home state.

Daniel Webster was an American lawyer, statesman, and diplomat who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the 14th and 19th U.S. secretary of state under presidents William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, and Millard Fillmore. Webster was one of the most prominent American lawyers of the 19th century, arguing over 200 cases before the United States Supreme Court in his career. During his life, Webster was a member of the Federalist Party, the National Republican Party, and the Whig Party. He was one of the Great Triumvirate along with Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun.