The
Spirits of Magnolia Cemetery Tour gives you exclusive access to
Charleston’s most hauntingly beautiful Victorian burial grounds.
Originally
a 1790’s rice plantation, Magnolia Cemetery was founded in 1849 on the
banks of the Cooper River in Downtown Charleston. Home to 35,000
permanent residents, including authors and poets, artists, Confederate
generals and soldiers, prominent politicians, bootleggers, prostitutes,
and socialites. Magnolia Cemetery served as a Confederate encampment to
defend the city from the Union bombardment during the Civil War. Many
Confederate soldiers lay at rest in Magnolia, including the eight-man
Hunley crew, 2,200 soldiers who fought in the battle at Gettysburg, and
six confederate generals.
This nighttime tour is the first official walking tour
of the historic site, previously off limits to commercial tour
companies. The 90-minute walking tours promise the best of Magnolia’s
history, mystery, and spirits. You’ll hear startling stories such as an
unsolved murdered socialite, an outraged politician that ordered his
butler’s execution and scandalous tragedies that are never told in
history books.
Don’t forget your flash cameras! You never know what phantom images you can capture.
East Cooper Meals on Wheels is excited to have
Mayor Haynie participate with delivering meals on Tuesday. Visuals
include, Mayor Haynie, assisting with delivery preparations as well as
while out on the route with recipients also, George
Roberts, CEO of East Cooper Meals on Wheels will be available. Please
let me know if you plan to send someone. Thank you!
What: Mayor Haynie to be an East Cooper Meals on Wheels “Community Champion” for a day
When: Tuesday, March 26 at 9:30 a.m.
Where: 2304 N Hwy 17, Mt Pleasant, SC 29466
Background:
Mayor Haynie will join the team at East Cooper
Meals on Wheels as they prepare to deliver meals to homebound recipients
East of the Cooper. He will accompany a volunteer driver on a delivery
route and will deliver meals and brief conversations.
During the Month of March, East Cooper Meals on Wheels is celebrating
“March for Meals.” March for Meals is an opportunity for East Cooper
Meals on Wheels to share its story with friends both old and new. Meals
on Wheels programs have come together, nationally,
each March since 2002 to celebrate this effort to ensure that our
homebound neighbors are not forgotten. This month, East Cooper Meals on
Wheels is offering an opportunity for those not familiar to be a
“Community Champion” for a day and ride along with one
of our volunteers as they deliver meals.
“Gimme soaky bread with grits and gravy for breakfast, pinto beans with ham hocks for dinner and cracklin’ cornbread in buttermilk for supper and you’ll have yourself a happy man.– Gene Owens, Columnist – talking about Southern treats.
“They still think differently. And the place keeps producing well beyond its share of great writers.” – Lisa Alther, Southern novelist, on why there are so many great Southern writers.
“In the South, the breeze blows softer… neighbors are friendlier, and more talkative. (By contrast with the Yankee, the Southerner never uses one word when ten or twenty will do)… This is a different place. Our way of thinking is different, as are our ways of seeing, laughing, singing, eating, meeting and parting. Our walk is different, as the old song goes, our talk and our names.”–Charles Kuralt in Southerners: Portrait of a People
“What is there to see in Europe? I’ll bet those foreigners can’t show us a thing we haven’t got right here in Georgia.” –Margaret Mitchell
“If you like cornbread n beans, black-eyed peas n grits, too. Catfish n turnip greens, and Southern barbecue Love sweet, sweet tea and, of course, coke. In the spring n fall, eat salet made from poke, add peach cobbler n buttermilk pie. Love okra, green tomatoes and chicken to fry. Gumbo, biscuits n gravy, blackberry jam and a big old slab of country ham. Made by the hands of a Southern cook, then you must be Southern in my book!” – J. Yeager
“Southerners know you can’t be considered a serious Southern cook if you don’t know how to make peach cobbler.” – Trisha Yearwood
“Southerners equate food with love, so if you love what they cook, they’re sure to love you back.” – Kim Holloway
“It was not a Southern watermelon that Eve took: we know it because she repented.” – Mark Twain
“You might be from the South if – you learned how to make noise with a blade of grass between your thumbs” – Jeanette H. Whitfield
“The most beautiful voice in the world is that of an educated Southern woman” – Winston Churchill
