Question

The government, Sir, is the independent offspring of the popular will. It is not the creature of the state legislatures; may more, if the whole truth must be told, the people brought it into existence, established it, and have hitherto supported it for the very purpose, amongst others, of imposing certain salutary restraints on state sovereignties . The people, then, Sir, erected this government. They gave it a constitution, and in the constitution they have enumerated powers which they bestow on it."

What argument was Daniel Webster responding to in the above passage?

• A. The theory that the people were the source of power in the Constitution
• B. The theory that the tariff was unconstitutional
• C. The Compact Theory that the states were sovereign
• D. The Theory of Perpetual Union that the union had existed before the Constitution
• E. The theory that sovereignty rests in the general government

Answer 1

The correct option is C The Compact Theory that the states were sovereign

The government, Sir, is the independent offspring of the popular will. It is not the creature of the state legislatures; may more, if the whole truth must be told, the people brought it into existence, established it, and have hitherto supported it for the very purpose, amongst others, of imposing certain salutary restraints on state sovereignties . The people, then, Sir, erected this government. They gave it a constitution, and in the constitution they have enumerated powers which they bestow on it."
The Compact Theory that the states were sovereign.