Table of Contents:
  • An account of the historical events relating to the Compromise of 1850: the crisis / Avery Craven
  • The Great Debate. An exchange between Senator Thomas Hart Benton and Henry Clay on the necessity of compromise
  • A. Senator Benton's remarks; B. Senator Clay's replay
  • Senator Calhoun's proposal to restore a sectional equilibrium
  • Daniel Webster's seventh of March Speech
  • William H. Seward's Higher law speech
  • Differing historical interpretations of the great debate. The administration of Zachary Taylor / James Schouler
  • Daniel Webster and the Union / Richard N. Current
  • Calhoun and the meaning of 1850 / Herbert Agar
  • The legislative history of the Compromise and its immediate aftermath. Stephen A. Douglas takes charge / George Fort Milton
  • Acquiescence with conditions and reservations / Allan Nevins
  • Ethics and politics. Ethical standards and political strategies / Dorothy Fosdick.