“The perfect speech would consist of the diction of the east, the vigor of the midwest and the melody of the South” – Winston Churchill
“In the South, as in no other American region, people use language as it was surely meant to be employed; a lush, personal, emphatic, treasure of coins to be spent slowly and for value” – Time Magazine, September 1976
“We Southerners live at a leisurely pace and sharing our hospitality with our family, friends, and the stranger within our gate is one of our greatest joys.” – Winifred G. Cheney
“From the mountains of Virginia to the Texas Plains there is a Southern way of life and it begins with hospitality and a proper emphasis on good cooking.” – Winifred G. Cheney
“The Southern drawl has many variations, but all are authentic Dixie. Stretch out words, add pauses, drop a “g” from “ing” and sprinkle your speech with Southern phrases like, “looks like somethin the cat drug in” or “like a chicken with it’s head cut off” or “like a duck on a June bug.” – The Politically Incorrect Guide to the South. “Southerners love to sweeten their foods-from sweet tea to sugar on grits, everything is better when it is sweeter. Southern favorites include fried chicken, sweet corn bread, potato salad & collard greens. The more the food sticks to your ribs, the better. Large picnics, family get togethers and after church meals are all highly popular. If you attend those on a regular basis, you might be Southern.” – Jessica Bold
“Made by the hands of a Southern cook, then you must be Southern in my book!” – J. Yeager “Cause Dixie is a part of me. My Dixieland.” – J. Yeager
“Johnnie! Susie! Come to supper! The music of iron skillets, the flitting of lighting bugs, are in that antique invocation. Supper, in the South, was the light meal: cereal or sandwiches, sometimes bacon and eggs. No culinary folderol, anyway. All of that belonged to the midday repast known as dinner, when the whole family turned up, from office or school, to feast in solidarity on meatloaf and turnip greens.” – by William Murchison, The Dallas Morning News Columnist 3/13/96
“O magnet-South! O glistening perfumed South! my South! O quick mettle, rich blood, impulse and love! Good and evil! O all dear to me!” – Walt Whitman
“Our Southern homeland, beautiful and so grand. Your laid-back Southern ways, Your long, hot, humid days, Your traditions from long ago and your speech that flows so slow. Your native sons and daughters, too My Dixieland! I love you.~~J. Yeager In the South, we “sip” sweet tea, mimosas, and mint juleps while “swayin” in the porch swing or “rockin” on the veranda. These things are all guaranteed stress relievers!” – J.Yeager
“I’m a Southern girl. I like when they open the door and pull out a chair. I’m really into a man’s man.” – Brooke Burns
“It’s hi ya’ll did ya eat well. Come on in child. I’m sure glad to know ya.” – Southern Voice Lyrics “Well it’s way, way down where the cain grows tall. Down where they say, “Y’all” Walk on in with that Southern drawl. ‘Cause that’s what I like about the South. She’s got backbone and turnip greens. Ham hocks and butter beans You, me and New Orleans. An’ that’s what I like about the South” – Bob Wills
“She was so Southern that she cried tears that came straight from the Mississippi, and she always smelled faintly of cottonwood and peaches.” – Sara Addison Allen
“It is so hot in the South tonight, the mosquitoes are carrying canteens. There’s a Southern accent, where I come from. The young’uns call it country, The Yankees call it dumb. I got my own way of talkin but everything is done, with a Southern accent where I come from” – Tom Petty
“A Georgia peach, a real Georgia peach, a backyard great-grandmother’s orchard peach, is as thickly furred as a sweater, and so fluent and sweet that once you bite through the flannel, it brings tears to your eyes.” – Melissa Fay Greene, ‘Praying for Sheetrock’
“Tough girls come from New York. Sweet girls, they’re from Georgia. But us Kentucky girls, we have fire and ice in our blood. We can ride horses, be a debutante, throw left hooks, and drink with the boys, all the while making sweet tea, darlin’. And if we have an opinion, you know you’re gonna hear it.” – Ashley Judd, Actress
“All I can say is that there’s a sweetness here, a Southern sweetness, that makes sweet music. If I had to tell somebody who had never been to the South, who had never heard of soul music, what it was, I’d just have to tell him that it’s music from the heart, from the pulse, from the innermost feeling. That’s my soul; that’s how I sing. And that’s the South.” — Al Green
“True grits, more grits, fish, grits, and collards. Life is good where grits are swallered.”– Roy Blount, Jr.
