STATE PAPERS 
 
 ON 
 
 NULLIFICATION: 
 
 INCLUDING THE PUBLIC ACTS OF THE 
 
 CONVENTION OF THE PEOPLE 
 
 SOUTH CAROLINA, 
 
 ASSEMBLED AT 
 
 COLUMBIA, NOVEMBER 19, 1832 AND MARCH 11, 1833; 
 
 THE 
 
 p a o-c L:\MATIO-N 
 
 of tljr SlntttU 
 
 AND THE 
 
 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SEVERAL STATE LEGISLATURES 
 
 WHICH HAVE ACTED ON THE SUBJECT. 
 
 COLLECTED AND PUBLISHED 
 BY ORDER OF THE GENERAL, COURT OF MASSACHUSETTS, 
 
 Under the direction of the Committee on the Library. 
 
 DUTTON AND WENTWORTH, PRINTERS TO THE STATE. 
 1834. 
 
of 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, MARCH 26, 1833. 
 
 Ordered, That the Joint Committee on the Library be instruct 
 ed to collect the documents received from the State of South 
 Carolina on the subject of Nullification, the Proclamation of the 
 President of the United States, and the communications from 
 the several States in relation thereto, and to cause the same to 
 be printed and bound, for the use of the members of this Legis 
 lature. 
 
 Sent up for concurrence. 
 
 L. S. CUSHJNG, Clerk. 
 
 IN SENATE, MARCH 26, 1833 
 Concurred. 
 
 CHA S. CALHOUN, Clerk. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 In the following table, the titles of all the papers comprehended in the 
 volume, a few of which were received too late to be inserted in their pro 
 per places, are arranged in the natural order of the subjects, with refer 
 ences to the pages at which they respectively appear. 
 
 Journal of the Convention of the People of South Carolina, assem 
 bled at Columbia, November 19, 1832, 295 
 Report of a Committee of the Convention, to whom was referred 
 an Act to provide for calling a Convention of the People 
 
 of South Carolina, 1 
 
 An Ordinance to nullify certain Acts of the Congress of the United 
 States, purporting to be laws laying duties and imposts on 
 the importation of foreign commodities, .... 33 
 
 Address to the People of South Carolina, by their Delegates in 
 
 Convention, 37 
 
 " to the People of the United States, by the Convention of 
 
 the People of South Carolina, 59 
 
 Proclamation of the President of the United States of America, 75 
 
 Resolves on the proceedings of the Convention of the People of" 
 South Carolina, and on the Proclamation of the Pre 
 sident of the United States, by the Legislature of New 
 
 Hampshire, 101 
 
 " on the same subjects, by the Legislature of Maine, . 105 
 Report of a Committee of the Legislature of Massachusetts, on the 
 
 same subjects, ......... 112 
 
VI 
 
 Resolves on the same subjects, by the Legislature of Massachusetts, 328 
 " " " Connecticut, . 285 
 
 Report on the same subjects, of a Committee of the Legislature of 
 
 New York, 133 
 
 Resolves on the same subjects, by the Legislature of New York, 158 
 " " " N. Jersey, 163 
 
 " " " Pennsylvania, 169 
 
 Report on the same subjects, of a Committee of the Legislature of 
 
 Delaware, 175 
 
 Resolves on the same subjects, by the Legislature of Delaware, . 190 
 
 " " " " " Maryland, . 289 
 
 " " " " Virginia, . 195 
 
 " " North Carolina, 201 
 
 " " " " Ohio, . . 205 
 
 Further Resolves of the Legislature of Ohio, on the same subjects, 209 
 
 Resolves on the same subjects, by the Legislature of Indiana, . 213 
 
 " " " " Illinois, . 377 
 
 Report on the same subjects, of a Committee of the Legislature 
 
 ofAlabama, ... 219 
 
 Resolves on the same subjects, by the Legislature ofAlabama, . 222 
 Recommendations of the Legislature of Alabama to the President 
 of the United States, to the State of South Carolina, and to 
 
 the different States, 224 
 
 Report upon the same subjects, of a Committee of the Legislature 
 
 of Mississippi, .... 229 
 
 Resolves on the same subjects, by the Legislature of Mississippi, 231 
 " of the Legislature of South Carolina, proposing a Con 
 vention of the States, 237 
 
 " proposing a Convention of the States, erroneously certi 
 fied by the authorities of Georgia, as having been 
 adopted by the Legislature of that State, . . . 238 
 Report of a Committee of the Legislature of Massachusetts, on the 
 Resolves of South Carolina, proposing a Convention of the 
 
 States, 244 
 
 Resolves on the same subject, by the Legislature of Massachusetts, 256 
 " " " " " " Ohio, . . 208 
 
 Report of a Committee of the Legislature of Massachusetts^ on the 
 supposed Resolves of the Legislature of Georgia, proposing 
 
 a Convention of the States, 258 
 
 Resolves of the Legislature of Massachusetts, on the same subject, 267 
 Letter from the Governor of Georgia to the Governor of Massa 
 chusetts, correcting the error committed in regard to the 
 supposed Resolves of the Legislature of Georgia, . . 269 
 
Vll 
 
 Resolves of the Legislature of Georgia, proposing a Convention of 
 
 the States, as in fact adopted, 271 
 
 Report of a Committee of the Legislature of Mississippi, on the 
 
 Georgia Resolves, 297 
 
 Resolves of the Legislature of Mississippi, on the same subject, . 280 
 
 Journal of the second session of the Convention of the People of 
 
 South Carolina, assembled at Columbia, March H, 1833, . 321 
 
 Resolves of the Legislature of Virginia, appointing B. W. Leigh, 
 
 Esq., Commissioner to the State of South Carolina, . . 328 
 
 Correspondence between the Commissioner of Virginia and the 
 
 Governor of South Carolina, 331 
 
 Report of a Committee of the Convention, on the mediation of 
 
 Virginia, 347 
 
 " with amendments, as adopted, 355 
 
 Ordinance of the Convention, repealing the Ordinance to nullify 
 
 the Tariff Laws, 352 
 
 Report of a Committee of the Convention, on the Act of the Con 
 gress of the United States further to provide for the collec 
 tion of duties on imposts, 363 
 
 Ordinance to nullify an Act of the Congress, entitled an Act fur 
 ther to provide for the collection of duties on imposts, com 
 monly called the Force Bill, 373 
 
REPORT. 
 
 The Committee to whom was referred "the Act to provide for 
 the calling of a Convention of the people of this State," with 
 instructions "to consider and report thereon, and especially 
 as to the measures proper to be adopted by the Convention, 
 in reference to the violations of the Constitution of the United 
 States, in the enactment by Congress on divers occasions of 
 laws laying duties and imposts for the purpose of encouraging 
 and protecting domestic manufactures, and for other unwar 
 rantable purposes," beg leave respectfully to submit the fol 
 lowing 
 
 REPORT : 
 
 The Committee deeply impressed with the importance of the 
 questions submitted to them, and the weight of responsibility in 
 volved in their decision, have given to the subject their most de 
 liberate and anxious consideration. In stating the conclusions to 
 which they have arrived, they feel that it is due to themselves, to 
 this Convention, and to the public at large, briefly to review the 
 history of the Protecting system in this country, to show its 
 origin, to trace its progress, to examine its character, point 
 out its evils, and suggest the appropriate remedy. They pro 
 pose to execute this task with all possible brevity and simplicity, 
 sensible that the subject is too well understood in all its bear 
 ings to require at this time a very elaborate investigation. 
 
2 
 
 In the natural course of human affairs, the period would have 
 been very remote when the people of the United States would 
 have engaged in manufactures, but for the restrictions upon our 
 commerce, which grew put of the war between Great Britain 
 and, Fianeeyand which led to the non-intercourse act, the em 
 bargo, and finally our own war of 1812. Cut off by these events 
 from a free commercial intercourse with the rest of the world, 
 the people of the United States turned their attention to manu 
 factures, and on the restoration of peace in 1815, an amount of 
 capital had been already invested in these establishments, which 
 made a strong appeal to the liberality, we might almost say to 
 the justice of the country, for protection, at least against that 
 sudden influx of foreign goods, which it was feared would entirely 
 overwhelm these domestic establishments. When therefore in 
 1816 it became necessary that the Revenue should be brought 
 down to the peace establishment, by a reduction of the duties 
 upon imports, it was almost by common consent conceded to 
 the claims of the manufacturers, that this reduction should be 
 gradual, and three years were accordingly allowed for bringing 
 down the duties to the permanent revenue standard, which (em 
 bracing all the ordinary expenses of the government, with libe 
 ral appropriations for the Navy and the Army, an extensive 
 system of fortifications, and the gradual extinction of the public 
 debt, then amounting to $130,000,000,) was fixed at 20 per 
 cent. If the manufacturers had at that time even hinted that 
 permanent protection was deemed indispensable to their suc 
 cess, if the slightest suspicion had been entertained that in 
 stead of the gradual reduction expressly provided for by the act 
 of 1816, there would be claimed a gradual increase of the pro 
 tecting duties, and that instead of being brought down in three 
 years to 20 per cent., the duties were to be carried up to 
 50 or 100 per cent., and in many cases to prohibition, the pain 
 ful contest in which the country has been engaged for the last 
 ten years on this subject would have commenced immediately, 
 and it is confidently believed that in the temper of the public 
 mind at that time, ample security would have been found against 
 the introduction of such a system. But in defiance of the clear 
 understanding of the whole country, and in violation of the 
 principles of justice and of good faith, that part of the act above- 
 
3 
 
 mentioned which required that the duties should be reduced in 
 three years to 20 per cent., was repealed, and a broad founda 
 tion thus laid for the permanent establishment of the protect 
 ing system. This system has been still further extended and 
 fortified by the several successive acts of 1820, 1824, and 1828, 
 until by the passing of the act of 1832, (to take effect after the 
 discharge of the public debt,) it has become incorporated into 
 our political system, as the "SETTLED POLICY OF THE COUNTRY." 
 We have not deemed it necessary, in tracing the origin and pro 
 gress of this system, to go further back than the commercial 
 restrictions which preceded the late war ; for whatever theo 
 retical opinions may have been expressed by Alexander Hamil 
 ton and others in relation to it, at an earlier period, it cannot be 
 denied that no duties were actually imposed beyond those 
 deemed indispensable for the public exigencies, and that prior 
 to the year 1816, no protection whatever was actually extended 
 to manufactures, beyond what was strictly incidental to a sys 
 tem for revenue. The discrimination between the protected and 
 unprotected articles now contended for as the very corner stone 
 of the protecting system, was so far from being established by 
 that act, that the highest duties were actually imposed on the 
 very articles now admitted duty free, while the foreign manu 
 factures which came into competition with our domestic fabrics 
 were subjected to a lower rate of duty. The truth then unques 
 tionably is, that the protecting policy, according to the princi 
 ples now contended for, was never introduced into this country 
 until the period we have mentioned, when it crept insidiously 
 into the legislation of Congress in the manner above described. 
 This will be made abundantly manifest to every one who will 
 take the pains to trace the progress of the duties from 7J per 
 cent., in 1790, up to 25 per cent, in 1816, 40 per cent., in 
 1824, and 50, 60, and even 100 per cent., in 1828 and 1832, and 
 who will merely examine the manner in which these duties were 
 adjusted in the various acts here referred to. As early as 1820, 
 so soon indeed as the capitalists who had relied upon the powers 
 of the Federal Government to enhance the profits of their in 
 vestments by legislation, began to look forward to its eventful 
 establishment as the settled policy of the country, they clearly 
 perceived that an extension of the appropriations to objects not 
 
embraced in the specific grants of the Federal constitution, was 
 the necessary appendage of their system. They well knew that 
 the people would not long submit to the levying of a large sur 
 plus revenue merely for the protection of manufactures, carried 
 on almost exclusively in one quarter of the Union ; and they 
 therefore sought in the extension of the appropriations to new 
 objects, for a plausible and popular excuse for the continuance 
 of a system of high duties. With that instinctive sagacity, 
 which belongs to men who convert the Legislature of a country 
 into an instrument for the promotion of their own private ends, 
 they clearly saw that the distribution of an enormous surplus 
 treasure, would afford the surest means of bringing over the 
 enemies of the American System to its support, and of enlisting 
 in their cause not only large masses of the people, but entire 
 States who had no direct interest in maintaining the protecting 
 system, or who were even, in some respects, its victims. No 
 scheme that the wit of man could possibly have devised, was 
 better calculated for the accomplishment of this object. It pro 
 posed simply to reconcile men to an unjust system of national 
 policy, by admitting them to a large share of the spoils ; in a 
 word, to levy contributions by the aid of those who were to 
 divide the plunder. If the United States had constituted one 
 great nation, with a consolidated Government, occupying a ter 
 ritory of limited extent, inhabited by a people engaged in simi 
 lar pursuits, and having homogeneous interests, such a system 
 would only have operated as a tax upon all the other great in 
 terests of the State, for the benefit of that which was favored by 
 the laws, and when time had been allowed for the adjustment 
 of society to this new condition of its affairs, the final result 
 must have been an aggregate diminution of the profits of the 
 whole community, by diverting a portion of the people from 
 their accustomed employments to less profitable pursuits. In 
 such a case, the hope might perhaps have been indulged that 
 experience would demonstrate the egregious folly of enacting 
 laws, the only effect of which would be, to supply the wants of 
 the community at an increased expense of labor and capital. 
 But it is the distinguishing feature of the American System, and 
 one which stamps upon it the character of peculiar arid aggra 
 vated oppression, that it is made applicable to a Confederacy 
 
of twenty-four Sovereign and Independent States, occupying 
 a territory upwards of 2000 miles in extent, embracing every 
 variety of soil, climate, and productions, inhabited by a people 
 whose institutions and interests are in many respects diametri 
 cally opposed to each other, with habits and pursuits infinitely 
 diversified, and in the great Southern section of the Union, 
 rendered by local circumstances altogether incapable of change. 
 Under such circumstances, a system, which under a consolidated 
 Government would be merely impolitic, and so far, an act of 
 injustice to the whole community, becomes in this country a 
 scheme of the most intolerable oppression, because it may be, 
 and has in fact been, so adjusted as to operate exclusively to the 
 benefit of a particular interest, and of particular sections of 
 country, rendering in effect the industry of one portion of the 
 confederacy tributary to the rest. The laws have accordingly 
 been so framed as to give a direct pecuniary interest to a sec 
 tional majority, in maintaining a grand system, by which taxes 
 are in effect imposed upon the few, for the benefit of the many; 
 and imposed too, by a system of indirect taxation, so artfully 
 contrived, as to escape the vigilance of the common eye, and 
 masked under such ingenious devices as to make it extremely 
 difficult to expose their true character. Thus under the pretext 
 of imposing duties for the payment of the public debt, and pro 
 viding for the common defence and general welfare, (powers 
 expressly conferred on the Federal Government by the Consti 
 tution,) acts are passed containing provisions designed exclu 
 sively and avowedly for the purpose of securing to the American 
 Manufacturers, a monopoly in our own markets, to the great and 
 manifest prejudice of those who furnish the agricultural produc 
 tions which are exchanged in foreign markets for the very arti 
 cles which it is the avowed object of these laws to exclude. If. 
 so happens, that six of the Southern States, whose industry is 
 almost exclusively agricultural, though embracing a population 
 equal to only one third part of the whole Union, actually pro 
 duce for exportation near 40,000,000 annually, being about two- 
 thirds of the whole domestic exports of the United States. As 
 it is their interest, so it is, unquestionably, their right, to carry 
 these fruits of their own honest industry, to the best market, 
 without any molestation, hindrance, or restraint, whatsoever, and 
 
subject to no taxes, or other charges, but such as may be neces 
 sary for the payment of the reasonable expenses of the govern 
 ment. But how does this system operate upon our industry ? 
 While imposts to the amount of 10 or 12 per cent., (if arranged 
 on just and equal principles) must be admitted to be fully ade 
 quate to all the legitimate purposes of Government, duties are 
 actually imposed (with a few inconsiderable exceptions) upon 
 all the Woollens, Cottons, Iron and Manufactures of Iron, Sugar, 
 and Salt, and almost every other article received in exchange for 
 the Cotton, Rice, and Tobacco of the South, equal on an ave 
 rage to about 50 per cent., whereby (in addition to the injurious 
 effects of this system in prohibiting some articles, and discour 
 aging the introduction of others,) a tax equal to one-half of the 
 first cost is imposed upon the Cottons, Woollens, and Iron, 
 which are the fruits of Southern industry, in order to secure an 
 advantage in the home market, to their rivals the American 
 Manufacturers of similar articles, equivalent to one-half of their 
 value, thereby stimulating the industry of the North, and dis 
 couraging that of the South, by granting bounties to the one, 
 and imposing taxes upon the other. 
 
 The Committee deem it unnecessary to go into an elaborate 
 examination of the true character and sectional operation of the 
 protecting system. The subject has of late been so frequently 
 and thoroughly examined, and the bearing of the System been 
 so completely exposed, that the argument is exhausted. To the 
 people of the Southern States, there cannot be presented a more 
 touching or irresistible appeal, either to their understandings or 
 their hearts, than is found in the melancholy memorials of ruin 
 and decay which are every where visible around us, memorials 
 proclaiming the fatal character of that system, which has brought 
 upon one of the finest portions of the globe, in the full vigor of 
 its early manhood, the poverty and desolation, which belong 
 only to the most sterile regions, or to the old age and decrepi 
 tude of nations. The moral blight and pestilence of unwise 
 and partial legislation, has swept over our fields, with " the 
 besom of destruction." The proofs are every where around us. 
 
 It is in vain for any one to contend that this is a just and 
 equal system, or that the Northern States pay a full proportion 
 of the tax. If this were so, how is it to be accounted for, that 
 
high duties are regarded in that quarter of the Union, not as a 
 burden, but as a blessing f 
 
 How comes it that a people, certainly not unmindful of their 
 interests, are seen courting the imposition of taxes, and crying 
 out against any material reduction of the public burdens ? Does 
 not this extraordinary fact afford conclusive evidence that high 
 duties operate as a bounty to Northern industry ; and that what 
 ever taxes the manufacturers may pay, as consumers, they are 
 more than remunerated by the advantages they enjoy as produ 
 cers ? or, in other words, that they actually receive more than 
 they pay, and therefore cannot be justly said to be taxed at all ? 
 When, in addition to all this, we take into consideration that 
 the amount of duties annually levied for the protection of manu 
 factures, beyond the necessary wants of the Government, 
 (which cannot be estimated at less than 10 or 12,000,000) is ex 
 pended almost exclusively in the Northern portion of the Union, 
 can it excite any surprise, that under the operation of the Pro 
 tecting System, the manufacturing States should be constantly 
 increasing in riches, and growing in strength, with an inhospita 
 ble climate and barren soil, while the Southern States, the 
 natural garden of America, should be rapidly falling into decay ? 
 It is contrary to the general order of Providence, that any coun 
 try should long bear up against a system, by which enormous 
 contributions, raised in one quarter, are systematically expended 
 in another. If the sixteen millions of dollars now annually 
 levied in duties on the foreign goods received in exchange for 
 Southern productions were allowed to remain in the pockets of 
 the people, or by some just and equal system of appropriation 
 could be restored to them, the condition of the plantation States 
 would unquestionably be one of unexampled prosperity and 
 happiness. Such was our condition under a system of free 
 trade, and such would soon again be our enviable lot. Of the 
 results which would thereby be produced, some faint conception 
 may be formed by imagining what would be the effect upon the 
 industry of the people of our own State, if the $8,000,000 of 
 foreign goods now annually received in exchange for our pro 
 ductions, and paying duties to the amount of upwards of 
 $3,000,000, could be obtained by us duty free, or the duties 
 thus levied, were expended within our own limits. Is it not ob- 
 
8 
 
 vious that several millions per annum would thereby be added 
 to the available industry of South Carolina? the effect of which 
 would assuredly be, to change the entire face of affairs in this 
 State, by enhancing the profits of the agriculturists, accumulat 
 ing capital, giving a fresh impulse to commerce, and producing 
 a vivifying influence upon every department of industry, the 
 happy consequences of which would be experienced by every 
 inhabitant of the State. We present this strong view of the 
 subject, to shew the manifest justice of the claim which South 
 Carolina now sets up to have this system of raising revenue by 
 duties upon imports restricted within the narrowest limits, and to 
 shew how utterly impossible it is for us to consent to have it ex 
 tended beyond the indispensable wants of the government, 
 either for the purpose of affording protection to the industry of 
 others, or of distributing the proceeds among individuals or 
 States. 
 
 Grievous, however, as the oppression unquestionably is, and 
 calculated in the strong language of our own Legislature, "to 
 reduce the Plantation States to POVERTY and UTTER DESOLA 
 TION," it is not in this aspect that the question is presented in 
 its most dangerous and alarming form. It is not merely that 
 Congress have resorted for unwarrantable purposes to an op 
 pressive exercise of powers granted to them by the Constitution; 
 but that they have usurped a power not granted, and have justified 
 that usurpation on principles, which, if sanctioned or submitted 
 to, must entirely change the character of the Government, re 
 duce the Constitution to a dead letter, and on the ruins of our 
 confederated republic, erect a consolidated despotism, " without 
 limitation of powers." If this be so, there is no man who is 
 worthy of the precious heritage of liberty derived from our an 
 cestors, or who values the free institutions of his country, who 
 must not tremble for the cause of freedom, not only in this 
 country, but throughout the world, unless the most prompt and 
 efficient measures are at once adopted, to arrest the downward 
 course of our political affairs, to stay the hand of oppression, to 
 lestore the Constitution to its original principles, and thereby 
 to perpetuate the Union. 
 
 It cannot be denied that the Government of the United States 
 possesses no inherent powers. It was called into being by the 
 
9 
 
 States. The States not only created it, but conferred upon it 
 all its powers, and prescribed its limits by a -written charter 
 called the Constitution of the United States. Before the Fede 
 ral Government had thus been called into being, the several 
 States unquestionably possessed as full sovereignty, and were as 
 independent of each other as the most powerful nations of the 
 world ; and in the free and undisputed exercise of that sove 
 reignty, they entered into a solemn compact with each other, 
 by which it was provided, that for certain specified objects, a 
 General Government should be established with strictly limited 
 powers ; the several States retaining their sovereignty unim 
 paired, and continuing to exercise all powers not expressly 
 granted to the Federal Government. 
 
 In the clear and emphatic language of Mr. Jefferson, "the 
 several States composing the United States of America, are not 
 united on the principle of unlimited submission to the General 
 Government, but by a compact under the style and title of the 
 Constitution of the United States, they constituted a General 
 Government for special purposes, delegated to that Government 
 certain definite powers, reserving each State to itself the resi 
 duary mass of right to their own self-government, and whenso 
 ever the General Government assumes undelegated powers, its 
 acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force."* That such is 
 the true nature of the Federal compact, cannot admit of a rea 
 sonable doubt, and it follows of necessity, that the Federal 
 Government is merely a joint agency, created by the States, 
 that it can exert no power not expressly granted by them, and 
 that when it claims any power, it must be able to refer to the 
 clause in the charter which confers it. This view of the Con 
 stitution of the United States, brings the question of the consti 
 tutionality of the Tariff within the narrowest limits. 
 
