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==Personal life==

==Personal life==

Calhoun was born in Abbeville, South Carolina, 1782 into a Scotch-Irish family that had emigrated from Ireland to Pennsylvania in 1733, then moved down the Appalachian Mountain valley into the South Carolina back country in the 1760s. His father became rich, owning lands and 20 to 40 slaves in a region where slaves were not yet common. Life was still raw and rough on the frontier, and violence was very much part of people's memories: his father's mother had been killed by Cherokee Indians in 1760, and his mother's brother, John Caldwell, after whom he was named, had been murdered by Loyalists during the [[American Revolution]]. His father, who had survived the Indian massacre of 1760, had a stubborn independence and, as Calhoun recalled, "a certain degree of contempt for the forms of civilized life." He had a passion for liberty and a deep dislike of far-removed government; he opposed ratification of the federal Constitution on the grounds that "we ought never to give others the power to tax us."  His father died in 1795 when John was only 13. As a child, he was mostly homeschooled.<ref>https://thenewamerican.com/print/can-john-c-calhoun-save-america/</ref> In a very unusual move for the era, the young man went to New England to attend Yale College, graduating in 1804 as valedictorian, then studied law at one of the nation's first law schools, that run by Tapping Reeve at Litchfield, Connecticut. After further training in Charleston, South Carolina, he was admitted to the bar in 1807 and began practice near his family home. In 1811 he married Floride Bonneau Colhoun, a wealthy second cousin who provided entrée to high society in Charleston. They had nine children and lived at "Fort Hill", a cotton plantation he built,and operated by a white overseer and dozens of slaves.  He had a substantial but routine law practice and was soon bored. He was elected as a Republican to the state legislature in 1808 and to Congress in 1810.

Calhoun was born in Abbeville, South Carolina, 1782 into a Scotch-Irish family that had emigrated from Ireland to Pennsylvania in 1733, then moved down the Appalachian Mountain valley into the South Carolina back country in the 1760s. His father became rich, owning lands and 20 to 40 slaves in a region where slaves were not yet common. Life was still raw and rough on the frontier, and violence was very much part of people's memories: his father's mother had been killed by Cherokee Indians in 1760, and his mother's brother, John Caldwell, after whom he was named, had been murdered by Loyalists during the [[American Revolution]]. His father, who had survived the Indian massacre of 1760, had a stubborn independence and, as Calhoun recalled, "a certain degree of contempt for the forms of civilized life." He had a passion for liberty and a deep dislike of far-removed government; he opposed ratification of the federal Constitution on the grounds that "we ought never to give others the power to tax us."  His father died in 1795 when John was only 13. As a child, he was mostly homeschooled.<ref>DiLorenzo, Thomas.[https://thenewamerican.com/print/can-john-c-calhoun-save-america/ Can John C. Calhoun Save America?] ''The New American''. Retrieved June 15, 2023.</ref> In a very unusual move for the era, the young man went to New England to attend Yale College, graduating in 1804 as valedictorian, then studied law at one of the nation's first law schools, that run by Tapping Reeve at Litchfield, Connecticut. After further training in Charleston, South Carolina, he was admitted to the bar in 1807 and began practice near his family home. In 1811 he married Floride Bonneau Colhoun, a wealthy second cousin who provided entrée to high society in Charleston. They had nine children and lived at "Fort Hill", a cotton plantation he built,and operated by a white overseer and dozens of slaves.  He had a substantial but routine law practice and was soon bored. He was elected as a Republican to the state legislature in 1808 and to Congress in 1810.

Like so many ambitious young politicians who came of age after the Constitution took effect in 1789 (including Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and John Quincy Adams), Calhoun was profoundly shaped by the Founding Fathers' faith in the potential of republican government.  

Like so many ambitious young politicians who came of age after the Constitution took effect in 1789 (including Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and John Quincy Adams), Calhoun was profoundly shaped by the Founding Fathers' faith in the potential of republican government.