There were a corageous few in the Senate that sacraficed their own political careers to fight for te preservation of the union. The Senators described in Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy pays homage to those who demonstrated the ability to go against their constituants, the nation and congress to preserve the union and uphold the constitution. They abandoned their parties and with stood criticism from the very people they served to take the moral course of action, and fight for the greater good. John Quincy Adams and Daniel Webster are two senators who proved to be incredibly courageous in this respect, and fought for the union when else would. And to whom we will be forever greatful.
Daniel Webster was a senator before the Civil War, when one of the biggest challenges the United States faced was how to expnad westward and allow more states to join the union while maintaining the balance at the national level between the number of slave states and non-slave states. In the North, there was a majority of strong anti-slavery feelins, and many thought that slaver should be abolished all together. The South felt like they were being taken advatage of by the North, and that they had the right, acording to the constitution, to instate slavery, and have controll over their property. It was this power struggle between the North and South which would eventually lead to the Civil War. Daniel Webster saw that the Union slowly deteriorate, and put aside his own feelings against slavery, to do everything in his power to keep the Union together.
Daniel Webster thougth that slavery was wrong ever since his youth. And his beleifs were no secret amoung the public, he had spoken against slavery before. However, he thought that the preservation of the Union was a far greater cause. He was willing to sacrafice his reputation and any chance of being elected president in the future to do what he thought was the best for his country and promote the Compromise of 1850.