 The regulation of domestic industry, so far as Government may 
 rightfully interfere therewith, belonged to the several States be 
 fore the Constitution was adopted, or the Union sprang into 
 existence ; and it still remains exclusively with them, unless it 
 has has been expressly granted to the Federal Government. If 
 such a grant has been made, it is incumbent on those claiming, 
 
 *See Kentucky Resolutions of 1778. 
 
10 
 
 under it, to point out the provision in the Constitution which 
 embraces it. It must be admitted that there is not a clause or 
 article in that instrument, which has the slightest allusion either 
 to manufactures or to agriculture : while, therefore, the "regu 
 lation of commerce" is expressly conferred on the General Gov 
 ernment, the regulation of every branch of domestic industry 
 is reserved to the several States, exclusively, who may afford 
 them encouragement, by pecuniary bounties, and by all the other 
 means, not inconsistent with the Constitution of the United 
 States. To say that the power to regulate commerce embraces 
 the regulation of agriculture, and manufactures, and all other 
 pursuits of industry, (for they all stand upon the same footing,) 
 is to confound the plainest distinctions, and to lose sight of the 
 true meaning and intent of the grant in question. Commerce 
 is, in general, regulated by treaties with foreign nations ; and, 
 therefore, it was deemed necessary that this power should be 
 confided to the General Government : but agriculture, manu 
 factures, and the mechanic arts, can only be wisely ordered by 
 municipal regulation. Commerce is one object of legislation, 
 manufactures another, agriculture a third ; and if the regulation 
 of commerce implies an unlimited control over every thing 
 which constitutes the object of commerce, it would follow, as a 
 matter of course, that the Federal Government may exert a su 
 preme dominion over the whole labor and capital of the coun 
 try. This would transform our confederated Government, with 
 strictly limited powers, into an absolute despotism, and of the 
 worst sort, where, under the forms of a free Government, we 
 should have the spirit of a despotic one. This view of the sub 
 ject, we should deem perfectly conclusive, even if it could not 
 be shewn that the power in question, so far from being granted, 
 was purposely withheld from the Federal Government, by the 
 framers of the Constitution ; and that there are provisions of the 
 Constitution, from which it may be fairly inferred, that it was 
 intended to be reserved to the States respectively. It appears 
 from the history of the proceedings of the Convention which 
 framed the Constitution, that the subject of the protection of 
 manufactures, was several times brought distinctly to the view of 
 that body, and that they did not see fit to grant to the Federal 
 Government the power in question. In the original proposition, 
 
11 
 
 to confer on Congress the power to impose "duties, imposts, 
 and excises," was embraced "prohibitions and restraints," which 
 may well be supposed to be intended to embrace the protection 
 of manufactures ; but it is is remarkable, that these words were 
 -omitted in the Report of the Committee, on that clause. On 
 the 18th of August, a motion was made, "to establish rewards 
 and immunities, for the promotion of agriculture, commerce, 
 trades, and manufactures ;" but this proposition also failed. On 
 a subsequent day, it was moved, that there should be " a Secre 
 tary of Domestic Affairs, &c., whose duty it should be to attend 
 to matters of general police, the state of agriculture and manu 
 factures, the opening of roads and navigation, and facilitating of 
 intercourse through the United States ; and that he shall, from 
 time to time, recommend such measures and establishments as 
 may tend to promote these objects." This proposition likewise 
 failed, the Constitution containing no provision in conformity 
 therewith. 
 
 Now, as it is utterly impossible, that these several propositions, 
 embracing imposts, duties, prohibitions and restraints, and the 
 encouragement of manufactures, could have been disposed of, 
 without bringing the whole question of domestic manufactures 
 fully into view, it must follow, that, as no power was given to 
 Congress over manufactures, while the power to regulate com 
 merce is expressly conferred, it was not the intention of the fra- 
 mers of the Constitution, to entrust this power to Congress. Al 
 though repeatedly urged to confer such a power, they constantly 
 refused it ; and the Constitution, as finally ratified, contains no 
 provision, whatever, upon the subject. In the Report of Luther 
 Martin, a delegate from Maryland, made to the Legislature of 
 his State, an explanation is given of the proceedings of the 
 Convention, in relation to this matter, which removes every 
 shadow of doubt, with regard to the true meaning and intent of 
 the framers of the Constitution, in relation to the protection of 
 manufactures. It appears from this statement, that, as the en 
 couragement of manufactures had been refused to be conferred 
 upon the Federal Government, it was the desire of Mr. Martin 
 and others, to reserve to the states all the means which they sup 
 posed to be necessary for affording effectual encouragement to 
 manufactures within their own limits. Among those it was pre- 
 
12 
 
 sumed "that there might be cases in which it would be proper 
 for the purpose of encouraging manufactures to lay duties to 
 prohibit the exportation of raw materials, and even in addition to 
 the duties laid by Congress on imports for the sake of revenue, to 
 lay a duty to discourage the importation of particular articles 
 into a State, or to enable the manufacturer here to supply us 
 on as good terms as could be obtained from a foreign market."* 
 Here it will be seen that it is positively stated by Mr. Martin 
 that the power given to Congress to impose duties upon imports, 
 was given expressly "for the sake of revenue," and was not con 
 sidered as extending to any duty "to discourage the importation 
 of particular articles, for the purpose of encouraging manufac 
 tures," and that it was considered that unless the several States 
 should possess this power as well as that of prohibiting the ex 
 portation of certain raw materials, they would not be enabled to 
 extend that complete protection to their own manufacturers 
 which might be deemed indispensable to their success. "The 
 most, however," says Mr. Martin, "which we could obtain, was, 
 that this power might be exercised by the States, by and with 
 the consent of Congress, and subject to its control." Thus, then, 
 it manifestly appears, that in relation to manufactures, the framers 
 of the Constitution positively refused to confer upon the Federal 
 Government, any power whatever; that the power to lay duties, 
 &,c., was conferred for the sake of revenue alone, and was not 
 intended to embrace the power to lay duties "to discourage the 
 importation of particular articles, to enable the manufacturers 
 here to supply us on as good terms as could be obtained from a 
 foreign market ;" and finally, that the whole subject was left in 
 the hands of the several States, with the restriction, "that no 
 State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any impost or 
 duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely ne 
 cessary for executing their inspection laws." This power, it 
 appears, was expressly inserted for the purpose of enabling the 
 States to protect their own manufactures ; and this, it seems, 
 was the only provision which friends of domestic industry could 
 obtain. It is vain to allege that the powers retained by the 
 States on this subject, are inadequate to the effectual accom- 
 
 *Yates s Secret Debates in the Convention, p. 71. 
 
13 
 
 plishment of the -object. If this were so it would only shew the 
 necessity of some further provision on this subject, but surely 
 it will not be pretended that it would justify the usurpation by 
 Congress of a power, not only not granted by the Constitution, 
 but purposely withheld. 
 
 We think, however, that this exposition of the Constitution 
 places the protection of manufactures on the true foundation, on 
 which it should stand in such a Government as ours. Nothing 
 can be more monstrous than that the industry of one or more 
 States in this confederacy, should be made profitable at the ex 
 pense of others, and this must be the inevitable result of any 
 scheme of legislation by the General Government, calculated to 
 promote Manufactures by restrictions upon Commerce or Agri 
 culture. But leave manufactures where agriculture and other 
 domestic pursuits have been wisely left by the Constitution 
 with the several States; and ample security is furnished that no 
 preference will be given to one pursuit over another, and if it 
 should be deemed adviseable in any particular State, to extend 
 encouragement to manufactures, either by direct appropriations 
 of money, or in the way pointed out in the Article of the Con 
 stitution above quoted, that this will be done not at the expense 
 of the rest of the Union, but of the particular State whose citi 
 zens are to derive the advantages of those pursuits. Should 
 Massachusetts, for instance, find it to her advantage to engage 
 in the Manufacture of Woollens or Cottons, or Pennsylvania be 
 desirous of encouraging the working of her Iron Mines, let those 
 States grant bounties out of their own Treasuries, to the persons 
 engaged in these pursuits; and should it be deemed adviseable 
 to encourage their manufactures by duties, "discouraging the 
 importation of similar articles," in these respective States, let 
 them make an application to Congress, whose consent would 
 doubtless be readily given to any acts of those States^ having 
 these objects in view. The Manufacturers of Massachusetts 
 and Pennsylvania would thus be encouraged at the expense of 
 the people of these States respectively. But when they claim 
 to do more than this, to encourage their industry, at the ex 
 pense of the industry of the people of the other States, to pro 
 mote the Manufactures of the North, at the expense of the Agri 
 culture of the South, by restrictions upon Commerce, in a word, 
 
14 
 
 to secure a monopoly for their manufactures, not only in their own 
 market, but throughout the United States, then we say, that the 
 claim is unjust, and cannot be granted consistently with the 
 principles of the Constitution, or the great ends of a Confedera 
 ted Government. We shall not stop to inquire whether, as has 
 been urged with great force, that provision of the Constitution, 
 which confers the power upon Congress "to promote the pro 
 gress of science and the useful arts, by securing, for limited 
 times, to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their re 
 spective writings and discoveries," does not, by a necessary im 
 plication, deny to Congress the power of promoting the useful arts 
 (which include both agriculture and manufactures) by any other 
 means than those here specified. It is sufficient for our purpose 
 to shew that the power of promoting manufactures as a distinct 
 substantive object of legislation, has no where been granted to 
 Congress. As to the incidental protection that may be derived 
 from the rightful exercise of the power, either of regulating com 
 merce, or of imposing taxes, duties and imposts, for the legiti 
 mate purposes of government, this certainly, may be as freely 
 enjoyed by manufactures as it must be by every other branch of 
 domestic industry. But as the power to regulate commerce, 
 conferred expressly for its security, cannot be fairly exerted for 
 its destruction, so neither can it be perverted to the purpose of 
 building up manufacturing establishments, an object entirely 
 beyond the jurisdiction of the Federal Government, so also, the 
 power to levy taxes, duties, imposts and excises, expressly given 
 for the purpose of raising revenue, cannot be used for the dis 
 couragement of importations, for the purpose of promoting man 
 ufactures, without a gross and palpable violation of the plain 
 meaning and intent of the federal compact. Acts may be pass 
 ed on these subjects, falsely purporting, on their face, to have 
 been enacted for the purpose of raising revenue and regulating 
 commerce, but if in truth, they are designed (as the Acts of 
 1824, 1828, and 1832, confessedly and avowedly have been) for an 
 entirely different purpose, viz : for the encouragement and pro 
 motion of manufactures the violation of the Constitution is not 
 less gross, deliberate and palpable, because it assumes the most 
 dangerous of all forms, a violation by perversion, the use of a pow 
 er granted for one purpose, for another and a different purpose^ in 
 
15 
 
 relation to which, Congress has no power to act at all. On the 
 whole, even from the very brief and imperfect view which we have 
 here taken of this subject, we think we have demonstrated that 
 the protecting system is as gross and palpable a violation of 
 the Constitution, according to its true spirit, intent and mean 
 ing, as it is unquestionably unequal, oppressive and unjust in 
 its bearing upon the great interests of the country, and the seve 
 ral sections of the Union. 
 
 But great as are the evils of the American System, fatal as it 
 assuredly must be to the prosperity of a large portion of the 
 Union, and gross as is the violation of the letter and spirit of the 
 Constitution which it perpetrates, the consequences which must 
 inevitably result from the establishment of the pernicious princi 
 ples on which it is founded, are evils of still greater magnitude. 
 An entire change in the character of the Government is the nat 
 ural and necessary consequence of the application to the Consti 
 tution of those latitudinous rules of construction, from which this 
 system derives its existence, and which must "consolidate the 
 States by degrees into one sovereignty ; the obvious tendency 
 and inevitable result of which would be to transform the present 
 representative system of the United States into a Monarchy."* 
 
 We fearlessly appeal to all considerate men, whether it be in 
 the nature of things possible, to hold together such a Confeder 
 acy as ours, by any means short of a military despotism, after it 
 has degenerated into a Consolidated Government ; that is to 
 say, after it shall come to be its established policy to exercise a 
 general legislative control over the interests and pursuits of the 
 whole American People. 
 
 Can any man be so infatuated as to believe, that Congress 
 could regulate wisely the whole labor and capital of this vast 
 Confederacy? Would it not be a burden too grievous to be 
 borne, that a great central Government, necessarily ignorant of 
 the condition of the remote parts of the country, and regardless 
 perhaps of their prosperity, should undertake to interfere with 
 their domestic pursuits, to control their labor, to regulate their 
 property, and to treat them in all respects as dependent Colonies, 
 governed not with reference to their own interests but the inter- 
 
 *Madison s Report. 
 
16 
 
 ests of others? If such a state of things must be admitted to be 
 altogether intolerable, we confidently appeal to the sober judg 
 ment and patriotic feelings of every man who values our free in 
 stitutions and desires to preserve them whether the progress of 
 the Government towards this result has not, of late years, been 
 rapid and alarming? and whether, if the downward course of our 
 affairs cannot be at once arrested, the consummation of this 
 system is not at hand? No sooner had Congress assumed the 
 power of building up manufactures, by successive tariffs, calcu 
 lated and intended to drive men from agriculture and commerce 
 into more favored pursuits, than internal improvements sprung 
 at once into vigorous existence. Pensions have been enlarged to 
 an extent not only before unknown in any civilized country, but 
 they have been established on such principles, as manifest the 
 settled purpose of bestowing the public treasure in gratuities to 
 particular classes of persons, and particular sections of country. 
 Roads and canals have been commenced, and surveys made in 
 certain quarters of the Union, on a scale of magnificence, which 
 evinces a like determination to distribute the public wealth into 
 new and favored channels ; and it is in entire accordance both 
 with the theory and practice of this new system, that the Gener 
 al Government should absorb all the authority of the States, and 
 eventually become the grand depository of the powers, and the 
 general guardian and distributor of the wealth of the whole 
 Union. It is known to all who have marked the course of our 
 national affairs, that Congress has undertaken to create a Bank, 
 and have already assumed jurisdiction over science and the arts, 
 over education and charities, over roads and canals, and almost 
 every other subject, formerly considered as appertaining exclu 
 sively to the States; and that they claim and exercise an unlim 
 ited control over the appropriation of the public lands as well as of 
 the public money. On looking, indeed, to the legislation of the 
 last ten years, it is impossible to resist the conviction, that a fatal 
 change has taken place in the whole policy and entire operation 
 of the Federal Government ; that in every one of its depart 
 ments, it is, both in theory and practice, rapidly verging towards 
 Consolidation ; asserting judicial supremacy over the sovereign 
 States, extending Executive Patronage and influence to the re 
 motest ramifications of society, and assuming legislative control 
 
17 
 
 over every object of local concernment ; thereby reducing the 
 States to petty corporations, shorn of their sovereignty, mere 
 parts of one great whole, standing in the same relation to the 
 Union as a county or parish to the State of which it is a subor 
 dinate part. 
 
 Such is the true character, and such the inevitable tendencies 
 of the American System. And when the case, thus plainly 
 stated, is brought home to the bosoms of patriotic men, surely it 
 is not possible to avoid the conclusion, that a political system, 
 founded on such principles, must bear within it the seeds of pre 
 mature dissolution, and that though it may for a season be ex 
 tended, enlarged and strengthened, through the corrupting influ 
 ence of patronage and power, until it shall have embraced in its 
 serpent folds all the great interests of the State, still the time 
 must come when the people, deprived of all other means of es 
 cape, will rise up in their might and release themselves from this 
 thraldom, by one of those violent convulsions, whereby society 
 is uprooted from its foundations, and the edict of Reform is 
 written in blood. 
 
 Against this system, South Carolina has remonstrated in the 
 most earnest terms. As early as 1820, there was hardly a dis 
 trict or parish in the whole State, from which memorials were not 
 forwarded to Congress, the general language of which was, that 
 the protecting system was "utterly subversive of their rights and 
 interests." Again/in 1823 and 1827, the people of this State 
 rose up almost as one man, and declared to Congress and the 
 world, "that the protecting system was unconstitutional, oppres 
 sive and unjust." But these repeated remonstrances were an 
 swered only by repeated injuries and insults, by the enacting of 
 the tariffs of 1824 and 1828. To give greater dignity, and if 
 possible more effect to these appeals, the Legislature, in Dec. 
 1825, solemnly declared, "that it was an unconstitutional exer 
 cise of power on the part of Congress, to lay duties to protect 
 domestic manufactures," and in 1828, they caused to be present 
 ed to the Senate of the U. States, and claimed to have recorded 
 on its Journals the solemn Protest of the State of South Carolina, 
 denouncing this system as " utterly unconstitutional, grossly un 
 equal and oppressive, and such an abuse of power as was incom 
 patible with the principles of a free government, and the great 
 4 
 
18 
 
 ends of civil society," and that they were " then only restrained 
 from the assertion of the sovereign rights of the State, by the hope 
 that the magnanimity and justice of the good people of the Union 
 would effect an abandonment of a system partial in its nature, 
 unjust in its operation, and not within the powers delegated to 
 Congress." And finally, in Dec. 1830, it was Resolved, "That 
 the several Acts of Congress, imposing duties on imports, for the 
 protection of domestic manufactures are highly dangerous, and 
 oppressive violations of the constitutional compact ; and that 
 whenever the States which are suffering under the oppression, 
 shall lose all reasonable hope of redress from the wisdom and 
 justice of the Federal Government, it will be their right and duty 
 to interpose, in their sovereign capacity, for the purpose of ar 
 resting the progress of the evil occasioned by the said unconsti 
 tutional acts." 
 
 Nor has South Carolina stood alone in the expression of these 
 sentiments : Georgia and Virginia, Alabama and Mississippi, 
 and North Carolina, have raised their voices in earnest remon 
 strances and repeated warnings. Virginia, in 1S28, in respond 
 ing to South Carolina, declared "that the Constitution of the 
 United States, being a Federative compact between sovereign 
 States, in construing which no common arbiter is known, each 
 State has a right to construe the compact for itself; and that 
 Virginia as one of the high contracting parties, feels itself bound 
 to declare, and does hereby, most solemnly declare its deliberate 
 conviction, that the acts of Congress usually denominated the 
 Tariff Laws, passed avowedly for the protection of domestic 
 manufactures, are not authorized by the plain construction, true 
 intent and meaning of the Constitution." 
 
 Georgia, through her Legislature, pronounced this system to 
 be one "which was grinding down the resources of one class of 
 the States to build up and advance the prosperity of another of 
 the same confederacy and which they solemnly believed to be 
 contrary to the letter and spirit of the Federal Constitution," 
 and declared it to be the right of the several States, in case of 
 any infraction of the general compact, "to complain, remon 
 strate, and even refuse obedience to any measure of the General 
 Government manifestly against and in violation of the Constitu 
 tion, that otherwise the law might be violated with impunity, 
 
19 
 
 and without redress, as often as the majority might think proper 
 to transcend their powers, and the party injured would be bound 
 to yield an implicit obedience to the measure, however uncon 
 stitutional, which must tend to annihilate all sovereignty and in 
 dependence of the States, and consolidate all power in the 
 General Government, which never was designed nor intended 
 by the framers of the Constitution." 
 
 Alabama also protested against " the attempt to exclude the 
 foreign in favour of the domestic fabrics, as the exercise of a 
 power not granted by the Constitution," and concluded by 
 stating, "that she wished it to be distinctly understood, that in 
 common with the other Southern and Southwestern States, she 
 regards the power asserted by the General Government, to con 
 trol her internal concerns by protecting duties, as a palpable 
 usurpation of powers not given by the Constitution, and a spe 
 cies of oppression little short of legalized pillage." 
 
 North Carolina, in the same spirit, declared, that while " it 
 was conceded that Congress have the express power to lay im 
 posts, she maintains that that power was given for the purpose 
 of Revenue, and Revenue alone, and that every other use of the 
 power is an usurpation on the part of Congress." And, finally, 
 the Legislature of Mississippi, "Resolved, that the State of Mis 
 sissippi concurs with the States of Georgia, South Carolina, and 
 Virginia, in their different resolutions upon the subject of the 
 Tariff , Colonization Society, and Internal Improvement." 
 
 It has been in the face of all these remonstrances and pro 
 tests, and in defiance of these repeated warnings and solemn 
 declarations, that the recent modification of the Tariff, by the 
 Act of 1832, was effected. The period of the final extinction 
 of the Public Debt, had always been looked to as the crisis of 
 our fate, when the policy of the country, in reference to the 
 Protective System, was to be finally settled. It was the period 
 assigned by common consent, as the utmost limit of the forbear 
 ance of South Carolina, whose citizens felt that in the adoption 
 of that System, their Constitutional Rights had been trampled 
 on, and their dearest interests cruelly sacrificed. 
 
 No one could fail to perceive, that whenever a pretext for the 
 continuance of the high duties under which the Southern States 
 had suffered for so many years, was taken away by the payment 
 
20 
 
 of the National Debt, and the consequent relief of the Treasury 
 from an annual demand of twelve millions of dollars; that no 
 reason could be given why these duties should not be brought 
 down to the revenue standard, except that it was deliberately 
 designed to secure to the Manufacturers for ever, the monopoly 
 they had so long enjoyed, at the expense of the other great in 
 terests of the country. 
 
 We find, accordingly, that the new Tariff, which is intended 
 to take effect, only after the final extinguishment of the Public 
 Debt, has been arranged and adjusted with a single eye, to the 
 perpetuation of this System ; and with an entire disregard of 
 the just claims of the Plantation States. Whatever may be the 
 amount of the aggregate reduction effected by this bill, (and it 
 is not pretended in the latest Treasury estimate, to exceed 
 $5,000,000, of which near 4,000,000 of dollars are on the un 
 protected articles,) it is not denied that it will leave a surplus 
 of many milions in the Treasury, beyond the usual expenses or 
 necessary wants of the Government ; and it is notorious nay, 
 it appears on the face of the Bill itself, that while duties to the 
 amount of 40, 50, and even 100 per cent., are still to be levied 
 upon the protected articles, (that is to say, upon all the Cottons, 
 Woollens, and Iron, the Sugar, and the Salt, and other articles 
 embraced in the Protecting System ;) the duties on the unpro 
 tected articles, have been reduced greatly below the revenue 
 standard, and upwards of $3,000,000, entirely repealed ; so, that 
 according to this System, as now established, a large surplus 
 revenue to be applied to Internal Improvements and other un 
 warrantable purposes, is to be levied by the imposition of enor 
 mous Taxes on the necessaries of life, the very articles received 
 chiefly in exchange for Southern productions; and this has 
 been done, in order to protect the industry of the North, with 
 which ours comes into competition, while the articles of luxury 
 universally acknowledged to be the fittest subjects for taxation, 
 are to be admitted duty free.* 
 
 Now, let it be remembered, that the very point in controversy, 
 has all along been, not the Revenue, but the Protecting duties, 
 and yet we see, that in answer to all our petitions and remon- 
 
 *See Treasury Estimate published in August last, shewing an aggregate reduction of 
 $5,187,078, of which $3,108,631 were made entirely free. 
 