“About fifteen miles above New Orleans the river goes very slowly. It has broadened out there until it is almost a sea and the water is yellow with the mud of half a continent. Where the sun strikes it, it is golden.” – Frank Yerby, Author
“I was a typical farm boy. I liked the farm. I enjoyed the things that you do on a farm, go down to the drainage ditch and fish, and look at the crawfish and pick a little cotton.” – Sam Donaldson, Reporter and News Anchor from Texas
“About fifteen miles above New Orleans the river goes very slowly. It has broadened out there until it is almost a sea and the water is yellow with the mud of half a continent. Where the sun strikes it, it is golden.” – Frank Yerby, Author
Charleston, SC – West Ashley eatery, Ms. Rose’s Fine Food & Cocktails, announces weekday breakfast starting Monday, April 1. Well known for their weekend brunch, Ms. Rose’s is bringing all of the southern breakfast favorites to the workweek. Customers will be invited to enjoy the new breakfast menu every Monday – Friday from 7am – 11am.
From Braised Chicken and Waffles to Fish and Grits, Executive Chef Matt Paul has crafted a full menu of breakfast options sure to satisfy everyone in your party. And if you’re in need of something sweet, Executive Pastry Chef Liz Gorman is whipping up delicious pasties like the Jumbo Cinnamon Roll and Everything Muffin.
In addition to the new breakfast service, customers can enjoy Ms. Rose’s for lunch, dinner, weekend brunch and happy hour and for on-site events including the Ms. Rose’s Comedy Hour and Spring Live Music every Friday starting April 12.
For more information about Ms. Rose’s Fine Food and Cocktails, please visit msroses.com.
Sibling rivalry, adultery and dungeons are coming to Threshold Repertory Theatre in April as it presents “The Lion in Winter.”
“The Lion in Winter” by James Goldman is a modern-day classic often described as a medieval “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Comedic in tone and dramatic in action, the play tells the story of the Plantagenet family, which is locked in a free-for-all of competing ambitions to inherit a kingdom.
Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine – also the wealthiest woman in the world – has been kept in prison since raising an army against her husband, King Henry II. The play centers around the inner conflicts of the royal family as they fight over both a kingdom and King Henry’s paramour during the Christmas of 1183. As Eleanor says, “Every family has its ups and downs,” and this royal family is no exception.
Paul O’Brien plays King Henry II and Jennifer Metts plays Eleanor of Aquitaine. This local production of “The Lion in Winter” is directed by Paul Rolfes.
Performances are 7:30 p.m. April 11-13; April 18-20; and April 26-27 with Sunday matinees at 3 p.m. on April 14 and April 21. Threshold Repertory Theatre is located at 84 1/2 Society St. in downtown Charleston.
Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and $15 for students. Purchase tickets at www.thresholdrep.org.
Threshold Repertory Theatre was founded in 2010 with the mission to inspire and excite the public through classic and contemporary theatre productions at an affordable price. Threshold Repertory Theatre produces five main stage shows a year in its 99-seat theatre at 84-1/2 Society Street in downtown Charleston. For more information or tickets call 843-277-2172 or visit www.thresholdrep.org.
New novel follows an interior designer’s romance with a seductive stranger in the hot spot of Charleston, South Carolina
Revival on King Street
Genre: Romance
Price: $11.99
by Suzie Webster
ISBN: 978-1-64111-247-5
293 pages, paperback
Publication Date: April 10, 2019
In Revival on King Street, author Suzie Webster shares the ups and downs of a group of friends in Charleston, South Carolina, as they pursue their dreams by day and their passions by night. The first of a series called Lowcountry Liaisons, Revival on King Street zeroes in on Charlotte “Charlie” Finley as she pieces her life back together after her husband unexpectedly breaks her heart.
