Celebrations Today – March 18

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Alexander of Jerusalem
  • Cyril of Jerusalem
  • Edward the Martyr
  • Fridianus
  • Salvator
  • March 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Earliest date on which Holy Wednesday can fall, while April 21 is the latest; celebrated on the week before Easter. (Christianity)
• Anniversary of the Oil Expropriation (Mexico)
• Flag Day (Aruba)
• Gallipoli Memorial Day (Turkey)
• Men’s and Soldiers’ Day (Mongolia)
• Teacher’s Day (Syria)

Celebrations Today – USA: March 18

National Awkward Moments Day
National Biodiesel Day
National Lacy Oatmeal Cookie Day
National Sloppy Joe Day
National Supreme Sacrifice Day
National Quilting Day – Third Saturday in March
National Campfire Girls Day
National Doctor-Patient Trust Day
National St. Patrick’s Day

Today in US History: March 18

John C. Calhoun

Tomb of John C. Calhoun
Charleston, South Carolina, circa 1900-1910.
Touring Turn-of-the-Century America: Photographs from the Detroit Publishing Company, 1880-1920

On March 18, 1782, John C. Calhoun was born near Abbeville, South Carolina. Calhoun served as a congressman, senator, secretary of war, secretary of state, and vice president of the United States.

A formidable theorist, Calhoun is remembered for his determined defense of the institution of slavery. During the course of his career, he reversed his stand as a nationalist and advocated states’ rights as a means of preserving slavery in the South. As a South Carolina senator, Calhoun used the argument of states’ rights to protect slavery in what is known as the Nullification Crisis of 1832-1833.

At the end of his senatorial career, Calhoun opposed the Compromise of 1850 because of its proposed limits on slavery during the westward expansion of the nation. Calhoun was clearly a dying man as he was assisted to his desk on the Senate floor a few minutes past noon on March 4, 1850. A black cloak, which he had pulled around his emaciated body, added to the drama of the scene.

Too weak to deliver the forty-two-page speech himself, Calhoun had his colleague, Senator James Murray Mason (1798-1871) of Virginia, read from a printed version for him. The emphasis of the speech was wholly on northern aggressions and against conciliation and compromise. Calhoun believed that two separate nations now existed, and that if the differences between them could not be settled, the two entities should agree to part in peace.

Three days later, on March 7, Senator Daniel Webster argued in favor of the compromise. He both cautioned Southerners that disunion would lead to war and advised Northerners to forgo antislavery measures. The Compromise of 1850 was passed and Calhoun died soon after on March 31, 1850.

John Calhoun’s Speech, March 4, 1850.
Words and Deeds in American History: Selected Documents Celebrating the Manuscript Division’s First 100 Years

Daniel Webster’s Speech, March 7, 1850.
Words and Deeds in American History: Selected Documents Celebrating the Manuscript Division’s First 100 Years

• Early in the nation’s history, members of Congress argued about the issue of slavery. In 1784 members debated a resolution introduced to the Continental Congress that would have ended involuntary servitude by the year 1800. Search on slavery in the American Memory collection A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation, 1774-1875 to find examples of early congressional debate on the topic of slavery. For other topics considered by the Congress, browse the subject index of the collection Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention, 1774-1789.
• For more material on the movement to abolish slavery, go to the Abolition section of African American Odyssey, or the Abolition section of The African-American Mosaic.
• A search on Calhoun in The Nineteen Century in Print: Periodicals includes speeches given by Calhoun.
• A search on Calhoun in The Thomas Jefferson Papers yields correspondence between Calhoun and the president.
• To learn more about national politics in the 1820s and 1830s, search on Van Buren, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, or John Quincy Adams in Words and Deeds in American History: Selected Documents Celebrating the Manuscript Division’s First 100 Years.

Today in History – March 18-External Links

Today’s Weather in History
Today in Earthquake History
This Day in Naval History
Today’s Document from the National Archives
Today’s Events, Births & Deaths –Wikipedia
Today in History by AP
On this Day -1950 to 2005 – Today’s Story–BBC
On This Day: The New York Times
This Day in History –History.com
Today in Canadian History – Canada Channel
History of Britain that took place On This Day
Russia in History –Russiapedia