21 
 
 strances, Congress has been graciously pleased to make an ad 
 justment of the Tariff, which simply consists in taking off the 
 duties imposed for Revenue, while the protecting duties are 
 allowed to remain substantially untouched. It was not so much 
 the amount of the imposition, as the inequality and injustice of 
 the Protecting System, that has roused the people of South 
 Carolina to determined resistance ; and yet we find, that this 
 inequality has been aggravated, and that injustice perpetuated 
 by the deliberate adoption of a measure, which was calculated 
 and intended to rivet this System upon us, beyond all hope of 
 relief. 
 
 The grave and solemn question now occurs, what is to be done 
 to redeem ourselves from the state of Colonial vassalage into 
 which we have unhappily fallen ? Shall we still continue to 
 wait for a returning sense of justice on the part of our oppress 
 ors ? We are thoroughly persuaded, that the hope can no longer 
 be indulged, that the Tariff majority in Congress will, of their 
 own accord, relieve us from this cruel bondage ; experience 
 teaches us that this expectation so long and fondly indulged, is 
 utterly delusive. The only effect of further delay must be to 
 strengthen the hand of the oppressor, to crush the public spirit, 
 deaden the sensibility of the people to the inestimable value of 
 their rights, and teach them the degrading lesson of wearing 
 their chains in patience. It is almost inconceivable that any 
 reflecting man can believe that the crisis in our affairs, arising 
 from the final extinction of the public debt, should be suffered 
 to pass away, without reducing the tariff to the revenue standard, 
 and yet that such reduction may be expected to take place at 
 some future period. What period so auspicious as that which 
 has been allowed to pass away unimproved ? Is any one so 
 ignorant of human nature, as riot to know that the annual sur 
 plus, which then will be brought into the Treasury, under the 
 act of 1832, will be speedily absorbed by new and enlarged ap 
 propriations, serving as additional props to a system, which some 
 vainly imagine to be tottering on its base, ready to fall under its 
 own weight ? Even at the last session of Congress, the annual 
 appropriations were enlarged by several millions of dollars, in 
 anticipation of this expected surplus ; and the foundation is 
 already laid for its absorption, and when this shall be accom- 
 
22 
 
 plished, where will be the hopes of those who now say that the 
 evil is to correct itself, and who tell us that the act of 1832, 
 which was in fact designed to rivet the system upon the country 
 for ever, and was hailed by its friends as " a clear, distinct, 
 and indisputable admission of the principle of protection," is to 
 be viewed as a blessed reform presenting the brightest auspices 
 for the future ? The truth unquestionably is, that the American 
 System is from its very nature progressive. When its founda 
 tions were laid, it was foreseen and predicted that the great 
 interests which it would build up, would exert a controlling in 
 fluence over the legislation of the country. The history of the 
 world, indeed, affords no example of a voluntary relinquishment 
 by a favored class of any pecuniary or political advantage, se 
 cured to them by the laws and general policy of the country. 
 Force has often torn from the hands of the oppressor his un 
 righteous gains, but reason and argument are as vain in con 
 vincing the understanding, as appeals to justice and magna 
 nimity have ever proved to be impotent in softening the hearts 
 of those who are enriched under the operation of laws passed 
 professedly for the public good. Who is there, that can for 
 one moment believe that any thing short of a direct appeal to 
 their interests, will induce the dependants upon the Federal 
 Government, the wealthy sugar planters and iron masters, or the 
 joint stock companies, who have millions invested in cotton and 
 woollen factories, yielding under the operation of the protecting 
 system an annual income of 10 or 20 per cent., voluntarily to 
 relinquish the advantage secured to them by the laws, and con 
 sent to come down to a level with the other classes of the com 
 munity ? It is impossible. From every view then which your 
 Committee have been able to take of this subject, they are con 
 strained to announce to this Convention the solemn truth, that 
 after more than ten years of patient endurance of a system, 
 which is believed by the people of this State to be fatal to their 
 prosperity, and a gross, deliberate, and palpable violation of their 
 constitutional rights ; after the most earnest and unavailing ap 
 peals to that sense of justice, and those common sympathies, 
 which ought to bind together the different members of a con 
 federated republic, the crisis has at length arrived, when the 
 question must be solemnly and finally determined, whether there 
 
23 
 
 remain any means, within the power of the State by which these 
 evils may be redressed. 
 
 It is useless to disguise the fact, or to attempt to delude our 
 selves on this subject ; the time has come when the State must 
 either adopt a decisive course of action, or we must at once aban 
 don the contest. We cannot again petition, it would be idle to 
 remonstrate, and degrading to protest. In our estimation it is 
 now a question of Liberty or Slavery. It is now to be decided, 
 whether we shall maintain the rights purchased by the precious 
 blood of our fathers, and transmit them unimpaired to our pos 
 terity, or tamely surrender them without a struggle. We are 
 constrained to express our solemn conviction, that, under the 
 protecting system, we have been reduced to a state of "colonial 
 dependence, suffering and disgrace," and that unless we now fly 
 with the spirit which becomes freemen, to the rescue of our lib 
 erties, they are lost forever. Brought up in an ardent devotion 
 to the Union of the States, the people of South Carolina have 
 long struggled against the conviction, that the powers of the 
 Federal Government have been shamefully perverted to the pur 
 poses of injustice and oppression. Bound to their brethren by 
 the proud recollections of the past, and fond hopes of the future, 
 by common struggles for liberty and common glories, acquired 
 in its defence, they have been brought slowly, and with the ut 
 most reluctance, to the conclusion, that they are shut out from 
 their sympathies, and made the unpitied victims of an inexorable 
 system of tyranny, which is without example in any country 
 claiming to be free. Experience has at length taught us the 
 lamentable truth, that administered as the government now is, 
 and has been for several years past, in open disregard of all the 
 limitations prescribed by the Constitution, the Union itself, in 
 stead of being a blessing must soon become a curse. Liberty, 
 we are thoroughly persuaded, cannot be preserved under our 
 system without a sacred and inviolable regard not merely to the 
 letter, but to the true spirit of the Constitution ; and without 
 liberty the Union would not be worth preserving. If then there 
 were no alternative but to submit to these evils, or to seek a rem 
 edy even in Revolution itself, we could not, without proving our 
 selves recreant to the principles hallowed by the example of our 
 ancestors, hesitate a moment as to our choice. We should say, 
 
24 
 
 in the spirit of our fathers, "we have counted the cost, and find 
 nothing so intolerable as voluntary slavery." But we cannot 
 bring ourselves for one moment to believe that the alternative 
 presented to us is revolution or slavery. We confidently be 
 lieve that there is a redeeming spirit in our institutions, which 
 may, on great occasions, be brought to our aid for the purpose 
 of preserving the public liberty, restoring the Constitution, and 
 effecting a regeneration of the Government; and thereby pro 
 ducing a redress of intolerable grievances, without war, revolu 
 tion, or a dissolution of the Union. These great objects, we feel 
 assured, may even now be effected, unless those who are in pos- 
 sion of the powers of the government, and charged with the ad 
 ministration of our national affairs, shall resolve to persevere in 
 a course of injustice, and prove by their conduct that they love 
 the usurpation (to which the people of this State are unalterably 
 determined not to submit) better than the Union. We believe 
 that the redeeming spirit of our system is State Sovereignty 
 and that it results from the very form and structure of the Fede 
 ral Government ; that when the rights reserved to the several 
 States are deliberately invaded, it is their right and their duty to 
 "interpose for the purpose of arresting the progress of the evil of 
 usurpation, and to maintain within their respective limits the au 
 thorities and privileges belonging to them as independent sove 
 reignties."* If the several States do not possess this right, it is 
 in vain that they claim to be sovereign. They are at once re 
 duced to the degrading condition of humble dependants on the 
 will of the Federal Government. South Carolina claims to be a 
 sovereign State. She recognizes no tribunal upon earth as above 
 her authority. It is true she has entered into a solemn compact 
 of Union with oth<3r sovereign States ; but she claims, and will 
 exercise the right to determine the extent of her obligations under 
 that compact, nor will she consent that any other power shall 
 exercise the right of judgment for her. And when that compact 
 is violated by her co-States, or by the Government which they 
 have created, she asserts her unquestionable right, " to judge of 
 the infractions, as well as of the mode and measure of redress. "f 
 South Carolina claims no right to judge for others. The States 
 
 "Virginia Resolutions of 98. fKentucky Resolutions of 1798. 
 
25 
 
 who are parties to the compact, must judge each for itself, 
 whether that compact has been pursued or violated ; and should 
 they differ irreconcileably in opinion, there is no earthly tribunal 
 that can authoritatively decide between them. It was in the 
 contemplation of a similar case, that Mr. Jefferson declared that 
 if the difference could neither be compromised, nor avoided, it 
 was the peculiar felicity of our system, to have provided a reme 
 dy in a Convention of all the States, by whom the Constitution 
 might be so altered or amended, as to remove the difficulty. 
 To this tribunal, South Carolina is willing that an appeal should 
 now be made, and that the constitutional compact should be so 
 modified as to accomplish all the great ends for which the 
 Union was formed, and the Federal Government constituted, 
 and, at the same time, restore the rights of the States, and pre 
 serve them from violation hereafter. Your Committee purposely 
 avoid entering here into an cAumiiiatiuu of trie nature and cha 
 racter of this claim, which South Carolina asserts, to interpose 
 her sovereignty, for the protection of her citizens from the ope 
 ration of unconstitutional Laws, and the preservation of her own 
 reserved rights. In an Address, which will be submitted to the 
 Convention, this subject will be fully examined, and they trust 
 that it will be made to appear, to the entire satisfaction of every 
 dispassionate mind, that in adopting the Ordinance which the 
 Committee herewith report, declaring the Tariff Laws passed 
 for the protection of Domestic Manufacturers, null and void, 
 and not Law, and directing the Legislature to provide, that the 
 same shall not be enforced within the limits of this State, 
 South Carolina will be asserting her unquestionable rights, and 
 in no way violating her obligations under the Federal Compact. 
 The Committee cannot dismiss this point, however, even for 
 the present, without remarking, that in asserting the principles, 
 and adopting the course, which they are about to recommend, 
 South Carolina will only be carrying out the doctrines which 
 were asserted by Virginia and Kentucky in 1798, and which 
 have been sanctified by the high authority of Thomas Jefferson. 
 It is from the pen of this great apostle of liberty, that we have 
 been instructed that to the Constitutional compact, " each State 
 acceded as a State, and is an integral party, its co-states form 
 ing as to itself the other party," that " they alone being parties 
 5 
 
26 
 
 to the compact, are solely authorized to judge in the last resort 
 of the powers exercised under it: Congress being not a party, 
 but merely the creature of the compact," that it becomes a 
 sovereign State, " to submit to undelegated, and. consequently, 
 unlimited power in no man or body of men on earth : that in 
 cases of abuse of the delegated powers, the members of the Gene 
 ral Government being chosen by the people, a change by the 
 people would be the Constitutional remedy ; but where powers 
 are assumed which have not been delegated, [the very case now 
 before us] a nullification of the act is the rightful remedy ; 
 that every State has a natural right, in cases not within the 
 compact, [auus non faderis] to nullify, of their own authority, 
 all assumption of power by others within their limits, and that 
 without this right they would be under the dominion absolute 
 and unlimited, of whomsoever might exercise the right of judg 
 ment for them ;" aod that iu case uf acts being passed by Con 
 gress. " so palpably against the Constitution as to amount to an 
 undisguised declaration, that the compact is not meant to be 
 the measure of the powers of the General Government, but that 
 it will proceed to exercise over the States all powers whatso 
 ever, by seizing the rights of the States, and consolidating them 
 in the hands of the General Government, with a power assumed 
 of binding the States, not merely in cases made federal, but in 
 all cases whatsoever, by laws made, not with their consent, but 
 by others against their consent, it would be the duty of the 
 States to declare the Acts void and of no force, and that each 
 should take measures of its own for providing that neither such 
 acts, nor any other of the General Government, not plainly and 
 intentionally authorized by the Constitution, shall be exercised 
 within their respective territories." 
 
 In acting on these great and essential truths, South Carolina 
 surely cannot err. She is convinced, and has so declared to 
 Congress and the World, that the protecting system is in all its 
 branches a "gross, deliberate, and palpable violation of the 
 Constitution." She believes that after having exhausted every 
 other means of redress in vain, it is her right, and that it has 
 now become her solemn duty, to interpose for arresting the evil 
 within her own limits, by declaring said Acts " to be null and 
 void, and no law. and taking measures of her own that they shall 
 
27 
 
 not be enforced within her territory." That duty she means to 
 perform, and to leave the consequences in the hands of Him. 
 with whom are the issues of life and the destinies of nations. 
 
 South Carolina will continue to cherish a sincere attachment 
 to the onoN of the States, and will to the utmost of her poster 
 endeavor to preserve it, " and believes that for this end, it is her 
 duty to watch over and oppose any infraction of those principles 
 which constitute the only basis of that union, because a faithful 
 observance of them can alone secure its existence." She vene 
 rates the Constitution, and will protect and defend it " against 
 every aggression, either foreign or domestic ;~ but, abore all, 
 she estimates as beyond all price her liberty, which she is un 
 alterably determined never to surrender while she has the power 
 to maintain it. Influenced by these views, your Committee re 
 port herewith, for the adoption of the Convention, a solemn 
 Declaration and Ordinance. 
 
AN ORDINANCE, 
 
 To Nullify certain Acts of the Congress of the United States, pur 
 porting to be Laws laying Duties and Imposts on the Importation 
 of Foreign Commodities. 
 
 WHEREAS, the Congress of the United States, by various acts, 
 purporting to be acts laying duties and imposts on foreign im 
 ports, but in reality intended for the protection of domestic 
 manufactures, and the giving of bounties to classes and indi 
 viduals engaged in particular employments, at the expense and 
 to the injury and oppression of other classes and individuals, and 
 by wholly exempting from taxation, certain foreign commodities, 
 such as are not produced or manufactured in the United States, 
 to afford a pretext for imposing higher and excessive duties on 
 articles similar to those intended to be protected, hath exceeded 
 its just powers under the Constitution, which confers on it no 
 authority to afford such protection, and hath violated the true 
 meaning and intent of the Constitution, which provides for 
 equality in imposing the burdens of taxation upon the several 
 States and portions of the Confederacy ; And, whereas, the 
 said Congress, exceeding its just power to impose taxes and col 
 lect revenue for the purpose of effecting and accomplishing the 
 specific objects and purposes which the Constitution of the 
 United States authorizes it to effect and accomplish, hath raised 
 and collected unnecessary revenue, for objects unauthorized by 
 the Constitution ; 
 
 We, therefore, the people of the State of South Carolina, in 
 Convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby 
 declared and ordained, that the several acts and parts of acts of 
 the Congress of the United States, purporting to be laws for the 
 imposing of duties and imposts on the importation of foreign 
 commodities, and now having actual operation and effect within 
 the United States, and more especially an act entitled " an act 
 in alteration of the several acts imposing duties on imports," ap 
 proved on the nineteenth day of May, one thousand eight him- 
 
29 
 
 dred and twenty-eight, and also an act entitled " an act to alter 
 and amend the several acts imposing duties on imports," approved 
 on the fourteenth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and 
 thirty-two, are unauthorized by the Constitution of the United 
 States, and violate the true meaning and intent thereof, and are 
 null, void, and no law, nor binding upon this State, its officers or 
 citizens ; and all promises, contracts, and obligations made or 
 entered into, or to be made or entered into with purpose to 
 secure the duties imposed by the said acts, and all judicial pro 
 ceedings which shall be hereafter had in affirmance thereof, are 
 and shall be held utterly null and void. 
 
 And it is further ordained, That it shall not be lawful for any 
 of the constituted authorities, whether of this State, or of the 
 United States, to enforce the payment of duties imposed by the 
 said acts within the limits of this State ; but it shall be the duty 
 of the Legislature to adopt such measures, and pass such acts as 
 may be necessary to give full effect to this ordinance, and to pre 
 vent the enforcement and arrest the operation of the said acts and 
 parts of acts of the Congress of the United States, within the limits 
 of this State, from and after the first day of February next, and 
 the duty of all other constituted authorities, and all persons resi 
 ding or being within the limits of this State, and they are hereby 
 required and enjoined to obey and give effect to this Ordinance, 
 and such acts and measures of the Legislature as may be passed 
 or adopted in obedience thereto. 
 
 And it is further ordained, That in no case of law or equity, 
 decided in the Courts of this State, wherein shall be drawn in 
 question the authority of this Ordinance, or the validity of such 
 act or acts of the Legislature as may be passed for the purpose 
 of giving effect thereto, or the validity of the aforesaid acts of 
 Congress, imposing duties, shall any appeal be taken or allowed 
 to the Supreme Court of the United States, nor shall any copy 
 of the record be permitted or allowed for that purpose ; and if 
 any such appeal shall be attempted to be taken, the Courts of 
 this State, shall proceed to execute and enforce their judgments, 
 according to the laws and usages of the State, without reference 
 to such attempted appeal, and the person or persons attempting 
 to take such appeal may be dealt with as for a contempt of the 
 Court. 
 
30 
 
 And it is further ordained, That all persons now holding any 
 office of honor, profit or trust, civil or military, under this State, 
 (members of the Legislature excepted) shall, within such time, 
 and in such manner as the Legislature shall prescribe, take an 
 oath, well and truly to obey, execute and enforce this Ordinance, 
 and such act or acts of the Legislature as may be passed in pur 
 suance thereof, according to the true intent and meaning of the 
 same ; and, on the neglect or omission of any such person or 
 persons so to do, his or their office or offices shall be forthwith 
 vacated, and shall be filled up, as if such person or persons were 
 dead, or had resigned ; and no person hereafter elected to any 
 office of honor, profit or trust, civil or military, (members of the 
 Legislature excepted) shall, until the Legislature shall otherwise 
 provide and direct, enter on the execution of his office, or be in any 
 respect competent to discharge the duties thereof, until he shall, 
 in like manner, have taken a similar oath ; and no juror shall be 
 impannelled in any of the Courts of this State, in any cause in 
 which shall be in question this Ordinance, or any act of the Le 
 gislature passed in pursuance thereof, unless he shall first, in 
 addition to the usual oath, have taken an oath that he will well 
 and truly obey, execute, and enforce this Ordinance, and such 
 act or acts of the Legislature, as may be passed to carry the 
 same into operation and effect, according to the true intent and 
 meaning thereof. 
 
 And we, the people of South Carolina, to the end that it may 
 be fully understood by the Government of the United States, and 
 the people of the co-States, that we are determined to maintain 
 this, our Ordinance and declaration, at every hazard, do further 
 declare that we will not submit to the application of force, on 
 the part of the Federal Government, to reduce this State to 
 obedience ; but that we will consider the passage by Congress, 
 of any act authorizing the employment of a military or naval 
 force against the State of South Carolina, her constituted autho 
 rities or citizens, or any act, abolishing or closing the ports of 
 this State, or any of them, or otherwise obstructing the free in 
 gress and egress of vessels to and from the said ports, or any 
 other act on the part of the Federal Government, to coerce the 
 State, shut up her ports, destroy or harrass her commerce, or to 
 enforce the acts hereby declared to be null and void, otherwise 
 
31 
 
 than through the civil tribunals of the country, as inconsistent 
 with the longer continuance of South Carolina in the Union ; 
 and that the people of this State will thenceforth hold themselves 
 absolved from all further obligation to maintain or preserve their 
 political connexion with the people of the other States, and will 
 forthwith proceed to organize a separate Government, and do all 
 other acts and things which sovereign and independent States 
 may of right do. 
 
 Done in Convention, at Columbia, the twenty-fourth day of 
 November, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred 
 and thirty-two, and in the fifty-seventh year of the Declaration 
 of the Independence of the United States of America. 
 
 JAMES HAMILTON, JUN., President of the Convention, 
 
 and Delegate from St. Peters. 
 
 James Hamilton, sen. 
 
 Richard Bohun Baker, sen. 
 
 Samuel Warren. 
 
 Nathaniel Heyvvard. 
 
 Robert Long. 
 
 J. B, Earle. 
 
 L, M. Ayer. 
 
 Benjamin Adams. 
 
 James Adams. 
 
 James Anderson. 
 
 Robert Anderson. 
 
 William Arnold. 
 
 John Ball. 
 
 Barnard E. Bee. 
 
 Thomas W. Boone. 
 
 James Lynah. 
 
 Francis Y. Legare. 
 
 Alex. L Lawton. 
 
 John Lipscomb. 
 
 John Logan. 
 
 J. Littlejohn. 
 
 A. Lancastar. 
 
 John Magrath. 
 
 Wm. M. Murray. 
 R. G. Mills. 
 John B. McCall. 
 D. H. Means. 
 R. G. Mays. 
 R. W. Barnwell. 
 Isaac Bradwell jr. 
 Thomas G. Blewett. 
 P. M. Butler. 
 John G. Brown. 
 J. G. Brown. 
 John Bauskett. 
 A. Burt. 
 Francis Burt, jr. 
 Bailey Barton. 
 A. Bowie. 
 James A. Black. 
 A. H. Belin. 
 Philip Cohen. 
 Samuel Cordes. 
 Thomas H. Colcock, 
 C. J. Colcock. 
 Charles G. Capers. 
 
Benj. A. Markley. 
 John S. Maner. 
 John Counts. 
 Benjamin Chambers. 
 I. A. Campbell. 
 Wm. Dubose. 
 John H. Dawson. 
 John Douglas. 
 George Douglas. 
 F. H. Elmore. 
 Wm. Evans. 
 Edmund J. Felder. 
 A. Fuller. 
 Theo. L. Gourdin. 
 Peter G. Gourdin. 
 T. J. Goodwyn. 
 Peter Gaillard, jr. 
 John K. Griffin. 
 George W. Gleen. 
 Alex. L. Gregg. 
 Robert Y. Hayne. 
 William Harper. 
 Thomas Harrison. 
 John Hatton. 
 Thomas Harllee. 
 Abm. Huguenin. 
 Jacob Bond POn. 
 John S. Jeter. 
 Job Johnston. 
 John S. James. 
 M. Jacobs. 
 J. A. Keith. 
 John Key. 
 Jacob H. King. 
 Stephen Lacoste. 
 George McDuffie. 
 James Moore. 
 John L. Miller. 
 Stephen D. Miller. 
 
