“S” is for Smith, William (ca. 1762-1840)

“S” is for Smith, William (ca. 1762-1840). U. S. senator. Born near the North Carolina border, Smith was a Jeffersonian of the purist stripe. He espoused strict constructionist and states’ rights principles well before such views came to dominate southern politics. In December 1816 he was elected to the U. S. Senate. In the Senate, Smith gained notoriety in both state and national politics. His defense of the South during the controversy over Missouri’s admission to the Union placed him in the vanguard of proslavery ideology. He and John C. Calhoun were implacable enemies. Their rivalry dominated South Carolina political culture for much of the 1820s. The state’s politics had little room for two competing states’ rights factions. William Smith lost his bid for re-election to the Senate in 1830, retired from politics, and moved to Alabama.