After launching a new interior design career with her friend Chase, Charlie finds herself in the arms of a captivating stranger at the launch party for their biggest design project. This chance encounter spins Charlie’s life, which she thought was back on track, out of control in unexpected ways.
Revival on King Street is available for purchase online at Amazon. There will be a book signing and launch party at The Restoration Hotel on April 17 th from 6-8pm in the Library. Additional details can be found at www.suziewebster.com
Suzie Webster seeks out adventure as much as she can. A self-described “foodie”, she feels fortunate to live in a town lauded not only for it’s amazing history and architecture, but also for the amount of award winning restaurants lining it’s cobblestone streets. When she’s not out exploring or eating, she loves to write stories, putting her daydreams down on paper. Webster loves to read; do CrossFit; and hang out with her husband, Drew; their three daughters, Ryleigh, Katie, and Reese; and her goldendoodle, Seamus.
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The newly renovated Rose Pavilion at Hampton Park is officially open to the community. Mayor John Tecklenburg joined representatives from the Charleston Parks Conservancy, The Speedwell Foundation, the City of Charleston and the surrounding community for a ceremonial rose planting to mark the Pavilion’s dedication on Tuesday, March 19.
The Conservancy, with the support of The Speedwell Foundation and in collaboration with the City of Charleston, refurbished the previously shuttered concession stand at Hampton Park. The structure and surrounding area has been transformed into the Rose Pavilion, a stunning public gathering space and garden. Rose Pavilion will be a place for community gatherings and a central location for new park programs and community events, such as culinary pop-ups, neighborhood gatherings and cultural events.
A contribution from The Speedwell Foundation to the Conservancy made the project possible. Jenny Messner, a director of the Foundation, said “Hampton Park is a Frederick Law Olmsted treasure that my husband and I were delighted to discover in our new hometown, when we moved here seven years ago. We had just completed a documentary film of Olmsted’s life called ‘Olmsted and America’s Urban Parks’ that aired on Earth Day 2011. The Rose Pavilion is a tribute to Olmsted’s impact on our landscapes and the starting point for an exciting project to bring Hampton Park back into the glorious limelight it deserves.”
“Thanks to The Speedwell Foundation, we’re achieving our goal to enliven and improve the experience at Hampton Park,” said Harry Lesesne, executive director of the Charleston Parks Conservancy. “We know the community will love admiring the heirloom rose garden, relaxing on the Pavilion’s joggling boards and benches, or attending an event here. A project like this is central to our mission of creating beautiful public spaces that inspire people to connect with their parks.”
Mayor John Tecklenburg said, “The decade-long partnership that the City’s Parks and Recreation Departments have developed with the Charleston Parks Conservancy continues to blossom. We’re proud of the more than 20 public spaces that have been transformed, maintained and energized by the Conservancy team working alongside our very fine City staff. We also give our deepest thanks to Jenny and Mike Messner of The Speedwell Foundation for their support of the Rose Pavilion at Hampton Park and so many other worthwhile ventures making a difference in the lives of citizens all over Charleston.”
The Conservancy, with the support of its Park Angel volunteers, planted more than 200 heirloom roses. The rose planting is significant as we celebrate two centuries of Charleston’s place in rose history. The Noisette rose class is one of the most significant creations then and now. Citizens who are interested in joining the Conservancy’s Park Angel volunteer corps to help maintain the garden are invited to go to www.charlestonparksconservancy.org/volunteer for more information.
The Rose Pavilion facility is available to rent for events up to four hours. Rentals will be managed by Lowcountry Park Venues, which manages event rentals in other parks in the region. Rental includes pavilion access with a prep counter and four serving counters as well as access to the surrounding park, gardens and hardscape, which has joggling boards and built-in benches. The space is ideal for up to 150 guests.
For residents of the City of Charleston, the rental rates are $550 Sunday-Thursday, and $675 on Saturday and Sunday. For those from outside of the City, rates are $800 Sunday to Thursday and $1,000 for Friday and Saturday. For more information on renting the Rose Pavilion, call 843-849-8091.
When not being used for an event, the Pavilion is open to the public.