 Wm. C. Clifton. 
 West Caughman. 
 Wm. Porcher. 
 Edward G. Palmer. 
 Chs. C. Pinckney. 
 Wm. C. Pinckney. 
 Thomas Pinckney. 
 Francis D. Quash. 
 John Rivers. 
 Donald Rowe. 
 Benjamin Rogers. 
 Thomas Ray. 
 James G. Spann. 
 James Spann. 
 S. L. Simons. 
 Peter J. Shand. 
 James Mongin Smith, 
 G. H. Smith. 
 Wm. Smith. 
 Stepen Smith. 
 Wm. Stringfellow. 
 Edwin J. Scott. 
 F. W. Symmes. 
 J. S. Sims. 
 T. D. Singleton. 
 Joseph L. Stevens. 
 T. E. Screven. 
 Robt. J. Turnbull. 
 Elisha Tyler. 
 Philip Tidyman. 
 Isaac B. Ulmer. 
 Peter Vaught. 
 Elias Vanderhorst. 
 John L. Wilson. 
 Isham Walker. 
 Wm. Williams. 
 Thos. B. Woodward. 
 Sterlin C. Williamson. 
 F. H. Wardlaw. 
 
33 
 
 John B. Miller. Abner Whatley. 
 
 R. P. McCord. J. T. Whitefield. 
 
 John L. Nowell. Saml. L. Watt. 
 
 Jennings O Bannon. Nicholas Ware. 
 
 J. Walter Phillips. Wm. Waties. 
 
 Charles Parker. Archibald Young. 
 [Attest.] 
 
 ISAAC W. HAYNE, 
 
 Clerk of the Convention. 
 
ADDRESS 
 
 TO THE 
 
 PEOPLE OP SOUTH CAROLINA, 
 
 BY THEIR 
 
 DELEGATES IN CONVENTION. 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 FELLOW CITIZENS : 
 
 THE situation in which you hare been placed by the usurpa 
 tions of the Federal Government, is one which you so peculiarly 
 feel, as to render all reference to it at this moment unnecessary. 
 For the last ten years the subject of your grievances has been 
 presented to you. This subject you have well considered You 
 have viewed it in all its aspects, bearings, and tendencies, and 
 you seem more and more confirmed in the opinion, expressed by 
 both branches of the Legislature, that the Tariff, in its operation, 
 is not only "grossly unequal and unjust, but is such an abuse of 
 power as is incompatible with the principles of a Free Govern 
 ment, and the great ends of civil society ;" and that, if persisted 
 in, "the fate of this State would be poverty and utter desolation." 
 Correspondent with this conviction, a disposition is manifested 
 in every section of the Country, to arrest, by some means or 
 other, the progress of this intolerable evil. This disposition 
 having arisen, from no sudden excitement, but having been grad 
 ually formed by the free and temperate discussions of the Press, 
 there is no reason to believe that it can ever subside, by any 
 means short of the removal of the urgent abuse ; and it is under 
 this general conviction, that we have been convened to take into 
 consideration, not only the character and extent of your griev 
 ances, but also the mode and measure of redress. 
 
 This duty, Fellow Citizens, we have discharged to the best of 
 our judgments, and the result of our deliberations will be found 
 in the Declaration and Ordinance, just passed by us founded 
 on the great and undeniable truth, that in all cases of a palpa- 
 
38 
 
 ble, oppressive, and dangerous infraction of the Federal compact, 
 each State has a right to annul, and to render inoperative within 
 its limits, all such unauthorized acts. After the luminous expo 
 sitions which have been already furnished by so many great 
 minds, that the exercise of this right is compatible with the first 
 principles of our anomalous scheme of Government, it would be 
 superfluous here to state at length, the reasons by which this 
 mode of redress is to be sustained. A deference however, for the 
 opinions of those of our fellow citizens who have hitherto dis 
 sented from us, demands, that we should briefly state the princi 
 pal ground upon which we place the right, and the expediency 
 of Nullification. 
 
 The Constitution of the United States, as is admitted by co- 
 temporaneous writers, is a compact between Sovereign States. 
 Though the subject matter of that compact, was a Government, 
 the powers of which Government were to operate, to a certain 
 extent, upon the People of those Sovereign States, aggregately, 
 and not upon the State Authorities, as is usual in Confederacies, 
 still the Constitution is a Confederacy. First : It is a Confede 
 racy, because in its foundations, it possesses not one single 
 feature of nationality. The people of the separate States, as 
 distinct political communities, ratified the Constitution, each 
 State acting for itself, and binding its own citizens, and not those 
 of any other State. The act of ratification declares it "to be 
 binding on the States, so ratifying. The States are its authors 
 their power created it their voice clothed it with authority 
 the Government it formed is in reality their Government, and the 
 Union of which it is the bond, is a Union of States, and not of 
 individuals." Secondly : It is a Confederacy, because the ex 
 tent of the powers of the Government, depends, not upon the 
 People of the United States, collectively, but upon the State 
 Legislatures, or on the people of the separate States, acting in 
 their State Conventions, each State being represented by a sin 
 gle vote. 
 
 It must never be forgotten, that it is to the creating and to the 
 controlling power, that we are to look for the true character of 
 the Federal Government ; for the present controversy is, not as 
 to the sources from which the ordinary powers of the Govern 
 ment are drawn ; these are partly federal, and partly national. 
 
39 
 
 Nor is it relevant, to consider upon whom those powers operate. 
 In this last view, the Government, for limited purposes, is entire 
 ly national. The true question is, who are the parties to the 
 compact ? Who created, and who can alter and destroy it. Is 
 it the States, or the People ? This question has been already 
 answered. The States, as States, ratified the compact. The 
 People of the United States, collectively, had no agency in 
 its formation. There did not exist then, nor has there existed 
 at any time since, such a political body as the People of the 
 United States. There is not now, nor has there ever been such a 
 relation existing, as that of a citizen of New Hampshire, and a 
 citizen of South Carolina, bound together in the same Social 
 Compact. It would be a waste of time to dwell longer on this 
 part of our subject. We repeat, that as regards the foundation, 
 and the extent of its powers, the Government of the United 
 States is strictly, what its name implies, a Federal Government, 
 a league between several Sovereigns ; and in these views, a 
 more perfect Confederacy has never existed in ancient or modern 
 times. 
 
 On looking into this Constitution, we find that the most im 
 portant sovereign powers are delegated to the central Govern 
 ment, and all other powers are reserved to the States. A foreign, 
 or an inattentive reader, unacquainted with the origin, progress 
 and history of the Constitution, would be very apt, from the 
 phraseology of the instrument, to regard the States, as having 
 divested themselves of their Sovereignty, and to have become 
 great corporations, subordinate to one Supreme Government. - 
 But this is an error. The States are as Sovereign now, as they 
 were prior to their entering into the compact. In common par 
 lance, and to avoid circumlocution, it may be admissible enough, 
 to speak of delegated and reserved Sovereignty. But, correctly 
 speaking, Sovereignty is an unit. It is "one, indivisible and un- 
 alienable." It is, therefore, an absurdity to imagine, that the 
 Sovereignty of the States, is surrendered in part, and retained in 
 part. The Federal Constitution, is a treaty, a confederation, an 
 alliance by which so many Sovereign States, agree to exercise 
 their sovereign powers conjointly, upon certain objects of exter 
 nal concern, in which they are equally interested, such as War, 
 Peace, Commerce, Foreign Negotiation, and Indian Trade ; and 
 
40 
 
 upon all other subjects of civil Government, they were to exer 
 cise their Sovereignty separately. This is the true nature of the 
 compact. 
 
 For the convenient conjoint exercise of the Sovereignty of the 
 States, there must of necessity be some common agency or func 
 tionary. This agency is the Federal Government. It represents 
 the confederated States, and executes their joint will, as express 
 ed in the compact. The powers of this government are wholly 
 derivative. It possesses no more inherent sovereignty, than an 
 incorporated town, or any other corporate body; it is a political 
 corporation, and like all corporations, it looks for its powers to 
 an exterior source. That source is the States. It wants that 
 "irresistible, absolute, uncontrolled authority," without which, 
 according to jurists, there can be no sovereignty. As the States 
 conferred, so the States can take away its powers. All inherent 
 sovereignty, is therefore in the States. It is the moral obliga 
 tion alone, which each State has chosen to impose upon herself, 
 and not the want of sovereignty, which restrains her from exer 
 cising all those powers, which (as we are accustomed to express 
 ourselves) she has surrendered to the Federal Government. 
 The present organization of our Government, as far as regards 
 the terms in which the powers of Congress are delegated, in no 
 wise differs from the old Confederation. The powers of the Old 
 Congress were delegated rather in stronger language, than we 
 find them written down in the new charter, and yet he would 
 hazard a bold assertion, who would say, that the States of the old 
 Confederacy were not as Sovereign as Great Britain, France and 
 Russia would be in an alliance offensive and defensive. It was 
 not the reservation, in express terms, of the "Sovereignty, Free 
 dom, and Independence of each State" which made them Sove 
 reign. They would have been equally Sovereign, as is univer 
 sally admitted, without such a reservation. 
 
 We have said thus much upon the subject of Sovereignty, be 
 cause the only foundation upon which we can safely erect the 
 right of a State to protect its citizens, is, that South Carolina, by 
 the Declaration of Independence, became, and has since con 
 tinued a Free, Sovereign, and Independent State. That as a 
 Sovereign State, she has the inherent power, to do all those acts, 
 which by the law of nations, any Prince or Potentate may of 
 
41 
 
 right do. That, like all independent States, she neither has, nor 
 ought she to suffer any other restraint upon her sovereign will 
 and pleasure, than those high, moral obligations, under which 
 all Princes and States are bound, before God and man, to 
 perform their solemn pledges. The inevitable conclusion from 
 what has been said, therefore is, that as in all cases of compact 
 between Independent Sovereigns, where, from the very nature 
 of things, there can be no common judge or umpire, each sove 
 reign has a right "to judge as well of infractions, as of the mode 
 and measure of redress," so in the present controversy between 
 South Carolina and the Federal Government, it belongs solely 
 to her, by her delegates in solemn Convention assembled, to de 
 cide whether the federal compact be violated, and what remedy 
 the State ought to pursue. South Carolina therefore cannot, 
 and will not yield to any department of the Federal Government, 
 and still less to the Supreme Court of the United States, the 
 creature of a Government, which itself is a creature of the 
 States, a right which enters into the essence of all sovereignty, 
 and without which it would become a bauble and a name. 
 
 It is fortunate for the view which we have just taken, that the 
 history of the Constitution, as traced through the Journals of the 
 Convention which framed that instrument, places the right con 
 tended for upon the same sure foundation. These journals fur 
 nish abundant proof, that " no line of jurisdiction between the 
 States and Federal Government, in doubtful cases," could be 
 agreed on. It was conceded by Mr. Madison and Mr. Ran 
 dolph, the most prominent advocates for a Supreme Government? 
 that it was impossible to draw this line, because no tribunal suf 
 ficiently impartial, as they conceived, could be found, and that 
 there was no alternative, but to make the Federal Government 
 supreme, by giving it, in all such cases, a negative on the acts 
 of the State Legislatures. The pertinacity with which this neg 
 ative power was insisted on by the advocates of a national Gov 
 ernment, even after all the important provisions of the judiciary 
 or third article of the Constitution were arranged and agreed to, 
 proves beyond doubt, that the Supreme Court was never con 
 templated by either party, in that Convention, as an arbiter, to 
 decide conflicting claims of sovereignty between the States and 
 Congress ; and the repeated rejection of all proposals to take 
 
42 
 
 from the States the power of placing their own construction 
 upon the articles of Union, evinces that the States were resolved 
 never to part with the right to judge, whether the acts of the 
 Federal Legislature were, or were not, an infringement of those 
 articles. 
 
 Correspondent with the right of a Sovereign State to judge of 
 the infractions of the Federal Compact, is the duty of this Con 
 vention to declare the extent of the grievance, and the mode and 
 measure of redress. On both these points, public opinion has 
 already anticipated us, in much that we could urge. It is doubt 
 ed, whether in any country, any subject has undergone, before 
 the people, a more thorough examination than the constitution 
 ality of the several acts of Congress for the protection of Do 
 mestic Manufactures. Independent of the present embarrass 
 ments, they throw in the way of our commerce, and the plain in 
 dications, that certain articles, which are the natural exchange 
 for our valuable staple products, are sooner or later to be virtu 
 ally prohibited independent of the diminution which these im 
 post duties cause in our incomes, and the severity of the Tax 
 upon all articles of consumption needed by the poor, they recog 
 nize a principle, not less at war with the ends for which this 
 great confederacy was formed, than it is with that spirit of jus 
 tice, and [those feelings of concord which ought to prevail 
 amongst States, united by so many common interests and exalted 
 triumphs. The people surely need not be told, in this advanced 
 period of intellect and of freedom, that no government can be 
 free, which can rightfully impose a tax, for the encouragement 
 of one branch of industry at the expense of all others, unless 
 such a tax be justified by some great and unavoidable public 
 necessity. Still less can the people believe, that in a confedera 
 cy of States, designed principally, as an alliance offensive and 
 defensive, its authors could ever have contemplated, that the 
 federal head should regulate the domestic industry of a widely 
 extended country ; distinguished, above all others, for the diver 
 sity of interests, pursuits and resources, in its various sections. 
 It was this acknowledged diversity, that caused the arrangement 
 of a conjoint and separate exercise of the sovereign authority ; 
 the one to regulate external concerns, and the other to have ab 
 solute control "over the lives, liberties, and properties of the 
 
43 
 
 people, and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of 
 the States." 
 
 It is the striking characteristic in the operation of a simple 
 and consolidated government, that it protects Manufactures, 
 
 Agriculture, or any other branch of the public industry that it 
 
 can establish corporations or make Roads and Canals, and patron 
 ize learning and the arts. But it would be difficult to shew, that 
 such was the government which the sages of the Convention de 
 signed for the States. All these powers were proposed to be 
 given to Congress, and they were proposed by that party in the 
 Convention who desired a firm National Government. The Con 
 vention having decided on the federal form, in exclusion of the 
 national, all these propositions were rejected ; and yet we have 
 lived to see an American Congress, who can hold no power ex 
 cept by express grant, as fully in the exercise of these powers, 
 as if they were part and parcel of their expressly delegated au 
 thority. Under a pretence of regulating Commerce; they would 
 virtually prohibit it. Were this regulation of Commerce resort 
 ed to, as a means of coercing foreign nations to a fair reciprocity 
 in their intercourse with us, or for some other bona fide commer 
 cial purpose, as has been justly said by our Legislature, the 
 Tariff acts would be constitutional. But none of these acts have 
 been passed as countervailing or retaliatory measures, for re 
 strictions placed on our Commerce by foreign nations. Whilst 
 other nations seem disposed to relax in their restraints upon 
 trade, our Congress seems absolutely bent upon the interdiction 
 of those articles of Merchandize, which are exchangeable for the 
 products of Southern labor, thus causing the principal burthen 
 of taxation to fall upon this portion of the Union, and by de 
 priving us of our accustomed Markets, to impoverish our whole 
 Southern country. In the same manner, and under the pretence 
 of promoting the Internal Improvement of the States, and for 
 other equally unjustifiable and unconstitutional purposes, Con 
 gress is in the constant habit of violating those fundamental 
 principles of the Constitution, on which alone can rest the pros 
 perity of the States, and the durability of the Union, 
 
 It is in vain to imagine, that with a people who have strug 
 gled for freedom, and know its inestimable value, such a state 
 of affairs can be endured longer than there is a well founded 
 
44 
 
 hope, that reason and justice will resume their empire in the 
 common council of the confederacy. That hope having expired 
 with the last session of Congress, by the present Tariff act, dis 
 tinctly and fully recognizing as the permanent policy of the 
 country, the odious principle of protection, it occurs to us, that 
 there is but one course for the State to pursue. That course 
 fellow-citizens is resistance. Not physical, but moral resist 
 ance not resistance in an angry or irritated feeling, but resist 
 ance by such counter-legislation, which, whilst it shall evince to 
 the world that our measures are built upon the necessity of ten 
 dering to Congress an amicable issue, to try a doubtful question 
 between friends and neighbors, shall at the same time secure us 
 in the enjoyment of our rights and privileges. It matters not, 
 fellow citizens, by what name this counter-legislation shall be 
 designated ; call it Nullification, State interposition, State veto, 
 or by whatever other name you please, still if it be but resistance 
 to an oppressive measure, it is the course which duty, patriot 
 ism, and self-preservation prescribes. If we are asked, upon 
 what ground we place the right to resist a particular law of 
 Congress, and yet regard ourselves as a constituent member of 
 the Union, we answer the ground of the Compact. We do not 
 choose, in a case of this kind, to recur to what are called our 
 natural rights, or the right of revolution. We claim to nullify 
 by a more imposing title. We claim it as a constitutional right, 
 not meaning as some have imagined, that we derive the right 
 from the Constitution, for derivative rights can only belong to 
 the functionaries of the high contracting parties to the Consti 
 tution, but we claim to exercise it as one of the parties to the 
 compact, and as consistent with its letter, its genius, and its 
 spirit, it being distinctly understood at the time of ratifying the 
 Constitution, that the exercise of all sovereign rights not agreed 
 to be had conjointly, were to be exerted separately by the 
 States. Though it be true, that the provision in favor of what 
 we call the reserved rights of the States, was not necessary to 
 to secure to the States such reserved rights, yet the mere cir 
 cumstance, of its insertion in the instrument, makes it as clear a 
 constitutional provision, as that of the power of Congress to 
 raise armies, or to declare war. Any exercise of a right in con 
 formity with a constitutional provision, we conceive to be a 
 
45 
 
 constitutional right, whether it be founded on an express grant 
 of the right, or be included in a general reservation of undefined 
 powers. The Constitution being the supreme law, and an instru 
 ment in which a distribution of powers is made between the 
 Federal Government and the States, it is incumbent on the au 
 thorities of each Government, so to shape their legislation, as not 
 to overstep the boundaries assigned to them. No act can there 
 fore be done by either Government, which for its validity can be 
 referred to any other test, than the standard of the Constitution. 
 If a State Government passes an act, defining and punishing a 
 burglary, or a law abolishing the rights of primogeniture, it is 
 more correct to say, that she is in the exercise of her constitu 
 tional, than of her natural rights, because it is an express con 
 stitutional provision, that she should exercise all her sovereign 
 rights, not already entrusted to the common functionary of the 
 parties. As it is impossible then that any act can be passed by 
 either Government, which, if disputed, must not be referred to 
 the Constitution as the supreme law of the parties, so a right is 
 constitutional or unconstitutional, as it shall be found to com 
 port with, or to be repugnant to, the terms or the spirit of that 
 instrument. There is not, therefore, a sovereign, or a natural 
 right, which South Carolina can lawfully exercise in conformity 
 with her engagements, which is not stipulated for in the tenth 
 amendment to the Constitution. All such rights stipulated for, 
 must be constitutional ; to regard them otherwise, would be a 
 perversion of terms. 
 
 That Nullification under our reserved rights was regarded as 
 constitutional by the Virginia Resolutions of 1798, is clear from 
 the exposition of them by the celebrated Report, drawn by Mr. 
 Madison. In defending the third of these Resolutions, which as 
 serts the doctrine of State interposition and protection, the Com 
 mittee say "that they have scanned it not merely with a strict, but 
 with a severe eye, and they feel confidence in pronouncing, that 
 in its just and fair construction, it is unexceptionably true in 
 its several positions, as well as constitutional and conclusive 
 in its inferences." What were the positions of the third Reso 
 lution. 1. That the powers of the Federal Government were 
 limited to the plain sense of the instrument constituting the 
 compact. 2. That in case of a deliberate, palpable and dan- 
 
46 
 
 gerous infraction of the compact, the State has the right to in 
 terpose, &c. Now what is the inference ? It is, that " they 
 are in duty bound to arrest the progress of the evil, by maintain 
 ing within their respective limits, the authorities, rights, and 
 liberties appertaining to them." This inference, says the Re 
 port, is " constitutional and conclusive." The same doctrine 
 was as distinctly affirmed by the Virginia Assembly, in their Re 
 solutions adopting the Report. They say, " that having fully 
 and accurately re-examined and reconsidered these Resolutions, 
 they find it to be their indispensable duty to adhere to the same 
 as founded in truth, as consonant with the Constitution, and as 
 conducive to its preservation." 
 
 We are aware that it has been recently maintained, that by 
 the State interposition referred to in this third Resolution, the 
 Virginia Assembly had allusion to the natural right, and Mr. 
 Madison himself has been brought forward to give a construc 
 tion to this Resolution contrary to the most obvious import of 
 the terms. Be it so. Then, if the State interposition here 
 spoken of, be a natural right, it is a right which the Virginia 
 Assembly have pronounced " consonant with the Constitution, 
 and as conducive to its preservation," or, in other words, that 
 without the exercise of this natural sovereign right of interposi 
 tion, the Constitution cannot be preserved. There is no incon 
 gruity in this. It is quite competent for two monarchs to stipu 
 late in a treaty for that right, which, independent of the treaty, 
 would be a natural right, as if a power were conferred by the 
 treaty on the citizens of either prince, to capture, adjudge, and 
 execute all subjects of the other, engaged in piracy on the high 
 seas. It certainly would be more proper to call such a right a 
 Conventional right, than a natural right, though it be both. 
 Several of the State Constitutions furnish instances of natural 
 rights being secured by a constitutional provision. Even in the 
 instrument we are npw considering, there is a distinct affirma 
 tion in terms of a natural right of sovereignty such as the sove 
 reign right of a State to keep troops and ships of war in a certain 
 emergency, or the sovereign right of a State to lay import and 
 export duties, for the purpose of executing its inspection laws. 
 In these cases, a natural right is also a constitutional right, con 
 trary to the definition of those who maintain that no right is 
 
47 
 
 properly constitutional which is a sovereign right, because con 
 stitutional rights are derivative rights exercised by functionaries. 
 That reasoning would be indeed strange, which would place a 
 natural reserved sovereign right, expressed in terms upon a 
 better footing, than all that mass of residuary power included in 
 the general reservation of the tenth amendment. It would be to 
 create a distinction without a difference. The reserved rights, 
 though undefined, are easily ascertained. Any particular right 
 not found in the enumerated powers of Congress, of course be 
 longs to the States. 
 
