The New Student's Reference Work/Hayne, Robert Young

Hayne, Robert Young, an American statesman, was born in South Carolina in 1791, admitted to the bar in 1812, served in the war with Great Britain, and at its close resumed his law-practice in Charleston. He was a member of the state legislature, afterward its speaker, and from 1818 to 1822 attorney-general of the state. During 1823-32 he was United States senator, and proved a great enemy of protection and a bold supporter of the doctrine of nullification or the alleged right of a state to prevent the carrying out of a law that it considered not according to the constitution. One of Webster's ablest speeches was made in reply to Hayne, when he advocated this doctrine. In 1832 he was elected governor of South Carolina. He died at Asheville, N. C., Sept. 24, 1830.