John C. Calhoun/Bibliography

Please sort and annotate in a user-friendly manner. For formatting, consider using automated reference wikification.

• Bartlett, Irving H. John C. Calhoun: A Biography (1994), 413pp, the best one-volume scholarly biography; for a more detailed biography see Wiltse (3 vol 1944-51); Bartlett, while hostile to slavery, portrays Calhoun as a principled, consistent, and often admirable champion of slavery and the South.
• Brown, Guy Story. Calhoun's Philosophy of Politics: A Study of A Disquisition on Government (2000) 435 pp. excerpt and text search
• Capers, Gerald M. John C. Calhoun, Opportunist: A Reappraisal (1960) online edition
• Capers, Gerald M. "A Reconsideration of John C. Calhoun's Transition from Nationalism to Nullification." Journal of Southern History 1948 14(1): 34-48. in Jstor
• Cheek, H. Lee, Jr. Calhoun and Popular Rule: The Political Theory of the Disquisition and Discourse. (2001). 202 pp. online edition
• Coit, Margaret, L John C. Calhoun: American Portrait 620pp; prize winning popular historyexcerpt and text search
• Current, Richard N. John C. Calhoun (1966), short biography by scholar
• Dillenbeck, Bruce L. "The Decade after Moses: The Political Legacy of John C. Calhoun." PhD dissertation Florida State U. 1990. 298 pp. DAI 1990 51(4): 1361-A. DA9023916 Fulltext: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, focus on impact on South Carolina after his death
• Fitzsimons, Matthew A. "Calhoun's Bid for the Presidency, 1841-1844." Mississippi Valley Historical Review 1951 38(1): 39-60. in Jstor
• Ford, Lacy K. Jr. "Inventing the Concurrent Majority: Madison, Calhoun, and the Problem of Majoritarianism in American Political Thought," Journal of Southern History 60 (1994): 19-58 in JSTOR
• Ford, Lacy K. Jr. "Republican Ideology in a Slave Society: The Political Economy of John C. Calhoun," Journal of Southern History 54 (1988): 405-24; in JSTOR
• Freehling, William W. "Spoilsmen and Interests in the Thought and Career of John C. Calhoun," Journal of American History 52 (1965): 25-42. in JSTOR
• Freehling, William W. The Road to Disunion: Secessionists at Bay, 1776-1854 - Vol. 1 (1991), scholarly study online edition
• Hofstadter, Richard. "The Marx of the Master Class" in The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It, (1948), influential essay on Calhoun. online in ACLS E-Book
• Lander, Ernest M., Jr. Reluctant Imperialists: Calhoun, the South Carolinians, and the Mexican War. (1980). 189 pp.
• Meigs, William Montgomery. The Life of John Caldwell Calhoun, ( 2 vol 1917), old but solid scholarship; complete text online
• Niven, John. John C. Calhoun and the Price of Union: A Biography (1993) excerpt and text search
• Peterson, Merrill D. Great Triumvirate: Webster, Clay, and Calhoun (1987), comparison of three key leaders excerpt and text search
• Scribner, David Lynn. "A Study of the Antecedents, Argument, and Significance of John C. Calhoun's South Carolina Exposition." PhD dissertation U. of Houston 1997. 396 pp. DAI 1998 59(6): 2175-A. DA9835764 Fulltext: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
• Vajda, Zoltan. "John C. Calhoun's Republicanism Revisited," Rhetoric & Public Affairs, 4#3 Fall 2001, pp. 433-457 in Project Muse
• Wiltse, Charles M. John C. Calhoun, Nationalist, 1782-1828, John C. Calhoun, Nullifier, 1829-1839; John C. Calhoun: Sectionalist, 1840-1850, (3 vols. 1944-1951), the standard in-depth scholarly biography

Primary sources

• Calhoun, John Caldwell. Correspondence of John C. Calhoun edited by - John Franklin Jameson. (1900) 1218 pages; highly useful scholarly edition of major letters from and to Calhoun; complete text online letters from Calhoun; complete text online letters to Calhoun
• Calhoun, John Caldwell. Works of John C, Calhoun edited by Richard Kenner Crallé, (6 vol 1854, reprinted 1888) vol 2: speeches 1811-37; vol 3: Speeches 1837-41
  • Calhoun, John Caldwell. A Disquisition on Government edited by Richard Kenner Crallé (1851) 406 pp. online edition
  • Calhoun, John Caldwell. Reports and Public Letters of John C. calhoun edited by Richard Kenner Crallé, (1854, reprinted 1888) complete text
• Calhoun, John C. John C. Calhoun: Selected Writings and Speeches edited by H. Lee Cheek, (2003) excerpt and text search
• Calhoun, John C. Papers of John C. Calhoun (28 volumes, 1959-2003) edited by Clyde N. Wilson et al.
  • vol 28 (2003) contains A Disquisition on Government and Discourse on the Constitution and Government of the United States. excerpt and text search
• Wilson, Clyde N. ed. The Essential Calhoun: Selections from Writings, Speeches, and Letters (1992). 436pp