 The right to nullify is universally admitted to be a natural or 
 sovereign right. The natural rights of the States are also ad 
 mitted to be their reserved rights. If they are reserved, they 
 must be constitutional, because the Constitution being an agree 
 ment to arrange the mode by which the States shall exercise 
 their sovereignty, expressly stipulates for the exercise of these 
 powers in all cases not enumerated. To some it may be unim 
 portant upon what basis we place the right of a State to protect 
 its citizens, as counter-legislation would be the beginning of re 
 sistance in either case; others may, perhaps, justly say, that the 
 whole controversy is resolvable into a dispute as to what is, or is 
 not, the proper definition of a constitutional right. We, how 
 ever, think it of infinite importance, in urging the right of nulli 
 fication, to regard it as a constitutional, rather than as a natural 
 remedy, because a constitutional proceeding is calculated to 
 give it a pacific course and a higher recommendation. The 
 characteristic, in fact, of the American Constitutions in general, 
 is, that they sanctify the fundamental principles of the American 
 Revolution. Whilst other nations have to resort to the law of na 
 ture, and by force to drive despots from their thrones, thus in 
 curring what amongst them is odiously termed the guilt of re 
 bellion ; we here have the incalculable advantage of a thorough 
 understanding amongst all classes, that it is the right, as well as 
 the duty, of a free people, to recur when necessary to their 
 sovereign rights, to resist oppression. Such a sentiment as this 
 becoming familiar to the public mind, acquires prodigious 
 strength, when its spirit is seen to pervade a written Constitu 
 tion, and prevents rather than accelerates opportunities for an 
 unnecessary recurrence to revolutionary movements. Under 
 
48 
 
 such a structure of the public sentiment, when the voice of a 
 sovereign State shall be spoken, "it will be heard in a tone 
 which virtuous governors will obey, and tyrannical ones shall 
 dread." Nothing can more reconcile nullification to our citi 
 zens, than to know, that if we are not proceeding according to 
 the forms of the Constitution, we are, nevertheless, adhering to 
 its spirit. The convention which framed the Constitution, could 
 not agree upon any mode of settling a dispute, like the present. 
 The case was therefore left unprovided for, under the conviction 
 no doubt, as is admitted by Mr. Hamilton in "The Federalist," 
 that if the Federal Government should oppress the States, the 
 State governments would be ready to check it, by virtue of their 
 own inherent sovereign powers. "It may safely be received as 
 an axiom in our political system, (says Mr. Hamilton,) that the 
 State Governments will, in all possible contingencies, afford 
 complete security against invasion of the public liberty by the 
 national authority. Projects of usurpation cannot be masked 
 under pretences so likely to escape the penetration of select 
 bodies of men, as of the people at large, the Legislatures will 
 have better means of information, they can discover the danger 
 at a distance ; and, possessing all the organs of civil power, and 
 the confidence of the people, they can at once adopt a regular 
 plan of opposition, in which they can combine all the resources 
 of the community." 
 
 That measure cannot be revolutionary, which is adopted, not 
 with a view to resort to force, but by some decisive measures, to 
 call the attention of the co-States to a disputed question, in such 
 a form, as to compel them to decide what are or are not the 
 rights of the States, in a case of a palpable and dangerous infrac 
 tion of those fundamental principles of liberty in which they all 
 have an interest. 
 
 In the exercise of the right of nullification, we are not un 
 mindful of the many objections which have been urged against 
 it. That it may embarrass the present majority in Congress, who 
 are fatally bent upon building up the sectional interests of their 
 constituents, upon the ruin of our commerce, we can readily im 
 agine : but these embarrassments, on examination, will be found 
 to proceed rather from an unwillingness, on their part, to adjust 
 the controversy on principles of reason and justice 3 than from 
 
49 
 
 any real difficulty existing in the Constitution. The provisions 
 of the Constitution are ample for taking the sense of the States 
 on a question more important than any which has occurred since 
 the formation of the Government. But if the spirit of justice 
 departs from the councils, to which we have a right to look up 
 as the guardians of the public liberty and the public peace, no 
 provisions of human wisdom can avail. We have heard much 
 of the danger of suffering one State to impede the operations of 
 twenty-three States : but it must be obvious to every considerate 
 man, that the danger can only exist where a State is wrong. If 
 the people of any one State are right in the principles for which 
 they contend, it is desirable that they should impede the opera 
 tions of Congress, until the sentiments of its co-States shall be 
 had. A higher eulogy could not be bestowed upon our system, 
 than the power of resorting to some conservative principle, that 
 shall stay a disruption of the league. It is no argument to say 
 that a State may have no grounds on which to place herself upon 
 her sovereign rights. This is a possible, but by no means a pro 
 bable case. Experience has given us a most instructive lesson 
 on this very subject it has taught us that, the danger is not that 
 a State may resort to her sovereign rights too often, but that it 
 will not avail herself of them when necessary. Look, fellow cit 
 izens, to our State : for ten years we have petitioned and remon 
 strated against the unconstitutionality of the Tariff Acts, and 
 though the conviction has been universal, that the effects of the 
 system would be ruinous to our interests, yet the difficulty has 
 been great, to bring the people to the resisting point. 
 
 And so with other objections. It has been maintained by us, 
 that, according to the philosophy of the government, and the 
 true spirit of the compact, it becomes Congress in all emergen 
 cies like the present, to solicit from the States, the call of a 
 Convention. That, upon such a convocation, it should be in 
 cumbent on the States claiming the doubtful power, to propose 
 an amendment to the Constitution, giving the doubtful power ; 
 and on failue to obtain it by a consent of three fourths of all the 
 States, to regard the power as never having been intended to be 
 given. We must not be understood to say, that this was matter 
 even of implied stipulation, at the formation of the compact. 
 The Constitution is designedly silent on the subject, on account 
 8 
 
50 
 
 of the extreme difficulty in the minds of its framers of appoint 
 ing a mode of adjusting these differences. This difficulty we 
 now discover was imaginary. It had its source in apprehen 
 sions, which an experience of upwards of forty years has proved 
 to be without the shadow of a foundation. Many of the sages 
 of that day, were dissatisfied with their work, for a reason which 
 is the very opposite of the truth. They feared, not that the 
 General Government would encroach upon the rights of the 
 States, but that the States would perpetually be disposed to 
 pass their boundaries of power, and finally destroy the confede 
 ration. Had they been blessed with the experience which we 
 have acquired, there could have been no objection to trusting the 
 States,- who created the Government, and who would not wilful 
 ly embarrass it, with a veto under certain modifications. It 
 seems but reasonable, that a disputed power, which it would have 
 required three fourths of the States to add to the Constitution, 
 ought not to be insisted on by a majority in Congress, as impliedly 
 conferred, if more than one fourth should object to it. To deny 
 this, would be to decide finally the validity of a power, by a pos 
 itive majority of the people at large, instead of a concurring 
 majority of the States. There is, it is true, one objection, and 
 only one to this view : and that is, that under this theory, a ma 
 jority little beyond the three fourths, as for instance, seven States 
 out of twenty-four, might deprive Congress of powers which 
 have been expressly delegated. The answer to this, is, that it 
 would be a very extreme case for a single State to claim the re 
 sumption of a power, which it had clearly delegated in positive 
 terms. But it seems almost beyond the range of possibility, that 
 six other States should be found to sustain a nullifying State in 
 such a pretension. Should such a case ever occur, as one fourth 
 and upwards of the States resolving to break their pledges, with 
 out the slightest pretence, it would shew, that it was time to dis 
 solve the league. If a spirit of friendship and fair dealing, can 
 not bind together the members of this Union, the sooner it is 
 dissolved, the better. So that this objection is rather nominal, 
 than substantial. But the evil of this objection is, that whilst 
 its admission would relieve us from an imaginary peril, we should 
 be plunged into that certain danger of an unrestricted liberty of 
 Congress to give us, instead of a confederated government, a 
 
51 
 
 government without any other limitation upon its power, than the 
 will of a majority. 
 
 Other objections have been urged against nullification. It is 
 said that the President or Congress might employ the military 
 and naval force of the United States to reduce the nullifying 
 State into obedience, and thus produce a civil dissention amongst 
 the members of the confederacy. We do not deem it necessary 
 in a community, so conversant with this part of the subject as 
 that of South Carolina, to recapitulate the arguments which 
 have been urged against such an improbable course, both for 
 the want of power, and on the ground of expediency. But we 
 cannot pass over one view, which we think sufficient to quiet all 
 apprehension on that score. We live in an age of reason and 
 intellect. The idea of using force on an occasion of this kind, 
 is utterly at variance with the genius and spirit of the American 
 people. In truth, it is becoming repugnant even to the genius 
 and spirit of the governments of the old world. We have lately 
 seen in England, one of the greatest reforms achieved, which 
 her history records a reform which her wisest statesmen, twenty 
 years ago, would have predicted could not be accomplished 
 without civil war, brought about by a bloodless revolution. 
 The cause is manifest. Not only are the people every where 
 better informed, but such is the influence which public opinion 
 exerts over constituted authorities, that the rulers of this earth 
 are more swayed by reason and justice than formerly. Under 
 such evident indications of the march of mind and intellect, it 
 would be to pay but a poor compliment to the people of these 
 States, to imagine, that a measure taken by a Sovereign State, 
 with the most perfect good feeling to her confederates, and to 
 the perpetuity of the Union, and with no other view than to force 
 upon its members, the consideration of a most important consti 
 tutional question, should terminate otherwise than peaceably. 
 
 Fellow Citizens, it is our honest and firm belief, that nullifica 
 tion will preserve, and not destroy this Union. But we should 
 regret to conceal from you that if Congress should not be ani 
 mated with a patriotic and liberal feeling in this conjuncture, 
 they can give to this controversy what issue they please. Admit 
 then, that there is risk of a serious conflict with the federal gov 
 ernment. We know no better way to avoid the chance of hos- 
 
52 
 
 tile measures in our opponents, than to evince a readiness to 
 meet danger, come from what quarter it will. We should think 
 that the American Revolution was indeed to little purpose, if a 
 consideration of this kind, were to deter our people from assert 
 ing their sovereign rights. That revolution, it is well known, 
 was not entered into by our Southern ancestors from any actual 
 oppression, which the people suffered. It was a contest waged 
 for principle, emphatically for principle. The calamities of rev 
 olution, strife, and civil war, were fairly presented to the illus 
 trious patriots of those times, which tried the souls of men. 
 The alternative was either to remain dependant colonies in hope 
 less servitude, or to become free, sovereign and independent 
 States. To attain such a distinguished rank amongst the na 
 tions of the earth, there was but one path, and that the path of 
 glory the crowning glory of being accounted worthy of all suf 
 fering, and of embracing all the calamities of a protracted war 
 abroad, and of domestic evils at home, rather than to surrender 
 their liberties. The result of their labors is known to the world, 
 through the flood of light which that revolution has shed upon 
 the science of government, and the rights of man in the "les 
 son it has taught the oppressor, and in the example it has afford 
 ed the oppressed" in the invigoration of the spirit of freedom 
 every where, and in the amelioration it is producing in the social 
 order of mankind. 
 
 Inestimable are the blessings of that well regulated freedom, 
 which permits man to direct his labors and his enterprize to the 
 pursuit or branch of industry to which he conceives nature has 
 qualified him, unmolested by avarice enthorned in power. Such 
 was the freedom for which South Carolina struggled when a de 
 pendant colony. Such is the freedom of which she once tasted 
 as the first fruit of that revolutionary triumph which she assisted 
 to achieve. Such is the freedom she reserved to herself on en 
 tering into the league. Such is the freedom of which she has 
 been deprived, and to which she must be restored, if her com 
 merce be worth preserving, or the spirit of her Laurens and her 
 Gadsden has not fled for ever from our bosoms. It is in vain to 
 tell South Carolina that she can look to any administration of 
 the Federal Government for the protection of her sovereign 
 rights, or the redress of her Southern wrongs. Where the foun- 
 
53 
 
 tain is so polluted, it is not to be expected that the stream will 
 again be pure. The protection to which in all representative 
 governments the people have been accustomed to look, to wit, the 
 responsibility of the governors to be governed, has proved nerve 
 less and illusory ; under such a system, nothing but a radical 
 reform in our political institutions can preserve this union. It 
 is full time that we should know what rights we have under the 
 Federal Constitution, and more especially ought we to know 
 whether we are to live under a consolidated government, or a 
 confederacy of States whether the States be sovereign, or their 
 local Legislatures be mere corporations. A fresh understand 
 ing of the bargain, we deem absolutely necessary. No mode 
 can be devised by which a dispute can be referred to the source 
 of all power, but by some one State taking the lead in the great 
 enterprize of reform. Till some one Southern State tenders to 
 the Federal Government an issue, it will continue to have its 
 "appetite increased by what it feeds on." History admonishes 
 us that rulers never have the forecast to substitute in good time 
 reform for revolution. They forget that it is always more de 
 sirable that the just claims of the governed should break in on 
 them " through well contrived and well disposed windows, not 
 through flaws and breaches, through the yawning chasms of their 
 own ruin." One State must under the awful prospects before us, 
 throw herself into the breach in this great struggle for constitu 
 tional freedom. There is no other mode of awakening the 
 attention of the co-States to grievances which, if suffered to ac 
 cumulate, must dismember the Union. It has fallen to our lot, 
 fellow citizens, first to quit our trenches. Let us go on to the 
 assault with cheerful hearts and undaunted minds. 
 
 Fellow citizens, the die is now cast. We have solemnly re 
 solved on the course which it becomes our beloved State to 
 pursue ; we have resolved, that until these abuses shall be re 
 formed, no more Taxes shall be paid here. " Millions for de 
 fence, but not a cent for tribute." And now we call upon our 
 citizens, native and adopted, to prepare for the crisis, and to 
 meet it as becomes men and freemen. We call upon all classes 
 and all parties to forget their former differences, and to unite in 
 a solemn determination, never to abandon this contest until such 
 a change be effected in the councils of the nation, that all the 
 
54 
 
 citizens of this confederacy shall participate equally in the bene 
 fits and the burthens of the Government. To this solemn duty 
 we now invoke you in the name of all that is sacred and valu 
 able to man. We invoke you in the name of that Liberty 
 which has been acquired by you from an illustrious ancestry, 
 and which it is your duty to transmit unimpaired to the most 
 distant generations. We invoke you in the name of that Con 
 stitution which you profess to venerate, and of that Union which 
 you are all desirous to perpetuate. By the reverence you bear 
 to these your institutions by all the love you bear to liberty 
 by the detestation you have for servitude by all the abiding me 
 morials of your past glories by the proud association of your ex 
 alted and your common triumphs in the first and greatest of revo 
 lutions by the force of all those sublime truths which that event 
 has inculcated amongst the nations by the noble flame of repub 
 lican enthusiasm which warms your bosoms, we conjure you in 
 this mighty struggle to give your hearts and souls and minds to 
 your injured and oppressed State, and to support her cause pub 
 licly and privately, with your opinions, your prayers, and your ac 
 tions. If appeals such as these prove unavailing, we then com 
 mand your obedience to the laws and the authorities of the State, 
 by a title which none can gainsay. We demand it by that alle 
 giance which is reciprocal with the protection you have received 
 from the State. We admit of no obedience to any authority which 
 shall conflict with that primary allegiance which every citizen 
 owes to the State of his birth or his adoption. There is not, 
 nor has there ever been " any direct or immediate allegiance 
 between the citizens of South Carolina and the Federal Govern 
 ment ; the relation between them is through the State." South 
 Carolina having entered into the constitutional compact, as a 
 separate independent political community, as has already been 
 stated, has the right to declare an unconstitutional act of Con 
 gress null and void after her sovereign declaration that the act 
 shall not be enforced within her limits, " such a declaration is 
 obligatory on her citizens. As far as its citizens are concerned, 
 the clear right of the State is to declare the extent of the obli 
 gation." This declaration once made, the citizen has no course 
 but to obey. If he refuses obedience, so as to bring himself 
 under the displeasure of his only and lawful sovereign, and within 
 
55 
 
 the severe pains and penalties, which by her high sovereign 
 power, the Legislature, will not fail to provide in her self-de 
 fence, the fault and the folly must be his own. 
 
 And now, fellow citizens, having discharged the solemn duty 
 to which we have been summoned in a crisis big with the most 
 important results to the liberties, peace, safety, and happiness 
 of this once harmonious, but now distracted confederacy, we 
 commend our cause to that great disposer of events, who (if he 
 has not already for some inscrutable purposes of his own, de 
 creed otherwise) will smile on the efforts of truth and justice. 
 We know that "unless the Lord keepeth the city, the watchman 
 waketh but in vain ;" but relying as we do, in this controversy, 
 on the purity of our motives, and the honor of our ends, we make 
 this appeal with all the confidence, which in times of trial and 
 difficulty, ought to inspire the breast of the patriot and the 
 Christian. Fellow citizens, do your duty to your country, and 
 leave the consequences to God. 
 
ADDRESS 
 
 TO THE 
 
 PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATE& 
 
 CONVENTION OF THE PEOPLE 
 
 SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 To the People of Massachusetts, Virginia, New York, Pennsyl 
 vania, North Carolina, Maryland, Connecticut, Vermont, New 
 Hampshire, Maine, New Jersey, Georgia, Delaware, Rhode 
 Island, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, Mis 
 sissippi, Illinois, Alabama, and Missouri. 
 
 WE, the people of South Carolina, assembled in Convention, 
 have solemnly and deliberately declared, in our paramount sove 
 reign capacity, that the act of Congress approved the 19th day 
 of May, 1828, and the act approved the 14th July, 1832, alter 
 ing and amending the several acts imposing duties on imports, 
 are unconstitutional, and therefore absolutely void, and of no 
 binding force within the limits of this State ; and for the pur 
 pose of carrying this declaration into full and complete effect, 
 we have invested the Legislature with ample powers, and made 
 it the duty of all the functionaries, and all the citizens of the 
 State, on their allegiance, to co-operate in enforcing the afore 
 said declaration. 
 
 In resorting to this important measure, to which we have been 
 impelled by the most sacred of all the duties which a free peo 
 ple can owe either to the memory of their ancestors, or to the 
 claims of their posterity, we feel that it is due to the intimate 
 political relation which exists between South Carolina and the 
 other States of this confederacy, that we should present a clear 
 and distinct exposition of the principles on which we have act 
 ed, and of the causes by which we have been reluctantly con 
 strained to assume this attitude of sovereign resistance in rela 
 tion to the usurpations of the Federal Government. 
 
 For this purpose, it will be necessary to state briefly, what we 
 
60 
 
 conceive to be the relation created by the Federal Constitution, 
 between the States and the General Government ; and also what 
 we conceive to be the true character and practical operation of 
 the system of protecting duties, as it affects our rights, our in 
 terests, and our liberties. 
 
 We hold then, that on their separation from the Crown of 
 Great Britain, the several Colonies became free and indepen 
 dent States, each enjoying the separate and independent right 
 of self-government ; and that no authority can be exercised over 
 them, or within their limits, but by their consent respectively 
 given as States. It is equally true, that the Constitution of the 
 United States, is a compact formed between the several States, 
 acting as sovereign communities ; that the Government created 
 by it, is a joint agency of the States, appointed to execute the 
 powers enumerated and granted by that instrument ; that all its 
 acts not intentionally authorized, are of themselves essentially 
 null and void ; and that the States have the right, in the same 
 sovereign capacity in which they adopted the Federal Constitu 
 tion, to pronounce, in the last resort, authoritative judgment on 
 the usurpations of the Federal Government, and to adopt such 
 measures as they may deem necessary and expedient to arrest 
 the operation of the unconstitutional acts of that Government 
 within their respective limits. Such we deem to be the inherent 
 rights of the States rights, in the very nature of things, abso 
 lutely inseparable from sovereignty. Nor is the duty of a State, 
 to arrest an unconstitutional and oppressive act of the Federal 
 Government, less imperative, than the right is incontestible. 
 Each State, by ratifying the Federal Constitution, and becom 
 ing a member of the confederacy, contracted an obligation to 
 " protect and defend" that instrument, as well by resisting the 
 usurpations of the Federal Government, as by sustaining that 
 Government in the exercise of the powers actually conferred 
 upon it. And the obligation of the oath which is imposed, un 
 der the Constitution, on every functionary of the States, to 
 "preserve, protect, and defend" the Federal Constitution, as 
 clearly comprehends the duty of protecting and defending it 
 against the usurpations of the Federal Government, as that of 
 protecting and defending it against violation in any other form, 
 or from any other quarter. 
 
61 
 
 It is true, that in ratifying the Federal Constitution, the 
 States placed a large and important portion of the rights of 
 their citizens under the joint protection of all the States, with a 
 view to their more effectual security ; but it is not less true that 
 they reserved a portion still larger, and not less important under 
 their own immediate guardianship, and in relation to which 
 their original obligation to protect their citizens, from whatever 
 quarter assailed, remains unchanged and undirninished. 
 
 But clear and undoubted as we regard the right, and sacred 
 as we regard the duty of the States to interpose their sovereign 
 power for the purpose of protecting their citizens from the un 
 constitutional and oppressive acts of the Federal Government, 
 yet we are as clearly of the opinion, that nothing short of that 
 high moral and political necessity, which results from acts of 
 usurpation, subversive of the rights and liberties of the people, 
 should induce a member of this confederacy to resort to this in 
 terposition. Such, however, is the melancholy and painful ne 
 cessity under which we have declared the acts of Congress, im 
 posing protecting duties, null and void within the limits of South 
 Carolina. The spirit and the principles which animated your 
 ancestors and ours in the councils and in the fields of their com 
 mon glory, forbid us to submit any longer to a system of legis 
 lation, now become the established policy of the Federal Gov 
 ernment, by which we are reduced to a condition of colonial 
 vassalage, in all its aspects more oppressive and intolerable than 
 that from which our common ancestors relieved themselves by 
 the war of the revolution. There is no right which enters more 
 essentially into a just conception of liberty, than that of the free 
 and unrestricted use of the productions of our industry. This 
 clearly involves the right of carrying the productions of that in 
 dustry wherever they can be most advantageously exchanged, 
 whether in foreign or domestic markets. South Carolina pro 
 duces, almost exclusively, agricultural staples, which derive 
 their principal value from the demand for them in foreign coun 
 tries. Under these circumstances, her natural markets are 
 abroad ; and restrictive duties imposed upon her intercourse 
 with those markets, diminish the exchangeable value of her pro 
 ductions very nearly to the full extent of those duties. 
 
 Under a system of free trade, the aggregate crop of South 
 
62 
 
 Carolina could be exchanged for a larger quantity of manufac 
 tures, by at least one third, than it can be now exchanged for 
 under the protecting system. It is no less evident, that the 
 value of that crop is diminished by the protecting system very 
 nearly, if not precisely, to the extent that the aggregate quan 
 tity of manufactures which can be obtained for it, is diminished. 
 It is, indeed, strictly and philosophically true, that the quantity 
 of consumable commodities which can be obtained for the cot 
 ton and rice annually produced by the industry of the State, is 
 the precise measure of their aggregate value. But for the pre 
 valent and habitual error of confounding the money price with 
 the exchangeable value of our agricultural staples, these proposi 
 tions would be regarded as self-evident. If the protecting duties 
 were repealed, one hundred bales of cotton, or one hundred bar 
 rels of rice, would purchase as large a quantity of manufactures, 
 as one hundred and fifty will now purchase. The annual income 
 of the State, its means of purchasing and consuming the neces 
 saries and comforts and luxuries of life, would be increased in a 
 corresponding degree. 
 