Proceeds from renting the Rose Pavilion will help the Charleston Parks Conservancy sustain additional projects in Hampton Park and in parks throughout the City of Charleston. The Conservancy previously renovated McMahon Playground at Hampton Park as well as the nearby Allan Park and Corrine Jones Park. The next phase of its Hampton Park project is Jubilee Hall, multi-use community center with small meeting rooms, community event space, outdoors gardens and a dedicated parking lot.
The Conservancy’s Rose Pavilion project project team included McAlister Construction Management, Wertimer + Cline Landscape Architects, David Thompson Architects, Forsberg Engineering, and Frampton Construction.
Rose Pavilion is named for the heirloom rose collection in Hampton Park and for a notable contribution to the world of horticulture that originated in Charleston. In the early 1800s, Charlestonian John Champneys crossed Rosa chinensis (Old Blush) and Rosa moschata, a white musk rose, to create Champneys’ Pink Cluster, America’s first hybrid rose. His friend and neighbor, French botanist Philippe Noisette, created a more refined hybrid of the Pink Cluster, calling it the Blush Noisette and establishing an iconic flower for the gardens of Charleston. These roses are featured in Hampton Park and at the new garden at the Rose Pavilion.
Over the last decade, the Conservancy has been dedicated to inspiring the people of Charleston to connect with their parks and together create stunning public spaces and a strong community. It has spearheaded park renovation and beautification projects all around the city, including Colonial Lake, Tiedemann Park and Nature Center, Chapel Street Fountain Park, Cannon Park, Wragg Square, McMahon Playground at Hampton Park, Allan Park, Magnolia Park and Community Garden, Medway Park and Community Garden, the West Ashley Greenway and Bikeway, and many more.
About the Charleston Parks Conservancy
The Charleston Parks Conservancy is a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring the people of Charleston to connect with their parks and together create stunning public places and a strong community. The Conservancy opens doors to individuals and organizations in Charleston wanting to engage with their parks and green spaces in a kaleidoscope of positive ways. With the help of its Park Angels, the Conservancy improves, enhances, and invigorates these spaces, making Charleston even better, stronger, and more successful. For more information about or to support the Charleston Parks Conservancy, please visitwww.charlestonparksconservancy.org.
Shortly after 1:00 AM on Saturday evening, I was leaving Ink N Ivy with two friends in town for the weekend. As we headed south on King Street, we were shelled from all angles with abusive language from intoxicated students and bar patrons. As we passed the King Street Public House, I was shocked to see the bouncer with a professional scanner checking a patron from head to toe for weapons before entering. Turning the corner on Morris Street, I had to walk around a to-go box and food dumped all over the sidewalk and then was greeted 20 feet later by the sight of a student puking between the sidewalk and parking lot.
Is this what has become of Charleston with the great
economic growth and expansion?
For some, this is a new kind of paradise; but for others,
Dante’s Inferno.
Here are a few eye opening things you may not know to help paint a more clear picture:
College Acceptance Rates (2017-18)
5.6% – Harvard
8.4% – University of Chicago
11.4% – Duke University
30.5% – University of North Carolina
32.1% – NYU
32.6% – Boston University
36% – University of Texas
47.5% – University of Florida
50.4% – NC State University
53.8% – Alabama University
57.6% – University of Wisconsin
58.1% – Rutgers University
75.5% – The Citadel
77.1% – College of Charleston
Instead of increasing the standards of acceptance, we are just building more housing to accommodate.
Shop Local; Buy Local
Did you know that Ink N Ivy, Uptown Social and Blind Tiger are all owned and operated by investment capital and management outside of the state of South Carolina. They are not alone. More and more money is coming in from out of state to capitalize on this growing economy. With this growth and increase in demand, comes higher prices for tourists and locals.
Crime (Provided by Areavibes.com)
In Charleston County, based on the latest annual report, there were 3532 reported incidents, with 2,581 per 100,000 people in Charleston County and 3,702 per 100,000 in South Carolina. The national average is 2,745 per 100,000 people. Charleston County is only 6% below the national average.
Neighborhood Scout puts the Charleston County crime index at 20 (100 being the safest). That means Charleston County is safer than only 20% of the U.S. Cities.
Alcohol
That doesn’t need much explaining.
