Webster, whose unabashed support for the Fugitive Slave Act diminished his stature in Massachusetts, would be succeeded by Sumner, whose rock-ribbed opposition to the same law elevated his. In addition, Webster, who believed the Fugitive Slave Act would still the nation’s turbulent waters, had been replaced by Sumner, who believed the Compromise would roil the sensibilities of even the most ambivalent Northerner and generate a groundswell that would ultimately lead to the rejection of slavery. Finally, Webster, the ultimate compromiser, had been succeeded by Sumner, who, especially on the
...more