 Almost the entire cotton crop of South Carolina, amounting 
 annually to more than six millions of dollars, is ultimately ex 
 changed either for foreign manufactures, subject to protecting 
 duties, or for similar domestic manufactures. The natural value 
 of that crop would be all the manufactures which we could ob 
 tain for it, under a system of unrestricted commerce. The arti 
 ficial value, produced by the unjust and unconstitutional legisla 
 tion of Congress, is only such part of those manufactures as will 
 remain after paying a duty of fifty per cent, to the Government, 
 or, to speak with more precision, to the Northern manufactu 
 rers. To make this obvious to the humblest comprehension, 
 let it be supposed that the whole of the present crop should be 
 exchanged by the planters themselves, for those foreign manu 
 factures, for which it is destined, by the inevitable course of 
 trade, to be ultimately exchanged, either by themselves or their 
 agents. Let it be also assumed, in conformity with the facts of 
 the case, that New Jersey, for example, produces of the very 
 same description of manufactures, a quantity equal to that which 
 is purchased by the cotton crop of South Carolina. We have, 
 then, two States of the same confederacy, bound to bear an 
 
63 
 
 equal share of the burthens, and entitled to enjoy an equal share 
 of the benefits of the common government, with precisely the 
 same quantity of productions, of the same quality and kind, pro 
 duced by their lawful industry. We appeal to your candor, and 
 to your sense of justice, to say whether South Carolina has not 
 a title as sacred and indefeasible to the full and undiminished 
 enjoyment of these productions of her industry, acquired by the 
 combined operations of agriculture and commerce, as New Jer 
 sey can have to the like enjoyment of similar productions of her 
 industry, acquired by the process of manufacture ? Upon no 
 principle of constitutional right upon no principle of human 
 reason or justice, can any discrimination be drawn between the 
 titles of South Carolina and New Jersey to these productions of 
 their capital and labor. Yet what is the discrimination actually 
 made by the unjust, unconstitutional, and partial legislation of 
 Congress ? A duty, on an average, of fifty per cent., is imposed 
 upon the productions of South Carolina, while no duty at all is 
 imposed upon the similar productions of New Jersey ! The 
 inevitable result is, that the manufactures thus lawfully acquired 
 by the honest industry of South Carolina, are worth, annually, 
 three millions of dollars less to her citizens, than the very same 
 quantity of the very same description of manufactures are worth 
 to the citizens of New Jersey a. difference of value produced 
 exclusively by the operation of the protecting system. 
 
 No ingenuity can either evade or refute this proposition. 
 
 The very axioms of geometry are not more self-evident. For 
 even if the planters of South Carolina, in the case supposed, were 
 to sell and not consume these productions of their industry, it 
 is plain that they could obtain no higher price for them, after 
 paying duties to the amount of $3,000,000, than the manufactu 
 rers of New Jersey would obtain for the same quantity of the 
 same kind of manufactures, without paying any duty at all. 
 
 This single view of the subject, exhibits the enormous inequal 
 ity and injustice of the protecting system in such a light, that 
 we feel the most consoling confidence that we shall be fully jus 
 tified by the impartial judgment of posterity, whatever may be 
 the issue of this unhappy controversy. We confidently appeal 
 to our confederate States, and to the whole world, to decide 
 whether the annals of human legislation furnish a parallel in- 
 
64 
 
 stance of injustice and oppression perpetrated under the forms 
 of a free government. However it may be disguised by the 
 complexity of the process by which it is effected, it is nothing 
 less than the monstrous outrage of taking three millions of dol 
 lars annually, from the value of the productions of South Caroli 
 na and transferring it to the people of other and distant commu 
 nities. No human Government, can rightfully exercise such a 
 power. It violates the eternal principles of natural justice, and 
 converts the Government into a mere instrument of legislative 
 plunder. Of all the governments on the face of the earth, the 
 Federal Government has the least shadow of a constitutional 
 right to exercise such a power. It was created principally, and 
 almost exclusively, for the purpose of protecting, improving, and 
 extending that very commerce which, for the last ten years, all 
 its powers have been most unnaturally and unrighteously per 
 verted to cripple and destroy. The power to "regulate com 
 merce with foreign nations," was granted, obviously, for the pre 
 servation of that commerce. The most important of all the 
 duties which the Federal Government owes to South Carolina, 
 under the compact of Union, is the protection and defence of 
 her foreign commerce, against all the enemies by whom it may 
 be assailed. And in what manner has this duty been discharged? 
 All the powers of the earth, by their commercial restrictions, and 
 all the pirates of the ocean, by their lawless violence, could not 
 have done so much to destroy our commerce, as has been done 
 by that very Government, to which its guardianship has been 
 committed by the Federal Constitution. The commerce of 
 South Carolina consists in exchanging the staple productions of 
 her soil for the manufactures of Europe. It is a lawful com 
 merce. It violates the rights of no class of people in any por 
 tion of the confederacy. It is this very commerce, therefore, 
 which the Constitution has enjoined it upon Congress to en 
 courage, protect, and .defend, by such regulations as may be 
 necessary to accomplish that object. But instead of that pro 
 tection, which is the only tie of our allegiance, as individual 
 citizens to the Federal Government, we have seen a gigantic sys 
 tem of restrictions, gradually reared up, and at. length brought 
 to a fatal maturity, of which it is the avowed object and must be 
 
65 
 
 the inevitable result, to sweep our commerce from the great 
 highway of nations, and cover our land with poverty and ruin. 
 
 Even the States most deeply interested in the maintenance of 
 the protecting system will admit, that it is the interest of South 
 Carolina to carry on a commerce of exchanges with foreign 
 countries, free from restrictions, prohibitory burthens, or incum- 
 brances of any kind. We feel, and we know, that the vital in 
 terests of the State, are involved in such a commerce. It would 
 be a downright insult to our understandings, to tell us that our 
 interests are not injured, deeply injured, by those prohibitory 
 duties, intended and calculated to prevent us from obtaining the 
 cheap manufactures of foreign countries for our staples, and to 
 compel us to receive for them the dear manufactures of our do 
 mestic establishments, or pay the penalty of the protecting duties, 
 for daring to exercise one of the most sacred of our natural 
 rights. What right, then, human or divine, have the manufac 
 turing States for we regard the Federal Government as a mere 
 instrument in their hands to prohibit South Carolina, directly, 
 or indirectly, from going to her natural markets ; and exchang 
 ing the rich productions of her soil, without restriction or in- 
 cumbrance, for such foreign articles as will most conduce to the 
 wealth and prosperity of her citizensf It will not surely be pre 
 tended for truth and decency equally forbid the allegation 
 that in exchanging our productions for the cheaper manufactures 
 of Europe, we violate any right of the domestic manufacturers, 
 however gratifying it might be to them, if we would purchase 
 their inferior productions at higher prices. 
 
 Upon what principle, then, can the State of South Carolina 
 be called upon to submit to a system, which excludes her from 
 her natural markets, and the manifold benefits of that enriching 
 commerce, which a kind and beneficent Providence has provided, 
 to connect her with the family of nations, by the bonds of mutual 
 interest? But one answer can be given to this question. It is 
 in vain that we attempt to disguise the fact, mortifying as it must 
 be, that the principle by which South Carolina is thus excluded, 
 is in strict propriety of language, and to all rational intents 
 and purposes, a principle of colonial dependence and vassalage, 
 identical with that which restrained our forefathers from trading 
 with any manufacturing nation of Europe, other than Great 
 10 
 
66 
 
 Britain. South Carolina now bears the same relation to the 
 manufacturing States of this confederacy, that the Anglo Amer 
 ican Colonies bore to the mother country, with the single ex 
 ception that our burthens are incomparably more oppressive than 
 those of our ancestors. Our time, our pride, and the occasion? 
 equally forbid us to trace out the degrading analogy. We leave 
 that to the historian who shall record the judgment which an 
 impartial posterity shall pronounce upon the eventful transac 
 tions of this day. 
 
 It is in vain that we attempt to console ourselves by the empty 
 and unreal mockery of our representation in Congress. As to 
 all those great and vital interests of the States, which are affect 
 ed by the protecting system, it would be better that she had no 
 representation in that body. It serves no other purpose but to 
 conceal the chains which fetter our liberties under the vain and 
 empty forms of a representative Government. In the enactment 
 of the protecting system, the majority of Congress is, in strict 
 propriety of speech, an irresponsible despotism. A very brief 
 analysis will render this clear to every understanding. What, 
 then, we ask, is involved in the idea of political responsibility, 
 in the imposition of public burthens ? It clearly implies that 
 those who impose the burthens, should be responsible to those 
 who bear them. Every representative in Congress should be re 
 sponsible, not only to his own immediate constituents, but through 
 them and their common participation in the burthens imposed, 
 to the constituents of every other representative. If in the en 
 actment of a protecting tariff, the majority of Congress imposed 
 upon their own constituents the same burthens which they im 
 pose upon the people of South Carolina, that majority would act 
 under all the restraints of political responsibility, and we should 
 have the best security which human wisdom has yet devised, 
 against oppressive legislation. 
 
 But the fact is precisely the reverse of this. The majority in 
 Congress, in imposing protecting duties, which are utterly de 
 structive of the interests of South Carolina, not only impose no 
 burthens, but actually confer enriching bounties upon their con 
 stituents, proportioned to the burthens they impose upon us. 
 Under these circumstances, the principle of representative re 
 sponsibility, is perverted into a principle of absolute despotism. 
 
67 
 
 It is this very tie, binding the majority of Congress to execute 
 the will of their constituents, which makes them our inexorable 
 oppressors. They dare not open their hearts to the sentiments 
 of human justice, or to the feelings of human sympathy. They 
 are tyrants by the very necessity of their position, however ele 
 vated may be their principles in their individual capacities. 
 
 The grave question, then, which we have had to determine, 
 as the sovereign power of the State, upon the awful responsi 
 bility under which we have acted, is, whether we will volunta 
 rily surrender the glorious inheritance, purchased and conse 
 crated by the toils, the sufferings, and the blood of an illustrious 
 ancestry, or transmit that inheritance to our posterity, untar 
 nished and undiminished ? We could not hesitate in deciding 
 this question. We have, therefore, deliberately and unalterably 
 resolved, that we will no longer submit to a system of oppression, 
 which reduces us to the degrading condition of tributary vassals ; 
 and which would reduce our posterity, in a few generations, to a 
 state of poverty and wretchedness, that would stand in melan 
 choly contrast with the beautiful and delightful region, in which 
 the providence of God has cast our destinies. Having formed 
 this resolution, with a full view of all its bearings, and of all its 
 probable and possible issues, it is due to the gravity of the sub 
 ject, and the solemnity of the occasion, that we should speak to 
 our confederate brethren, in the plain language of frankness and 
 truth. Though we plant ourselves upon the Constitution, and the 
 immutable principles of justice, and intend to operate exclusively 
 through the civil tribunals and civil functionaries of the State ; 
 yet, we will throw off this oppression, at every hazard. We be 
 lieve our remedy to be essentially peaceful. We believe the 
 Federal Government has no shadow of right or authority, to act 
 against a sovereign State of the confederacy, in any form, much 
 less to coerce it, by military power. But we are aware of the 
 diversities of human opinion ; and have seen too many proofs of 
 the infatuation of human power, not to have looked, with the 
 most anxious concern, to the possibility of a resort to military 
 or naval force on the part of the Federal Government ; and in 
 order to obviate the possibility of having the history of this con 
 test stained by a single drop of fraternal blood we have solemnly 
 
68 
 
 and irrevocably resolved, that we will regard such a resort as a 
 dissolution of the political ties which connect us with our con 
 federate States ; and will, forthwith, provide for the organization 
 of a new and separate Government. 
 
 We implore you, and particularly the manufacturing States, 
 not to believe that we have been actuated, in adopting this reso 
 lution, by any feeling of resentment, or hostility towards them; 
 or, by a desire, to dissolve the political bonds which have so 
 long united our common destinies. We still cherish that 
 rational devotion to the Union, by which this State has been 
 pre-eminently distinguished, in all times past. But that blind 
 and idolatrous devotion, which would bow down and worship 
 Oppression and Tyranny, veiled under that consecrated title 
 if it ever existed among us, has now vanished forever. Con 
 stitutional Liberty is the only idol of our political devotion ; 
 and, to preserve that, we will not hesitate a single moment, to 
 surrender the Union itself, if the sacrifice be necessary. If it 
 had pleased God to cover our eyes with ignorance if he had 
 not bestowed upon us the understanding to comprehend the 
 enormity of the oppression under which we labor, we might sub 
 mit to it without absolute degradation and infamy. But the 
 gifts of Providence cannot be neglected, or abused, with im 
 punity. A people, who deliberately submit to oppression, with 
 a full knowledge that they are oppressed, are fit only to be 
 slaves ; and all history proves, that such a people will soon find 
 a master. It is the pre-existing spirit of slavery in the people, 
 that has made tyrants in all ages of the world. No tyrant ever 
 made a slave no community, however small, having the spirit 
 of freemen, ever yet had a master. The most illustrious of those 
 States, which have given to the world examples of human free 
 dom, have occupied territories not larger than some of the dis 
 tricts of South Carolina ; while the largest masses of popula 
 tion, that were ever united under a common government, have 
 been the abject, spiritless, and degraded slaves of despotic 
 rulers. We sincerely hope, therefore, that no portion of the 
 States of this Confederacy, will permit themselves to be deluded 
 into any measures of rashness, by the vain imagination, that South 
 Carolina will vindicate her rights and liberties, with a less in 
 flexible and unfaltering resolution, with a population of some 
 
69 
 
 half a million, than she would do with a population of twenty 
 millions. 
 
 It does not belong to Freemen to count the costs, and calcu 
 late the hazards of vindicating their rights and defending their 
 liberties; and even if we should stand alone in the worst possi 
 ble emergency of this great controversy, without the co-opera 
 tion or encouragement of a single State of the confederacy, we 
 will march forward with an unfaltering step, until we have ac 
 complished the object of this great enterprise. 
 
 Having now presented, for the consideration of the Federal 
 Government and our confederate States, the fixed and final de 
 termination of this State, in relation to the protecting system, it 
 remains for us to submit a plan of taxation in which we would 
 be willing to acquiesce, in a spirit of liberal concession, provided 
 we are met in due time and in a becoming spirit, by the States 
 interested in the protection of manufactures. 
 
 We believe that upon every just and equitable principle of 
 taxation, the whole list of protected articles should be imported 
 free of all duty, and that the revenue derived from import duties, 
 should be raised exclusively from the unprotected articles, or 
 that, whenever a duty is imposed upon protected articles im 
 ported, an excise duty of the same rate should be imposed upon 
 all similar articles manufactured in the United States. This 
 would be as near an approach to perfect equality as could pos 
 sibly be made, in a system of indirect taxation. No substantial 
 reason can be given for subjecting manufactures obtained from 
 abroad in exchange for the productions of South Carolina, to the 
 smallest duty, even for revenue, which would not show that sim 
 ilar manufactures made in the United States, should be subject 
 to the very same rate of duty. The former, not less than the 
 latter, are, to every rational intent, the productions of domestic 
 industry, and the mode of acquiring the one, is as lawful and 
 more conducive to the public prosperity, than that of acquiring 
 the other. 
 
 But we are willing to make a large offering to preserve the 
 Union ; and with a distinct declaration that it is a concession on 
 our part, we will consent that the same rate of duty may be im 
 posed upon the protected articles that shall be imposed upon 
 the unprotected, provided that no more revenue be raised than 
 
70 
 
 is necessary to meet the demands of the Government for Consti 
 tutional purposes, and provided also, that a duty, substantially 
 uniform, be imposed upon all foreign imports. 
 
 It is obvious, that, even under this arrangement, the manufac 
 turing States would have a decided advantage over the planting 
 States. For it is demonstrably evident that, as communities, 
 the manufacturing States would bear no part of the burthens of 
 Federal Taxation, so far as the revenue should be derived from 
 protected articles. The earnestness with which their represen 
 tatives seek to increase the duties on these articles, is conclusive 
 proof that those duties are bounties, and not burthens, to their 
 constituents. As at least two-thirds of the federal revenue 
 would be raised from protected articles, under the proposed 
 modification of the Tariff, the manufacturing States would be 
 entirely exempted from all participation in that proportion of 
 the public burthens. 
 
 Under these circumstances, we cannot permit ourselves to be 
 lieve for a moment, that in a crisis marked by such portentous 
 and fearful omens, those States can hesitate in acceding to this 
 arrangement, when they perceive that it will be the means, and 
 possibly the only means, of restoring the broken harmony of this 
 great confederacy. They most assuredly have the strongest of 
 human inducements, aside from all considerations of justice, to 
 adjust this controversy, without pushing it to extremities. This 
 can be accomplished only by the proposed modification of the 
 Tariff, or by the call of a General Convention of all the States. 
 If South Carolina should be driven out of the Union, all the 
 other Planting States, and some of the Western States, would 
 follow by an almost absolute necessity. Can it be believed that 
 Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, and even Kentucky, would 
 continue to pay a tribute of fifty per cent, upon their consump 
 tion, to the Northern States, for the privilege of being united to 
 them, when they could receive all their supplies through the 
 ports of South Carolina, without paying a single cent of tribute ? 
 
 The separation of South Carolina would inevitably produce a 
 general dissolution of the Union ; and as a necessary conse 
 quence, the protecting system, with all its pecuniary bounties, 
 to the Northern States, and its pecuniary burthens upon the 
 Southern States, would be utterly overthrown and demolished, 
 
* 71 
 
 involving the ruin of thousands and hundreds of thousands in the 
 manufacturing States. 
 
 By these powerful considerations, connected with their own 
 pecuniary interests, we beseech them to pause and contemplate 
 the disastrous consequences which will certainly result from an 
 obstinate perseverance on their part, in maintaining the pro 
 tecting system. With them, it is a question merely of pecuniary 
 interest, connected with no shadow of right, and involving no 
 principle of liberty. With us, it is a question involving our 
 most sacred rights those very rights which our common ances 
 tors left to us as a common inheritance, purchased by their com 
 mon toils and consecrated by their blood. It is a question of 
 liberty on the one hand, and slavery on the other. If we sub 
 mit to this system of unconstitutional oppression, we shall volun 
 tarily sink into slavery, and transmit that ignominious inherit 
 ance to our children. We will not, we cannot, we dare not 
 submit to this degradation, and our resolve is fixed and unalter 
 able that a protecting tariff shall be no longer enforced within 
 the limits of South Carolina. We stand upon the principles of 
 everlasting justice, and no human power shall drive us from our 
 position. 
 
 We have not the slightest apprehension that the general gov 
 ernment will attempt to force this system upon us by military 
 power. We have warned our brethren of the consequences of 
 such an attempt. But if, notwithstanding, such a course of 
 madness should be pursued, we here solemnly declare that this 
 system of oppression shall never prevail in South Carolina, until 
 none but slaves are left to submit to it. We would infinitely 
 prefer that the territory of the State should be the cemetery of 
 freemen than the habitation of slaves. Actuated by these prin 
 ciples, and animated by these sentiments, we will cling to the 
 pillars of the temple of our liberties, and if it must fall, we will 
 perish amidst the ruins. 
 
 J. HAMILTON, JUN., President of the Convention. 
 [Attest.] 
 ISAAC W. HAYNE, Clerk. 
 
PROCLAMATION 
 
 BY THE 
 
 PRESIDENT 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
 
PROCLAMATION. 
 
 WHEREAS, a Convention assembled in the State of South Car 
 olina, have passed an Ordinance, by which they declare " That 
 the several acts and parts of acts of the Congress of the United 
 States, purporting to be laws for the imposing of duties and im 
 posts on the importation of foreign commodities, and now hav 
 ing actual operation and effect within the United States, and 
 more especially" two acts for the same purposes passed on the 
 28th of May, 1S28, and on the 14th of July, 1832, "are unau 
 thorized by the Constitution of the United States, and violate 
 the true meaning and intent thereof, and are null and void, and 
 no law," nor binding on the citizens of that State or its officers : 
 and by the said Ordinance it is further declared to be unlawful 
 for any of the constituted authorities of the State, or of the 
 United States, to enforce the payment of the duties imposed by 
 the said acts within the same State, and that it is the duty of the 
 Legislature to pass such laws as may be necessary to give full 
 effect to the said Ordinance : 
 
 And, whereas, by the Ordinance it is further ordained, ^hat in 
 no case of law or equity, decided in the courts of said State, 
 wherein shall be drawn in question the validity of the said Ordi 
 nance, or the acts of the Legislature that may be passed to give 
 it effect, or of the said laws of the United States, shall an appeal 
 be allowed to the Supreme Court of the United States, nor shall 
 any copy of the record be permitted or allowed for that pur 
 pose ; and that any person attempting to take such appeal, shall 
 be punished as for a contempt of Court : 
 
 And, finally, the said Ordinance declares that the people of 
 
76 
 
 South Carolina will maintain the said Ordinance at every haz 
 ard ; and that they will consider the passage of an act by Con 
 gress abolishing or closing the ports of the said State, or other 
 wise obstructing the free ingress and egress of vessels to and 
 from the said port, or any other act of the Federal Government to 
 coerce the State, shut up her ports, destroy or harrass her com 
 merce, or to enforce said acts otherwise than through the civil 
 tribunals of the country, as inconsistent with the longer continu 
 ance of South Carolina in the Union ; and that the people of 
 the said State will thenceforth hold themselves absolved from 
 all further obligation to maintain or preserve their political con 
 nexion with the people of the other States, and will forthwith 
 proceed to organize a separate Government, and do all other 
 acts and things which sovereign and independent States may of 
 right do. 
 
 And, whereas, the said Ordinance prescribes to the people of 
 South Carolina a course of conduct in direct violation of their 
 duty as citizens of the United States, contrary to the laws of 
 their country, subversive of its Constitution, and having for its 
 object the destruction of the Union that Union, which, coeval 
 with our political existence, led our fathers, without any other 
 ties to unite them than those of patriotism and a common cause, 
 through a sanguinary struggle, to a glorious independence 
 that sacred Union, hitherto inviolate, which perfected by our 
 happy Constitution, has brought us, by the favor of Heaven, to 
 a state of prosperity at home, and high consideration abroad, 
 rarely, if ever, equalled in the history of nations. To preserve 
 this bond of our political existence from destruction, to main 
 tain inviolate this state of national honor and prosperity, and to 
 justify the confidence my fellow citizens have reposed in me, I 
 Andrew Jackson, President of the United States, have thought 
 proper to issue this my Proclamation, staling my views of the 
 Constitution and laws applicable to the measures adopted by 
 the Convention of South Carolina, and the reasons they have 
 put forth to sustain them, declaring the course which duty will 
 require me to pursue, and appealing to the understanding and 
 patriotism of the people, to warn them of the consequences must 
 inevitably result from an observance of the dictates of the Con 
 vention. 
 
77 
 
 Strict duty would require of me nothing more than the exer 
 cise of those powers with which I am now, or may hereafter be in 
 vested, for preserving the peace of the Union, and for the exe 
 cution of the laws. But the imposing aspect which opposition 
 has assumed in this case, by clothing itself with State author 
 ity, and the deep interest which the people of the United States 
 must all feel in preventing a resort to stronger measures, while 
 there is a hope that any thing will be yielded to reasoning and 
 remonstrance, perhaps demand, and will certainly justify a full 
 exposition to South Carolina and the nation, of the views I enter 
 tain of this important question, as well as a distinct enunciation 
 of the course which my sense of duty will require me to pursue. 
 
