The principle of majority agreed in the works of John C. Calhoun

About the author:

Arseniy R. Tsoi,

Abstract:

The name of John Caldwell Calhoun, a native citizen of the North American state South Carolina, a long-term member of the upper house of Congress and the 7th Vice President of the United States, is among the foremost thinkers in the history of American social and political tradition of the first half of XIX century. Being well-known as a staunch defender of the USA institution of black slavery existing in the southern states in this period, John C. Calhoun simultaneously immortalized his name in the annals of American political history, becoming the author of a controversial theory of states’ rights. Born into a period of confrontation between the north-eastern and southern U.S. states on federal tariffs on imported goods, the theory of states’ rights, citing X Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, declared the right of every state in the Union to nullify any decision of the U.S. Congress within its territory, declared unconstitutional by the local legislature. Created in the period of the confrontation on the federal tariffs of imported goods between the north-eastern and southern U.S. states, the theory of states’ rights alluded to X Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and declared the right of every state in the Union to nullify any decision of the U.S. Congress within its territory, if the decision* Исследование выполнено при поддержке Министерства образования и науки Российской Федерации (соглашение № 14.В37.21.0956 «Предреволюционная и революционная Британия: от унии корон к унии государств»). is recognized as unconstitutional by the local legislature. The theory of states’ rights didn’t obtain official recognition, but came into the history of American political thought as an example of the radical interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. This article is dedicated to one of the theory key elements — the principle of concurrent majority. John C. Calhoun claimed the principle of concurrent majority as the most democratic alternative to the principle of absolute majority which was dominating in the U.S. governmental institutions in that period.

References:

1. Efimov, A.V. SShA: puti razvitija kapitalizma [USA: the development of capitalism]. M., 1969 (in Russian)

2. Istorija SShA [The history of the USA]. Ed. by N.N. Bolhovitinova. V.1. M., 1983 (in Russian)

3. Ocherki novoj i novejshej istorii SShA [Essays on Modern History of the USA]. Ed. by N.N. Bolhovitinova. V. 1. M., 1960 (in Russian)

4. Pazenko, E.A. States rights theory John C. Calhoun. Velikobritanija i SShA v XIX-ХХ vekah: politika, diplomatija, istoriografija — The UK and the USA in XIX-ХХ-s: politics, diplomacy, historiography. Interuniversity collection of scientific articles. Ed. by D.V. Lihareva. Ussurijsk, 1997. P. 27-41 (in Russian)

5. Dubovickij, G.A., Shatunova, I.V. John Calhoun — the mouthpiece of the interests of the American South (20-40s. XIX c.). Amerikanskij ezhegodnik — American Yearbook. 1991. M, 1992. P. 57-74 (in Russian)

6. Dubovickij, G.A.; Shatunova, I.V. J. Calhoun about the problem of states’ rights. Iz istorii obshhestvennoj mysli i politicheskih dvizhenij v novoe i novejshee vremja — From the history of social thought and political movements in modern and contemporary times. Interuniversity collec. of works. M., 1989. P. 32-44 (in Russian)

7. Sogrin, V.V. The world of American slaveholders. Calhoun, Fitzhugh and others. Novaja i novejshaja istorija (Modern History). 1990. № 5. Available at: http://americaxix. org.ru/library/sogrin-calhoun/ (in Russian)

8. Parrington, V. Osnovnye techenija amerikanskoj mysli [Main Currents in American thought]. V.2. M., 1962.

9. Capers, G. John C. Calhoun, Opportunist. A reappraisal. Gainesville, 1960

10. Current, R. John C. Calhoun. N.Y., 1966

11. Hofstadter, R. The American political tradition and the men who made it. N.Y.,1948

12. Niven, J. John C. Calhoun and the price of Union. N.Y., 1988

13. Cheek, Jr. H. Lee. Calhoun and popular rule. Columbia, 2001

14. Clyde, N. Wilson. Introduction to “The papers of John C. Calhoun”. Еd. by Clyde N.Wilson. Vol. 10. Charleston, 1968 г.;

15. Coit, M.L. John C. Calhoun. American portrait. N.Y. 1997

16. Ford, L. Inventing the concurrent majority: Madison, Clahoun and the problem of majoritarianism in American political thought // The journal of Southern history. 1994. Vol. LX, №1

17. Marmor, T. The career of John C. Calhoun. N.Y., 1966

18. Wiltse, C. John C. Calhoun. 3 vols. Indianopolis, 1967-1969

19. The works of John C. Calhoun. / Ed. by Richard K. Cralle. 6 vols. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1968

20. The papers of John C. Calhoun. / Ed. by Clyde N. Wilson. 28 vols. Univ. of South Carolina Press, 1959-2010