Over 40 local craft breweries reside in the Lowcountry
Booze pops and ice cream are sold on the streets from food trucks
The Recovery Room is the #1 seller of PBR in the nation
Charleston Wine and Food Festival is one of the 3 largest events annually in the area
Restaurants like Sol and Charleston Sports Pub offer bottomless mimosas on the weekends
Reputation
Was Folly Gras an isolated event or the beginning of something bigger. Either way, it had us being compared to similar behavior found in places like Myrtle Beach.
Is this the new thriving Charleston we want?
Natural aesthetics
Leave downtown Charleston in any direction and what do you
see?
From 26, new housing; Cooper River Bridge, new housing;
Ashley River Bridge, new housing, Morrison Street; new housing.
We are surrounded by growth that is destroying our natural
wildlife and accelerating more long term problems and at what price: a little
extra greed…
Hotels / Tourism
If you book today for Friday night, on the weekend of the Cooper
River Bridge Run, here is what you are paying:
Embassy Suites of Hilton – $449.00
Hampton Inn Charleston – $409.00
French Quarter Inn – $619.00
King Charles Inn – $469.00
Charleston Marriot – $459.00
Harbour View Inn – $699.00
Andrew Pinckney Inn – $494.00
The Mills House – $549.00
The Dewberry Charleston – $638.00
Hotel Bennett – $591.00
The Restoration – $629.00
Market Pavilion Hotel – $599.00
Zero George – $679.00
Hyatt House Charleston – $478.00
Grand Bohemian Hotel – $899.00
Hotel Bella Grace – $656.00
Ansonborough Inn – $429.00
Welcome to Charleston, the Holy City, or should we say the
Devil’s playground.
Company announces 40 percent year-over-year increase in attendance from 2018
CHARLESTON, S.C., March 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Benefitfocus, Inc. (NASDAQ: BNFT),
a leading cloud-based benefits management platform and services
provider, today announced that more than 1,200 benefits technology
professionals will attend their annual One Place conference. One Place, happening March 26-28
at the Charleston Gaillard Center, is dedicated exclusively to
Benefitfocus’ enterprise benefits management technology platform,
bringing employee benefits professionals together to network and learn
from industry thought leaders, technology partners, benefits suppliers,
and insurance brokers.
“We are thrilled to welcome such a tremendous number of forward-looking HR and benefits professionals to One Place,” said Ray August,
CEO, Benefitfocus. “Their enthusiastic response confirms what those of
us who are part of the Benefitfocus family have long known – that the
exciting technology advancements we’ll unveil at the conference are
poised to disrupt the benefits industry and will shape the strategy of
health care benefits for the American workforce for years to come.”
With over 1,200 employees throughout South Carolina, Benefitfocus is a key player in the state’s thriving technology industry. One Place will provide a boost to the local economy over the three days of the conference, filling over a dozen Charleston-area
hotels and hosting dinners in over 30 restaurants in one evening.
Travelers to One Place will be greeted at CHS international airport by
Benefitfocus display ads, welcoming them to the #1 city in the U.S.
During the event, attendees will also have the chance to tour the
Benefitfocus Daniel Island campus, where they will convene for the
world’s largest benefits planning session as part of Campus Day on March 28.
About Benefitfocus Benefitfocus (NASDAQ: BNFT)
unifies the entire U.S. benefits industry on a single technology
platform to protect consumers’ health, wealth and lifestyle. Our
powerful cloud-based software, data-driven insights and
thoughtfully-designed services, enable employers, insurance brokers and
carriers to simplify the complexity of benefits administration and
deliver a world-class benefits experience. Learn more at www.benefitfocus.com, LinkedIn and Twitter.
Safe Harbor Statement Except for historical
information, all of the statements, expectations, and assumptions
contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. Actual
results or performance might differ materially from those explicit or
implicit in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could
cause actual results to differ materially include: our ability to
maintain our culture and recruit and retain qualified personnel;
management of growth; the need to innovate and provide useful products
and services; our ability to compete effectively; the immature and
volatile nature of the market for our products and services; risks
related to changing healthcare and other applicable regulations; and the
other risk factors set forth from time to time in our SEC filings,
copies of which are available free of charge within the Investor
Relations section of the Benefitfocus website at http://investor.benefitfocus.com/sec-filings
or upon request from our investor relations
department. Benefitfocus assumes no obligation and does not intend to
update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.