 This Ordinance is founded, not on the indefeasible right of 
 resisting acts which are plainly unconstitutional, and too op~i 
 pressive to be endured, but on the strange position that any one 
 State may not only declare an act of Congress void, but prohibit 
 its execution that they may do this consistently with the Con- j 
 stitution that the true construction of that instrument permits \ 
 a State to retain its place in the Union, and yet be bound by no 
 other of its laws than those it may choose to consider as consti 
 tutional. It is true, they add, that to justify this abrogation of 
 a law, it must be palpably contrary to the Constitution ; but it is 
 evident that, to give the right of resisting laws of that description, / 
 coupled with the uncontrolled right to decide what laws deserve I 
 that character, is to give the power of resisting all laws./ For, 
 as by the theory there is no appeal, the reasons alleged by the 
 State, good or bad, must prevail. If it should be said that pub 
 lic opinion is a sufficient check against the abuse of this power, 
 it may be asked why it is not deemed a sufficient guard against 
 the passage of an unconstitutional act by Congress? There is, 
 however, a restraint in this last case, which makes the assumed 
 power of a State more indefeasible, and which does not exist in 
 the other. There are two appeals from an unconstitutional act 
 passed by Congress one to the Judiciary, the other to the peo 
 ple and the States. There is no appeal from the State decision 
 in theory, and the practical illustration shows that the Courts 
 are closed against an application to review it, both judges and 
 jurors being sworn to decide in its favor. But reasoning on this 
 subject is superfluous, when our social compact in express terms 
 
78 
 
 declares, that the laws of the United States, its Constitution, 
 and treaties made under it, are the supreme law of the land ; and 
 for greater caution, adds, " that the Judges in every State shall 
 be bound thereby, any thing in the Constitution or laws of any 
 State to the contrary notwithstanding." And it may be assert 
 ed, without fear of refutation, that no Federative Government 
 could exist without a similar provision. Look for a moment to 
 the consequence. 
 
 If South Carolina considers the revenue laws as unconstitu 
 tional, and has a right to prevent their execution in the port of 
 Charleston, there would be a clear constitutional objection to 
 their collection in every other port, and no revenue could be 
 collected any where ; for all imposts must be equal. It is no 
 answer to repeat that an unconstitutional law is no law, so long 
 as the question of its legality is to be decided by the State itself; 
 for every law operating injuriously upon any local interest, will 
 be perhaps thought, and certainly represented, as unconstitu 
 tional, and it has been shown, there is no appeal. 
 
 If this doctrine had been established at an earlier day, the 
 Union would have been dissolved in its infancy. The excise law 
 in Pennsylvania, the embargo and non-intercourse laws in the 
 Eastern States, the carriage tax in Virginia, were all deemed un 
 constitutional, and were more unequal in their operation than 
 any of the laws now complained of; but, fortunately, none of 
 those States discovered that they had the right now claimed by 
 South Carolina. The war into which we were forced, to sup 
 port the dignity of the nation and the rights of our citizens, 
 might have ended in defeat and disgrace, instead of victory and 
 honor, if the States, who supposed it a ruinous and unconstitu 
 tional measure, had thought they possessed the right of nullify 
 ing the act by which it was declared, and denying supplies for 
 its prosecution. Hardly and unequally as those measures bore 
 upon several members of the Union, to the legislature of none 
 did this efficient and peaceable remedy, as it is called, suggest 
 itself. The discovery of this important feature in our constitution 
 was reserved to the present day. To the statesmen of South 
 Carolina belongs the invention, and upon the citizens of that 
 State will unfortunately fall the evils of reducing it to practice. 
 
 If the doctrine of a State veto, upon the laws of the Union, 
 
79 
 
 carries with it internal evidence of its impracticable absurdity, 
 our constitutional history will also afford abundant proof that it 
 would have been repudiated with indignation, had it been pro 
 posed to form a feature in our Government. 
 
 In our colonial state, although dependent on another power, 
 we very early considered ourselves as connected by common in 
 terest with each other. Leagues were formed for common de 
 fence, and before the Declaration of Independence we were 
 known in our aggregate character as the United Colonies of 
 America. That decisive and important step was taken jointly. 
 We declared ourselves a nation by a joint, not by several acts ; 
 and when the terms of our confederation were reduced to form, 
 it was in that of a solemn league of several States, by which 
 they agreed that they would collectively, form one nation, for 
 the purpose of conducting some certain domestic concerns, and 
 all foreign relations. In the instrument forming that Union, is 
 found an article which declares that " every State shall abide by 
 the determinations of Congress on all questions which by that 
 confederation should be submitted to them." 
 
 Under the confederation, then, no State could legally annul a 
 decision of the Congress, or refuse to submit to its execution ; 
 but no provision was made to enforce these decisions. Con 
 gress made requisitions but they were not complied with. The 
 Government could not operate on individuals. They had no 
 Judiciary, no means of collecting revenue. 
 
 But the defects of the confederation need not be detailed. 
 Under its operation, we would scarcely be called a nation. We 
 had neither prosperity at home nor consideration abroad. This 
 state of things could not be endured, and our present happy 
 Constitution was formed ; but formed in vain if this fatal doctrine 
 prevails. It was formed for important objects that are an 
 nounced in the preamble made in the name and by the authori 
 ty of the people of the United States, whose delegates framed, 
 and whose conventions approved it. The most important among 
 these objects, that which is placed first in rank, on which all the 
 others rest " is to form a more perfect Union." Now, is it possible 
 that, even if therTTWeTu uu expTess provisions giving supremacy 
 to the Constitution and laws of the United States over those of 
 the States, it can be conceived, that an instrument made for the 
 
80 
 
 purpose of " forming a more perfect Union" than that of the 
 confederation, could be so constructed by the assembled wis 
 dom of our country as to substitute for that confederation a form 
 of government dependent for its existence on the local interest, 
 the party spirit of a State, or of a prevailing faction in a State ? 
 Every man of plain unsophisticated understanding, who hears the 
 question, will give such an answer as will preserve the Union. 
 Metaphysical subtlety, in pursuit of an impracticable theory, 
 could alone have devised one that is calculated to destroy it. 
 I/I consider, then, the power to annul a law of the United 
 States, assumed by one State, incompatible with the existence 
 of the Union, contradicted expressly by the letter of the Consti 
 tution, unauthorized by its spirit, inconsistent with every princi 
 ple on which it was founded, and destructive of the great object 
 I/for which it was formed. 
 
 After this general view of the leading principle, we must ex 
 amine the particular application of it which is made in the ordi 
 nance. 
 
 The preamble rests its justification on these grounds : It as 
 sumes as a fact, that the obnoxious laws, although they purport 
 to be laws for raising revenue, were in reality intended for the 
 protection of manufactures, which purpose it asserts to be un 
 constitutional ; that the operation of these laws is unequal ; that 
 the amount raised by them is greater than is required by the 
 wants of the Government ; and, finally that the proceeds are to 
 be applied to objects unauthorized by the Constitution. These 
 are the only causes alledged to justify an open opposition to the 
 laws of the country, and a threat of seceding from the Union, if 
 any attempt should be made to enforce them. She first virtually 
 acknowledges that the law in question was passed under a pow 
 er expressly given by the Constitution to lay and collect imposts, 
 but its constitutionality is drawn in question from the motives of 
 those who passed it. However apparent this purpose may be in 
 the present case, nothing can be more dangerous than to admit 
 the position that an unconstitutional purpose, entertained by the 
 members who assent to a law enacted under a constitutional 
 power, shall make that law void ; for how is that purpose to be 
 ascertained ? Who is to make the scrutiny ? How often may 
 bad purposes be falsely imputed . ? In how many cases are they 
 
81 
 
 concealed by false profession ? In how many is no declaration 
 of motive made ? Admit this doctrine, and you give to the States 
 an uncontrolled right to decide ; and every law may be annulled 
 under this pretext. If, therefore, the absurd and dangerous 
 doctrine should be admitted, that a State may annul an uncon 
 stitutional law, or one that it deems such, it will not apply to the 
 present case. 
 
 The next objection is, that the laws in question operate une 
 qually. This objection may be made with truth to every law 
 that has been or can be passed. The wisdom of man never 
 yet contrived a system of taxation that would operate with per 
 fect equality. If the unequal operation of a law makes it un 
 constitutional, and if all laws of that description may be abro 
 gated by any State for that cause, then indeed is the Federa 
 Constitution unworthy of the slightest effort for its preservation 
 We have hitherto relied on it as the perpetual bond of ou 
 
 Union. We have received it as the work of the assembled wis 
 
 \ 
 
 dom of the nation. We have trusted to it as to the sheet anchor 
 of our safety, in the stormy times of conflict with a foreign or 
 domestic foe. We have looked to it with sacred awe as the pal 
 ladium of our liberties, and with all the solemnities of religion, 
 have pledged to each other our lives and fortunes here, and our 
 hopes of happiness hereafter, in its defence and support. Were 
 we mistaken, my countrymen, in attaching this importance to 
 the Constitution of our country? Was our devotion paid to the 
 wretched, inefficient, clumsy contrivance, which this new doc 
 trine would make it? Did we pledge ourselves to the support 
 of an airy nothing a bubble that must be blown away by the 
 first breath of disaffection? Was this self-destroying, visionary 
 theory, the work of the profound statesmen, the exalted patri 
 ots, to whom the task of constitutional reform was entrusted ? 
 Did the name of Washington sanction, did the States deliberate 
 ly ratify such an anomaly in the history of fundamental legisla 
 tion ? No. We were not mistaken ! The letter of this great 
 instrument is free from this radical fault ; its language directly 
 contradicts the imputation : its spirit its evident intent con 
 tradicts it. No; we did not err! Our Constitution does not\ 
 contain the absurdity of giving power to make laws, and another 
 power to resist them. 
 12 
 
82 
 
 The sages, whose memory will always be reverenced, have 
 given us a practical, and, as they hoped, a permanent constitu 
 tional compact. The Father of his country did not affix his 
 revered name to so palpable an absurdity. Nor did the States 
 when they severally ratified it, do so under the impression that 
 a veto on the laws of the United States was reserved to them, 
 or that they could exercise it by implication. Search the de 
 bates in all their Conventions examine the speeches of the 
 most zealous opposers of Federal authority look at the amend 
 ments that were proposed. They are all silent not a syllable 
 uttered, not a vote given, not a motion made to correct the ex 
 plicit supremacy given to the laws of the Union over those of 
 the States or to show that implication, as is now contended, 
 could defeat it. No, we have not erred ! The Constitution is 
 jstill the object o_o_ujLi^verence, the bond of our Union, our de- 
 fence in danger, the source of our prosperity in peace. It shall 
 descend, as we have received it, uncorrupted by sophistical con 
 struction, to our posterity ; and the sacrifices of local interest, 
 of State prejudices, of personal animosities, that were made to 
 bring it into existence, will again be patriotically offered for its 
 support. 
 
 The two remaining objections made by the Ordinance to these 
 laws are, that the sums intended to be raised by them are greater 
 than are required, and that the proceeds will be unconstitution 
 ally employed. The Constitution has given expressly to Con 
 gress the right of raising revenue, and of determining the sum 
 the public exigencies will require. The States have no control 
 over the exercise of this right, other than that which results from 
 the power of changing the representatives who abuse it, and thus 
 procure redress. Congress may undoubtedly abuse this discre 
 tionary power, but the same may be said of others with which 
 they are vested. Yet the discretion must exist somewhere. 
 The Constitution has given it to the Representatives of all the 
 People, checked by the Representatives of the States, and by 
 the Executive power. The South Carolina construction gives it 
 to the Legislature or Convention of a single State, where neither 
 the people of the different States nor the State in their separate 
 capacity, nor the Chief Magistrate elected by the people, have 
 any representation. Which is the most discreet disposition of 
 
83 
 
 the power ? I do not ask you, fellow citizens, which is the Con 
 stitutional disposition that instrument speaks a language not 
 to be misunderstood. But if you were assembled in general 
 convention, which would you think the safest depository for this 
 discretionary power in the last resort. Would you add a clause 
 giving it to each of the States, or would you sanction the wise 
 provisions already made by your Constitution ? If this should be 
 the result of your deliberations, when providing for the future, 
 are you, can you be ready to risk all that we hold dear, to es 
 tablish for a temporary and a local purpose, that which you must 
 acknowledge to be destructive, and even absurd, as a general 
 provision ? Carry out the consequences of this right vested 
 in the different States, and you must perceive that the crisis your 
 conduct presents at this day would recur whenever any law of 
 the United States displeased any of the States, and that we 
 should soon cease to be a nation. 
 
 The Ordinance, with the same knowledge of the future that* 
 characterizes a former objection, tells you that the proceeds of 
 the tax will be unconstitutionally applied. If this could be as 
 certained with certainty, the objection would, with more pro 
 priety, be reserved for the law so applying the proceeds, but 
 surely cannot be urged against the laws levying the duty. -^ 
 
 These are the allegations contained in the Ordinance. Ex 
 amine them seriously, my fellow citizens judge for yourselves. 
 I appeal to you to determine whether they are so clear, so con 
 vincing, as to leave no doubt of their correctness : and even if 
 you should come to this conclusion, how far they justify the 
 reckless, destructive course, which you are directed to pursue. 
 Review these objections, and the couclusions drawn from them 
 once more. What are they ? Every law, then, for raising rev 
 enue, according to the South Carolina Ordinance, may be right 
 fully annulled, unless it be so framed as no law ever will or can 
 be framed. Congress have a right to pass laws for raising rev 
 enue, and each State has a right to oppose their execution 
 two rights directly opposite to each other ; and yet is this ab 
 surdity supposed to be contained in an instrument drawn for the 
 express purpose of avoiding collisions between the States and 
 the General Government, by an assembly of the most enlightened 
 statesmen and purest patriots ever embodied for a similar purpose. 
 
84 
 
 In vain have these sages declared that Congress shall have pow 
 er to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excise in vain 
 have they provided that they shall have power to pass all laws 
 which shall be necessary and proper to carry those powers into 
 execution ; that those laws and that Constitution shall be the 
 "supreme law of the land ; and that the judges in every State 
 shall be bound thereby, any thing in the Constitution or laws of 
 any State to the contrary notwithstanding." In vain have the 
 people of the several States solemnly sanctioned these provis 
 ions, made them their paramount law, and individually sworn to 
 support them whenever they were called on to execute any of 
 fice. Vain provisions ! ineffectual restrictions ! vile profanation 
 of oaths ! miserable mockery of legislation ! If a bare majority 
 of the voters in any one State may, on a real or supposed 
 knowledge of the intent with which a law has been passed, de 
 clare themselves free from its operation say here it gives too 
 little, there too much, and operates unequally here it surfers 
 articles to be free that ought to be taxed, there it taxes those 
 that ought to be free in this case the proceeds are intended to 
 be applied to purposes which we do not approve ; in that the 
 amount raised is more than is wanted. Congress, it is true, are 
 invested by the Constitution, with the right of deciding these 
 questions according to their sound discretion. Congress is com 
 posed of the Representatives of all the States and all the peo 
 ple of the States; but we, part of the people of one State, to 
 whom the Constitution has given no power on the subject, from 
 whom it has expressly taken it away ; we, who have solemnly 
 agreed that this Constitution shall be our law we, most of whom 
 have sworn to support it we, now abrogate this law, and swear, 
 and force others to swear, that it shall not be obeyed and we do 
 this not because Congress have no right to pass such laws this 
 we do not allege ; but because they have passed them with im 
 proper views. 
 
 They are unconstitutional from the motives of those who pass 
 ed them, which we can never with certainty know, from their 
 unequal operation, although it is impossible from the nature of 
 things that they should be equal and from the disposition 
 which we presume may be made of their proceeds, although 
 that disposition has not been declared. This is the plain mean- 
 
85 
 
 ing of the Ordinance in relation to laws which it abrogates for 
 alleged unconstitutionally. But it does not stop there. It re 
 peals, in express terms, an important part of the Constitution 
 itself, and of laws passed to give it effect, which have never 
 been alleged to be unconstitutional. The Constitution declares 
 that the judicial powers of the United States extend to cases 
 arising under the laws of the United States, and that such laws, 
 the Constitution and treaties, shall be paramount to the State 
 Constitution and laws. 
 
 The judiciary act prescribes the mode by which the case may 
 be brought before a Court of the United States by appeal, when 
 a State tribunal shall decide against this provision of the Con 
 stitution. The Ordinance declares there shall be no appeal ; 
 makes the State law paramount to the Constitution of the 
 United States; forces judges and jurors to swear they will dis 
 regard its provisions ; and even makes it penal in a suitor to 
 attempt relief by appeal. It further declares that it shall not 
 be lawful for the authorities of the United States, or of that 
 State, to enforce the payment of duties imposed by the revenue 
 laws within its limits. 
 
 Here is a law of the United States, not even pretended to be 
 unconstitutional, repealed by the authority of a small majority 
 of the voters of a single State. Here is a provision of the Con 
 stitution which is solemnly abrogated by the same authority. 
 
 On such expositions and reasonings, the Ordinance grounds 
 not only an assertion of the right to annul the laws of which it 
 complains, but to enforce it by a threat of seceding from the 
 Union, if any attempt is made to execute them. 
 
 The right to secede is deduced from the nature of the Con 
 stitution, which, they say, is a compact between the sovereign 
 States, who have preserved their whole sovereignty, and, there 
 fore, are subject to no superior ; that because they made the 
 compact, they can break it when, in their opinion, it has been 
 departed from by the other States. Fallacious as this course of 
 reasoning is, it enlists State pride, and finds advocates in the 
 honest prejudice of those who have not studied the nature of our 
 Government sufficiently to see the radical error on which it 
 rests. 
 
 The people of the United States formed the Constitution, act- 
 
1 
 
 86 
 
 ing through the State Legislatures in making the compact, to 
 meet and discuss its provisions, and acting in separate Conven 
 tions when they ratified these provisions ; but the terms used in 
 its construction, show it to be a Government in which the peo 
 ple of all the States collectively are represented. We are one 
 people in the choice of the President and Vice President. Here 
 the States have no other agency than to direct the mode in 
 which the votes shall be given. The candidates having the ma 
 jority of all the votes are chosen. The electors of a majority of 
 States may have given their votes for one candidate, and yet 
 another may be chosen. The people then, and not the States, 
 are represented in the Executive branch. 
 
 In the House of Representatives there is this difference, that 
 the people of one State do not, as in the case of President and 
 Vice President, all vote for the same officers. The people of 
 all the States do not vote for all the members, each State elect 
 ing only its own Representatives. But this creates no material 
 distinction. When chosen, they are all representatives of the 
 United States, not representatives of the particular State from 
 which they come. They are paid by the United States, not by 
 the State, nor are they accountable to it for any act done in the 
 performance of their legislative functions ; and, however they 
 may in practice, as it is their duty to do, consult and prefer the 
 interests of their particular constituents when they come in con 
 flict with any other partial or local interest, yet it is their first 
 and highest duty as representatives of the United States, to pro 
 mote the general good. 
 
 The Constitution of the United States, then, forms a Govern 
 ment, not a league ; and whether it be formed by compact be 
 tween the States, or in any other manner, its character is the 
 game. It is a Government in which all the people are repre- 
 s&nted, which operates directly on the people individually, not 
 u^on the States ; they retained all the power they did not grant. 
 Bu\t each State having expressly parted with so many powers as 
 to Constitute jointly with the other States a single nation, can 
 not from that period possess any right to secede, because such 
 secession does not break a league, but destroys the unity of a 
 nation ; and any injury to that unity is not only a breach which 
 would result from the contravention of a compact, but it is an 
 
187 
 
 offence against the whole Union. To say that any State may 
 at pleasure secede from the Union, is to say that the United 
 States are not a nation ; because it would be a solecism to con 
 tend that any part of a nation might dissolve its connexion with 
 the other parts, to their injury or ruin, without committing any 
 offence. 
 
 Secession, like any other revolutionary act, may be morally 
 justified by the extremity of oppression, but to call it a constitu 
 tional right, is confounding the meaning of terms; and can only 
 be done through gross error, or to deceive those who are willing 
 to assert a right, but would pause before they made a revolu 
 tion, or incurred the penalties consequent on a failure. 
 
 Because the Union was formed by compact, it is said the par 
 ties to that compact may, when they feel themselves aggrieved, 
 depart from it ; but it is precisely because it is a compact that 
 they cannot. A compact is an agreement or binding obligation. 
 It may, by its terms, have a sanction or penalty for its breach, 
 or it may not. If it contains no sanction, it may be broken with 
 no other consequence than moral guilt ; if it have a sanction, 
 then the breach incurs the designated or implied penalty. A 
 league between independent nations, generally, has no sanction 
 other than a moral one ; or, if it should contain a penalty, as 
 there is no common superior, it cannot be enforced. A GovJ- 
 ernment, on the contrary, always has a sanction, express or im 
 plied ; and, in our case, it is both necessarily implied and 
 expressly given. An attempt by force of arms to destroy a 
 Government, is an offence, by whatever means the constitutional 
 compact may have been formed ; and such Government has the 
 right, by the law of self-defence, to pass acts for punishing the 
 offender, unless that right is modified, restrained, or resumed by 
 the constitutional act. In our system, although it is modified 
 in the case of treason, yet authority is expressly given to pass 
 all laws necessary to carry its power into effect, and under this 
 grant provision has been made for punishing acts which obstruct 
 the due administration of the laws. 
 
 It would seem superfluous to add any thing to show the na 
 ture of that Union which connects us ; but as erroneous opin 
 ions on this subject are the foundation of doctrines the most de 
 structive to our peace, I must give some further developement 
 
88 
 
 of my views upon this subject. No one, fellow citizens, has a 
 higher reverence for the reserved rights of the States, than the 
 Magistrate who now addresses you. No one would make greater 
 personal sacrifices, or official exertions, to defend them from 
 violation ; but equal care must be taken to prevent on their 
 part an improper interference with, or resumption of, the rights 
 they have vested in the nation. The line has not been so dis 
 tinctly drawn, as to avoid doubts in some cases of the exercise 
 of power. Men of the best intentions and soundest views may 
 differ in their construction of some parts of the Constitution ; 
 but there are others on which dispassionate reflection can leave 
 i no doubt. Of this nature appears to be the assumed right of 
 \\ a secession. It rests, as we have seen, on the alleged undivided 
 w, sovereignty of the States, and on their having formed in this 
 \\sovereign capacity a compact which is called the Constitution, 
 from which, because they made it, they have the right to secede. 
 Both of these positions are erroneous, and some of the argu 
 ments to prove them so have been anticipated. 
 
