Editing Daniel Webster (section)

==Second period in the Senate==
===Polk administration, 1845–1849===
{{See also|Presidency of James K. Polk}}
[[File:WebsterbyLamb.jpg|thumb|right|Portrait of Daniel Webster commissioned by the Senate in 1955]]

Webster considered retiring from public office after the 1844 election, but he accepted election to the United States Senate in early 1845.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=599–602}} Webster sought to block the adoption of Polk's domestic policies, but Congress, controlled by Democrats, reduced tariff rates through the [[Walker tariff]] and re-established the Independent Treasury system. In May 1846, the [[Mexican–American War]] began after Congress, responding to a [[Thornton Affair|clash]] instigated by U.S. troops against the Mexican Army at the disputed Texas–Mexico border, declared war on Mexico.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=618–623}} During the war, Northern Whigs became increasingly split between "Conscience Whigs" like [[Charles Sumner]], who strongly favored anti-slavery policies, and "Cotton Whigs" like Webster, who emphasized good relations with Southern leaders.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=624–626}} Webster had been a long-standing opponent of slavery; in an 1837 speech he called slavery a "great moral, social, and political evil," and added that he would vote against "any thing that shall extend the slavery of the African race on this continent, or add other slaveholding states to the Union."{{sfn|Remini|1997|p=464}} But, unlike his more strongly anti-slavery constituents, he did not believe that Congress should interfere with slavery in the states, and he placed less emphasis on preventing the spread of slavery into the territories.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=664–665}} Nonetheless, because Webster opposed the acquisition of Mexican territory (with the exception of [[San Francisco]]), he voted against the [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]], in which the United States acquired the [[Mexican Cession]].{{sfn|Remini|1997|p=646}}

General [[Zachary Taylor]]'s success in the Mexican–American War drove him to the front ranks of Whig candidates in the [[1848 U.S. presidential election]].{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=631–632}} As Taylor held unclear political positions and had never been publicly affiliated with the Whig Party, Clay and Webster each launched their own bids for the presidency, but opposition from the Conscience Whigs badly damaged Webster's standing.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=637–639}} On the first ballot of the [[1848 Whig National Convention]] Webster finished a distant fourth behind Taylor, Clay, and General [[Winfield Scott]]. Taylor ultimately won the presidential nomination on the convention's fourth ballot, while [[Millard Fillmore]] of New York was selected as the party's vice presidential nominee.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=651–652}} After Webster declined the request of Conscience Whigs to lead a new, anti-slavery third party, Conscience Whigs and "[[Barnburners and Hunkers|Barnburner]]" Democrats launched the [[Free Soil Party]] and nominated a ticket consisting of former president Van Buren and [[Charles Francis Adams Sr.|Charles Francis Adams]]. Despite having previously stated that he would not support Taylor in the 1848 presidential campaign, Webster threw his backing behind Taylor. Ultimately, Taylor won the election, defeating both Van Buren and Democratic nominee [[Lewis Cass]].{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=653–656}}

===Taylor administration, 1849–1850===
{{see also|Presidency of Zachary Taylor}}
{{quote box|style=background:#b0c4de; width:35em; max-width: 40%
|quote =
I shall stand by the Union...with absolute disregard of personal consequences. What are personal consequences...in comparison with the good or evil that may befall a great country in a crisis like this?...Let the consequences be what they will.... No man can suffer too much, and no man can fall too soon, if he suffer or if he fall in defense of the liberties and constitution of his country.
| source = '''Daniel Webster''' (''July 17, 1850 address to the Senate'')
}}

Having only tepidly endorsed Taylor's campaign, Webster was excluded from the new administration's Cabinet and was not consulted on major appointments.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=656–660}} After the 1848 election, the fate of the territories acquired in the Mexican-American War became a major subject of debate in Congress, as Northern and Southern leaders quarreled over the extension of slavery.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=658–659}} In January 1850, Clay introduced a plan which combined the major subjects under discussion. His legislative package included the admission of [[California]] as a free state, the [[State cessions|cession]] by Texas of some of its northern and western territorial claims in return for debt relief, the establishment of [[New Mexico Territory|New Mexico]] and [[Utah Territory|Utah]] territories, a ban on the importation of slaves into the District of Columbia for sale, and a more stringent [[fugitive slave law]].{{sfn|Smith|1988|pp=111–112}} The plan faced opposition from strongly pro-slavery Southern leaders like Calhoun{{sfn|Smith|1988|pp=112–113, 117}} and anti-slavery Northerners like [[William Seward]] and [[Salmon Chase]].{{sfn|Smith|1988|pp=119–120}} President Taylor also opposed Clay's proposal, since he favored granting California statehood immediately and denied the legitimacy of Texas's claims over New Mexico.{{sfn|Smith|1988|pp=136–142}}

{{anchor|Seventh of March Speech}}<!--[[Seventh of March Speech]] redirects here-->Clay had won Webster's backing for his proposal before presenting it to Congress, and Webster provided strong support for Clay's bill in the Senate.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=665–666}} In what became known as the "Seventh of March Speech", Webster attacked Northerners and Southerners alike for stirring up tensions over slavery. He admonished Northerners for obstructing the return of [[Fugitive slaves in the United States|fugitive slaves]] but attacked Southern leaders for openly contemplating secession.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=669–673}} After the speech, Webster was bitterly attacked by New England [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionists]]. [[Theodore Parker]] complained, "No living man has done so much to debauch the conscience of the nation," while [[Horace Mann]] described Webster as "a fallen star! Lucifer descending from Heaven!"<ref>{{cite book|last=Kennedy|title=Profiles in Courage| year=2004| pages=69–70}}</ref> In contrast to that view, [[James G. Blaine]] wrote a few decades later:

{{blockquote| Mr. Webster had in his own lifetime seen the thirteen colonies grow into thirty powerful States. He had seen three millions of people, enfeebled and impoverished by a long struggle, increased eightfold in number, surrounded by all the comforts, charms, and securities of life. All this spoke to him of the Union and of its priceless blessings. He now heard its advantages discussed, its perpetuity doubted, its existence threatened.&nbsp;... Mr. Webster felt that a generation had been born who were undervaluing their inheritance, and who might, by temerity, destroy it. Under motives inspired by these surroundings, he spoke for the preservation of the Union.<ref name=Blaine>[https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/21128/pg21128.html Blaine, James Gillespie, ''Twenty Years of Congress'', Vol. 1, Ch. V.]</ref>}}
The debate over Clay's compromise proposal continued into July 1850, when Taylor suddenly and unexpectedly died of an illness.{{sfn|Remini|1997|p=683}}