“It is harder to preserve than to obtain liberty” – John C. Calhoun
Today marks the anniversary of the birth of John C. Calhoun, born March 18, 1782 in Abbeville, South Carolina. Most know him from his statue standing high atop Marion Square and the prominent street that runs through Charleston. In honor of his birthday, we would expand your understanding of the man by providing a chronological look at his life and accomplishments.
Life of John C. Calhoun
John Caldwell Calhoun was born on March 18, 1782, in Abbeville District, South Carolina, U.S., to Patrick Calhoun, a Scots-Irish farmer, and his wife, Martha Caldwell. John was the fourth child of his parents who were migrants from Pennsylvania to the Carolina Piedmont.
At the age of 17, due to his father’s illness, John dropped out from school and started working on the family farm. Later, he decided to complete his studies and obtained a degree from Yale College, in 1804.
Afterwards, he studied law at the Tapping Reeve Law School, and was admitted to the South Carolina bar in 1807. Later, John abandoned his practice upon marrying and became a planter-statesman.
In 1808, Calhoun was elected to South Carolina’s state legislature, where he served for a year.
In 1811, John Calhoun married Floride Bonneau Calhoun, one of his cousins. The couple had 10 children together, out of which three died in infancy.
In 1811, he was appointed as a Democratic-Republican to the United States House of Representatives, a position he retained until 1817. He chaired the House Foreign Relations Committee and worked as a main lieutenant of Speaker Henry Clay.
A nationalist at the start of his political career, Calhoun was one of the leading War Hawks who played a major role in steering the unprepared United States into war with Great Britain. In 1812, Calhoun introduced the declaration of war against Britain.
After the War of 1812, during his term as a U.S. Congressman, Calhoun helped in establishment of the Second Bank of the United States. He served as chairman of the committees which introduced Bills for a permanent road system, a standing army and modern navy.
From December 1817 to March 1825, Calhoun served as Secretary of War under President James Monroe. During his term, Calhoun reorganized and modernized the National Military Academy.
In 1824,Calhoun ran for the President of United States along with four other candidates but later withdrew himself from the race. Subsequently, with Andrew Jackson’s support, he ran unopposed for vice presidency and in March 1825, Calhoun was inaugurated as the 7th Vice President of the United States, under John Quincy Adams.
After finishing his first term, Calhoun was re-elected for vice presidency in 1828, in the administration of Andrew Jackson. Same year, Calhoun founded the Nullifier Party in response to the ‘Tariff of Abominations’ passed by Congress. It was a states’ rights party which supported that states could nullify federal laws within their borders.
Calhoun protested against the Tariff of Abominations of 1828 and stressed on the fact that the tariff was being unfairly assessed on the agrarian South benefiting the industrializing North.Thus, he drafted his ‘South Carolina Exposition and Protest’ and proposed the theory of a concurrent majority through the doctrine of nullification.
During his second term as Vice President, Calhoun and President Jackson had a rough relationship as Jackson supported the increase in the protective tariff, which Calhoun considered a favor to northern manufacturing interests over southern agricultural concerns. After much debate over the issue, Calhoun resigned from vice presidency in December 1832.
Immediately after his resignation, Calhoun was elected to the United States Senate from South Carolina, where he served until March 1843, and later again between 1845 and 1850. As a Democrat, Calhoun led the pro-slavery division in the Senate and opposed attempts to limit the expansion of slavery into the western territories.
In April 1844, President John Tyler appointed Calhoun as the Secretary of State; he served in this position for nearly a year. During his tenure, Calhoun worked for the annexation of Texas and the settlement of the Oregon boundary with Great Britain.
He returned to the Senate in 1845 and As a South Carolina senator, Calhoun opposed the Mexican-American War and the admission of California as a free state. He spent the final years of his life in the Senate working to unite the South against the abolitionist attack on slavery.
John Calhoun died on March 31, 1850 in Washington, D.C., after contracting tuberculosis, at the age of 68. He was buried at the St. Philip’s Churchyard in Charleston, South Carolina.
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