 The States severally have not retained their entire sove 
 reignty. It has been shown that in becoming parts of a nation, 
 not members of a league, they surrendered many of their essen 
 tial parts of sovereignty. The rights to make treaties declare 
 war levy taxes exercise exclusive judicial and legislative 
 powers were all of them functions of sovereign power. The 
 States, then, for all these important purposes, were no longer 
 sovereign. The allegiance of their citizens was transferred, in 
 the first instance, to the Government of the United States ; they 
 became Americans-citizens, and owed obedience to the Consti 
 tution of the United States, and to the laws made in conformity 
 with the powers it vested in Congress. This last position has 
 not been, and cannot be denied. How then can that State be 
 said to be sovereign and independent, whose citizens owe obe 
 dience to laws not made by it, and whose magistrates are sworn 
 to disregard those laws, when they come in conflict with those 
 passed by another f What shows conclusively that the States 
 cannot be said to have reserved an undivided sovereignty, is, 
 that they expressly ceded the right to punish treason not trea 
 son against their separate power but treason against the 
 United States. Treason is an offence against sovereignty, and 
 
89 
 
 sovereignty must reside with the power to punish it. But the 
 reserved rights of the States are not less sacred, because they 
 have for their common interest made the General Government 
 the depository of these powers. The unity of our political 
 character (as has been shown for another purpose) commenced 
 with its very existence. Under the Royal Government we had 
 no separate character our opposition to its oppression began 
 as United Colonies. 
 
 We were the United States under the confederation, and the 
 name was perpetuated, and the Union rendered more perfect, 
 by the Federal Constitution. In none of these stages did we 
 consider ourselves in any other light than as forming one nation. 
 Treaties and alliances were made in the name of all. Troops 
 were raised for the joint defence. How, then, with all these 
 proofs, that under all changes of our position, we had, for desig 
 nated purposes and with defined powers, created National Gov 
 ernments how is it, that the most perfect of those several 
 modes of union, should now be considered as a mere league, 
 that may be dissolved at pleasure? It is from an abuse of terms. 
 Compact is used as synonymous with league, although the true 
 term is not employed, because it would at once show the fal 
 lacy of the reasoning. 
 
 It would not do to say that our Constitution is only a league : 
 but, it is labored to prove it a compact, (which in one sense it 
 is) and then to argue that as a league is a compact, every com 
 pact between nations must of course be a league, and that from 
 such an engagement every sovereign power has a right to secede. 
 But it has been shown, that in this sense the States are not sove 
 reign, and that even if they were, and the National Constitution 
 had been founded by compact, there would be no right in any 
 one State to exonerate itself from its operations. 
 
 So obvious are the reasons which forbid this secession, that it 
 is necessary only to allude to them. The Union was formed for 
 the benefit of all. It was produced by mutual sacrifices of in 
 terests and opinions. Can those sacrifices be recalled ? Can 
 the States, who magnanimously surrendered their title to the 
 Territories of the West, recall the grant ? Will the inhabitants 
 of the inland States agree to pay the duties that may be imposed 
 without their assent by those on the Atlantic, or the Gulf, for 
 13 
 
90 
 
 their own benefit ? Shall there be a free port in one State, and 
 onerous duties in another ? No one believes that any right ex 
 ists in a single State to involve all the others in these and count- 
 tfess other evils, contrary to the engagements solemnly made. 
 |very one must see that the other States, in self defence, must 
 Joppose at all hazards. 
 
 These- are the alternatives that are presented by the Conven 
 tion. A repeal of all the acts for raising revenue, leaving the 
 Government without the means of support ; or, an acquiescence 
 in the dissolution of our Union, by the secession of one of its 
 members. When the first was proposed, it was known that it 
 could not be listened to for a moment. It was known that 
 if force was applied to oppose the execution of the laws, it 
 must be repelled by force that Congress could not, without 
 involving itself in disgrace, and the country in ruin, accede to 
 the proposition ; and yet, if this is not done in a given day, or 
 if any attempt is made to execute the laws, the State is, by the 
 Ordinance, declared to be out of the Union. 
 
 The majority of a Convention assembled for the purpose, have 
 dictated these terms, or rather this rejection of all terms, in 
 the name of the people of South Carolina. It is true that the 
 Governor of the State speaks of the submission of their griev 
 ances to a Convention of all the States ; which, he says, they 
 " sincerely and anxiously seek and desire." Yet this obvious 
 and constitutional mode of obtaining the sense of the other 
 States on the construction of the Federal compact, and amend 
 ing it, if necessary, has never been attempted by those who have 
 urged the State on to this destructive measure. The State 
 might have proposed the call for a General Convention to the 
 other States ; and Congress, if a sufficient number of them con 
 curred, might have called it. But the first Magistrate of South 
 Carolina, when he expressed a hope that, " on a review by Con 
 gress, and the functionaries of the General Government, of the 
 merits of the controversy ," such a Convention will be accorded 
 to them, must have known that neither Congress, nor any func 
 tionary of the General Government, has authority to call such a 
 Convention, unless it be demanded by two-thirds of the States. 
 This suggestion, then, is another instance of the reckless inat 
 tention to the provisions of the Constitution with which this cri- 
 
91 
 
 sis has been hurried on, or the attempt to persuade the people 
 that a constitutional remedy had been sought, and refused. If 
 the Legislature of South Carolina " anxiously desire" a General 
 Convention to consider their complaints, why have they not 
 made application for it in the way the Constitution points out ? 
 The assertion that they " earnestly seek" it, is completely nega 
 tived by the omission. 
 
 This, then, is the position in which we stand. A small ma 
 jority of the citizens of one State in the Union, have elected 
 delegates to the State Convention : that Convention has ordain 
 ed, that all the revenue laws of the United States, must be re 
 pealed, or that they are no longer a member of the Union. The 
 Governor of that State has recommended to the Legislature the 
 raising of an army to carry the secession into effect, and that he 
 may be empowered to give clearances to vessels in the name of 
 the State. No act of violent opposition to the laws has yet 
 been committed; but such a state of things is hourly appre 
 hended, and it is the intent of this instrument to proclaim not 
 only that the duty imposed on me by the Constitution, " to take 
 care that the laws be faithfully executed," shall be performed to 
 the extent of the power vested in me by law, or of such others 
 as the wisdom of Congress shall devise and entrust to me for 
 that purpose ; but, to warn the citizens of South Carolina, who 
 have been deluded into an opposition to the laws, of the danger 
 they will incur by obedience to the illegal and disorganizing 
 Ordinance of the Convention to exhort those who have rsfused 
 to support it, to persevere in their determination to uphold the 
 Constitution and the laws of their country, and to point out to 
 all the perilous situation into which the good people of that 
 State have been led and that the course they are urged to pur 
 sue is one of ruin and disgrace to the very State whose rights 
 they affect to support. 
 
 Fellow citizens of my native State, let me not only admonish 
 you as the first Magistrate of our common country, not to incur 
 the penalty of its laws, but use the influence that a father would 
 over his children whom he saw rushing to certain ruin. In that 
 paternal language, with that paternal feeling, let me tell you, 
 my countrymen, that you are deluded by men who are either 
 deceived themselves, or wish to deceive you. 
 
92 
 
 Mark, under what pretences you have been led on to the 
 brink of insurrection and treason, on which you stand ! First, 
 a diminution of the value of your staple commodity, lowered by 
 over-production in other quarters, and the consequent diminu 
 tion in the value of your lands, were the sole effects of the tariff 
 laws. The effect of those laws is confessedly injurious, but 
 the evil was greatly exaggerated by the unfounded theory you 
 were taught to believe, that its burthens were in proportion to 
 your exports, not to your consumption of imported articles. 
 Your pride was roused by the assertion, that a submission to 
 those laws was a state of vassalage, and that resistance to them 
 was equal, in patriotic merit, to the opposition our fathers offer 
 ed to the oppressive laws of Great Britain. You were told that 
 this opposition might be peaceable might be constitutionally 
 made ; that you might enjoy all the advantages of the Union, 
 and bear none of its burthens. 
 
 Eloquent appeals to your passions, to your State pride, to 
 your native courage, to your sense of real injury were used to 
 prepare you for the period when the mask which concealed the 
 hideous features of disunion should be taken off. It fell, and 
 you were made to look with complacency on objects which, not 
 long since, you would have regarded with horror. Look back 
 at the nrts which have brought you to this state look forward 
 to the consequences to which it must inevitably lead! Look 
 back to what was first told you as an inducement to enter into 
 this dangerous course ! The great political truth was repeated 
 to you, that you had the revolutionary right of resisting all laws 
 that were palpably unconstitutional and intolerably oppressive 
 it was added that the right to nullify a law rested on the same 
 principle, but that it was a peaceable remedy. This character 
 which was given to it, made you receive, with too much confi 
 dence the assertions that were made of the unconstitutionality 
 of the law, and its oppressive effects. Mark, my fellow-citizens? 
 that by the admission of your leaders, the unconstitutionality 
 must be palpable ; or it will not justify either resistance or nul 
 lification! What is the meaning of the word palpable, in the 
 sense in which it is here used ? that which is apparent to every 
 one : that which no man of ordinary intellect will fail to per 
 ceive. Is the unconstitutionality of these laws of that descrip- 
 
93 
 
 tion? Let those among your leaders who once approved and 
 advocated the principle of protective duties, answer the ques 
 tion ; and let them choose whether they will be considered as 
 incapable, then of perceiving that which must have been appa 
 rent to every man of common understanding, or as imposing 
 upon your confidence, and endeavoring to mislead you now. 
 In either case, they are unsafe guides in the perilous path they 
 urge you to tread. Ponder well on this circumstance, and you 
 will know how to appreciate the exaggerated language they ad 
 dress to you. They are not champions of liberty, emulating the 
 fame of our Revolutionary Fathers; nor are you an oppressed 
 people, contending, as they repeat to you, against worse than 
 colonial vassalage. You are free members of a flourishing and 
 happy Union. There is no settled design to oppress you. 
 
 I have urged you to look back to the means that were used 
 to hurry you on to the position you have now assumed, and for 
 ward to the consequences it will produce. Something more is 
 necessary. Contemplate the condition of that country of which 
 you still form an important part ! Consider its government, 
 uniting in one bond of common interest and general protection, 
 so many different States, giving to all their inhabitants the proud 
 title of American citizens, protecting their commerce, securing 
 their literature and their arts, facilitating their intercommunica 
 tion, defending their frontiers, and making their name respected 
 in the remotest part of the earth ! Consider the extent of its 
 territory, its increasing and happy population, its advances in 
 arts which render life agreeable, and in the sciences which ele 
 vate the mind ! See education spreading the lights of religion, 
 humanity, and general information into every cottage in this 
 wide extent of our territories and states. Behold it as the asylum 
 where the wretched and the oppressed find a refuge and sup 
 port ! Carolina is one of these proud States : her arms have de 
 fended, her best blood has cemented this happy Union. Look 
 on this picture of happiness and honor, and say we, too, are 
 citizens of America ; and then add, if you can, without horror and 
 remorse, this happy Union we will dissolve this picture of 
 peace and prosperity we will deface ; this free intercourse we 
 will interrupt these fertile fields we will deluge with blood 
 the protection of that glorious flag we renounce; the very 
 
; 94 
 
 name of Americans we discard. And for what, mistaken men ! 
 for what do you throw away these inestimable blessings for 
 what would you exchange your share in the advantages and 
 honor of the Union ? For the dream of a separate independence 
 a dream interrupted by bloody conflict with your neighbors 
 and a vile dependence on a foreign power. If your leaders 
 could succeed in establishing a separation, what would be your 
 situation ? Are you united at home- are you free from the ap 
 prehension of civil discord, with all its fearful consequences ? 
 Do our neighboring republics, every day suffering some new 
 revolution, or contending with some new insurrection ; do they 
 excite your envy? But the dictates of a high duty oblige me 
 solemnly to announce that you cannot succeed. 
 
 You have indeed felt the unequal operation of laws which 
 may have been unwisely, not unconstitutionally passed ; but 
 that inequality must necessarily be removed. At the very mo 
 ment when you were madly urged on to the unfortunate course 
 you have begun, a change in public opinion had commenced. 
 The nearly approaching payment of the public debt, and the 
 consequent necessity of a diminution of duties, had already pro 
 duced a considerable reduction, and that too on some articles of 
 general consumption in your State. The importance of this 
 change was understood, and you were authoritatively told, that 
 no further alleviation of your burthen was to be expected, at the 
 very time when the condition of the country imperiously de 
 manded such a modification of the duties as should reduce them 
 to a just and equitable scale. But, as if apprehensive of the ef 
 fect of this change in allaying your discontents, you were pre 
 cipitated into the fearful state in which you find yourselves. 
 
 The laws of the United States must be executed I have no 
 discretionary power on the subject my duty is emphatically 
 pronounced in the Constitution. Those who told you that you 
 might peaceably prevent their execution, deceived you they 
 could not have been deceived themselves. They know that a 
 forcible opposition could alone- prevent the execution of the 
 laws, and they know that such opposition must be repelled. 
 Their object is disunion ; but be not deceived by names ; dis 
 union by armed force is treason. Are you really ready to incur 
 
95 
 
 its guilt? If you are, on the heads of the instigators of the act 
 be the dreadful consequences on their heads be the dishonor, 
 but on yours may fall the punishment on your unhappy State 
 will inevitably fall all the evils of the conflict you force upon 
 the Government of your country. It cannot accede to the mad 
 project of disunion, of which you would be the first victims its 
 first Magistrate cannot, if he would, avoid the performance of his 
 duty the consequences must be fearful for you, distressing to 
 your fellow-citizens here, and to the friends of government 
 throughout the world. Its enemies have beheld our prosperity 
 with a vexation they could not conceal it was a standing refu 
 tation of their slavish doctrines, and they will point to our dis 
 cord with the triumph of malignant joy. It is yet in your power 
 to disappoint them. 
 
 There is yet time to show that the descendants of the Pinck- 
 neys, the Sumpters, the Rutledges, and of the thousand other 
 names which adorn the pages of your revolutionary history, will 
 not abandon that Union, to support which, so many of them 
 fought, and bled, and died. I adjure you, as you honor their 
 memory ; as you love the cause of freedom, to which they dedi 
 cated their lives, as you prize the peace of your country, the 
 lives of its best citizens, and your own fair fame, to retrace your 
 steps. Snatch from the archives of your State the disorganizing 
 edict of its Convention ; bid its members to re-assemble and 
 promulgate the decided expression of your will to remain in 
 the path which alone can conduct you to safety, prosperity and 
 honor tell them that compared to disunion all other evils are 
 light, because that brings with it an accumulation of all de 
 clare that you will never take the field unless the star-spangled 
 banner of your country shall float over you that you will not 
 be stigmatized when dead, and dishonored and scorned while 
 you live, as the authors of the first attack on the Constitution of 
 your country ! Its destroyers you cannot be. You may disturb 
 its peace you may interrupt the course of its prosperity you 
 may cloud its reputation for stability but its tranquillity will be 
 restored, its prosperity will return, and the stain upon its nation 
 al character will be transferred, and remain an eternal blot on 
 the memory of those who caused the disorder. 
 
96 
 
 Fellow citizens of the United States ! The threat of unhal 
 lowed disunion the names of those, once respected, by whom 
 it is uttered the array of military force to support it denotes 
 the approach of a crisis in our affairs on which the continuance 
 of our unexampled prosperity, our political existence, and per 
 haps that of all free government, may depend. The conjunc 
 ture demanded a free, a full and explicit enunciation, not only of 
 my intentions, but of my principles of action ; and as the claim 
 was asserted of a right by a State to annul the laws of the Union, 
 and even to secede from it at pleasure, a frank exposition of my 
 opinions in relation to the origin and form of our government, 
 and the construction I give to the instrument by which it was 
 created, seemed to be proper. Having the fullest confidence in 
 the justness of the legal and constitutional opinion of my duties, 
 which has been expressed, I rely with equal confidence on your 
 undivided support in my determination to execute the laws ; to 
 preserve the Union by all Constitutional means ; to arrest, if 
 possible, by moderate but firm measures, the necessity of a re 
 course to force ; and if it be the will of Heaven that the recur 
 rence of its primeval curse on man for the shedding of a brother s 
 blood, should fall upon our land, that it be not called down by 
 any offensive act on the part of the United States. 
 
 Fellow citizens ! The momentous case is before you. On 
 your undivided support of your Government, depends the decis 
 ion of the great question it involves, whether your sacred 
 Union will be preserved, and the blessings it secures to us as 
 one people, shall be perpetuated. No one can doubt that the 
 unanimity with which that decision will be expressed, will be 
 such as to inspire new confidence in republican institutions ; and 
 that the prudence, the wisdom, and the courage which it will 
 bring to their defence, will transmit them unimpaired and in 
 vigorated to our children. 
 
 May the Great Ruler of nations grant that the signal blessings 
 with which he has favored ours, may not, by the madness of 
 party or personal ambition, be disregarded and lost ; and may 
 His wise Providence bring those who have produced this crisis, 
 to see their folly, before they feel the misery of civil strife 5 and 
 inspire a returning veneration for that Union, which, if we dare 
 
97 
 
 to penetrate His designs, He has chosen as the only means of 
 attaining the high destinies to which we may reasonably aspire. 
 
 In testimony whereof, I have caused the Seal of the United 
 States to be hereunto affixed, having signed the same with 
 my hand. 
 
 Done at the City of Washington, this 10th day of December, in 
 the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and thirty- 
 two, and of the independence of the United States, the fifty- 
 seventh. 
 
 By the President. 
 
 ANDREW JACKSON. 
 EDW. LIVINGSTON, 
 
 Secretary of State. 
 
 14 
 
RESOLVES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LEGISLATURE 
 
 NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
 
State of Neto 
 
 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives in General 
 Court convened, That the sentiments contained in the Proclama 
 tion of the President of the United States, dated December 10, 
 1832, meet with the entire approbation of this Legislature ; and 
 that we hail in those sentiments, and in the general measures of 
 his administration, and particularly in the salutary exercise of 
 his Veto, a Chief Executive Magistrate, whose devoted patriot 
 ism and moral courage are equal to any crisis, and under the 
 guidance of whose wisdom the ancient landmarks of the Consti 
 tution will be preserved, and the confidence reposed in him, as 
 manifested in his recent election by a vast majority of the Ameri 
 can people, will be fully justified. 
 
 And resolved further, That the Secretary of State be directed 
 to transmit a copy of this resolution to the President of the 
 United States, and to each of our Delegates in Congress, and 
 the Governor of each State in the Union. 
 
 FRANKLIN PIERCE, 
 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 
 BENNING M. BEAN, 
 
 President of the Senate. 
 [A true copy.] 
 
 RALPH METCALF, Secretary of State. 
 
RESOLVES 
 
 OP THE 
 
 LE GISL A TURE 
 
 OF 
 
 AINE. 
 
State of Jttaine* 
 
 IN SENATE, February 1, 1833. 
 
 The Joint Select Committee, to which was referred so much of 
 the Governor s Message as relates to the difficulties existing 
 between South Carolina and the General Government, and 
 the Documents from South Carolina, and several other States, 
 upon the same subject, have had the same under considera 
 tion, and 
 
 REPORT : 
 
 THAT they have given their anxious and serious attention to 
 the several documents referred to their consideration ; all of 
 which have grown out of the unhappy controversy now subsist 
 ing between South Carolina and the General Government. 
 Most, if not all of them, contain speculative views of the nature 
 and objects of our political system. In the several communica 
 tions, there is observable a wide diversity of sentiment ; and in 
 some, especially those from South Carolina, the conclusions 
 adopted are made the subjects of a very extended and elaborate 
 argument. To review and compare with each other the several 
 opinions and doctrines set forth in these several communica 
 tions, to examine fully the various arguments and objections 
 which they oppose to each other, and to investigate what, if any, 
 errors of fact, of principle, or of reasoning, may be contained in 
 any, or all of them, would seem to be a task of great labor, and 
 one not likely, perhaps, to result in any corresponding benefit. 
 
 This State, on two occasions, has heretofore expressed her 
 opinion upon the subject of Federal Relations. It is believed, 
 15 
 
106 
 
 that the Report and Resolutions of 1827, relative to Internal 
 Improvements, and the Report and Resolutions of 1831, upon 
 the same subject, contain a general outline of the sentiments of 
 Maine, as regards the origin and purposes of our political sys 
 tem, the powers conferred upon the General Government by the 
 Constitution, and the rights reserved to the People and the 
 States. As a declaration of our principles and opinions, as to 
 the relative powers and duties of the General Government and 
 the several State Governments, we deem it unnecessary, there 
 fore, at the present time, to do more than simply refer to the 
 several Reports and Resolutions above alluded to. 
 
 Without entering into the discussion of political theories, we 
 have chosen rather to take a practical view of the unhappy diffi 
 culties which agitate the public tranquillity, and alarm the pub 
 lic mind. Viewing with the deepest feelings of regret, the 
 excitement which pervades our sister State, and the rash and 
 presumptuous measures to which it has led, and deprecating 
 those measures as utterly inconsistent with the spirit of forbear 
 ance and compromise in which our Union had its origin, and 
 by a perseverance in which it can alone be maintained, we can 
 not, at the same time, forget that this excitement, this disturb 
 ance of the public tranquillity, and all the dangers which this 
 unnatural controversy threatens to bring upon the country, have 
 for their origin and moving cause the policy of the protective 
 system. Under this aspect of public affairs, it has seemed to 
 your Committee the more useful course to respectfully inter 
 pose the voice of this State for conciliation and forbearance. 
 There are none among us who would justify the untimely and 
 ruinous resistance which South Carolina threatens against the 
 existing laws of the United States, of whose injustice she com 
 plains. On the other hand, a large majority of the citizens of 
 Maine ever have entertained they still entertain the most un- 
 doubting convictions of the impolicy and oppression of high 
 protecting duties. 
 
 Under these circumstances, and with these views, the Com 
 mittee submit the following Resolves. 
 
 J. WILLIAMSON, Chairman, 
 
RESOLVES. 
 
 Resolved, That, we are not insensible to the wrongs and suffer 
 ings of our brethren of South Carolina, under the unjust and 
 oppressive burdens imposed upon them by the Tariffs of high 
 protective duties. But while we deplore their grievances, and 
 are ready to unite with them in any and every peaceful and 
 lawful mode of redress, we cannot, nor will we give our coun 
 tenance or support to their projected scheme for relief. We 
 regard nullification as neither a safe, peaceable, or constitu 
 tional remedy, but as unsound and dangerous in theory and in 
 practice, tending directly to civil commotion, disunion, and an 
 archy. We implore them to pause in their precipitate career, 
 to suspend their rash and revolutionary measures, and trust to 
 that redeeming spirit of justice which is a ruling characteristic 
 of the American people. 
 
 Resolved, That the acts of Congress, usually denominated 
 Tariff laws, so far as they were passed palpably and solely for 
 the purpose of protecting and fostering particular branches of 
 industry, are unequal in their operation, and contrary to the 
 spirit, true intent, and meaning of the Federal Compact. 
 
 Resolved, That it is due to a spirit of mutual conciliation, to 
 the demands of justice, to a decent respect for the opinions and 
 interests of large portions of the community, and absolutely 
 necessary to the preservation of the Union, that the Tariff laws 
 should be gradually (but speedily) abated to the imposition of 
 such duties only as are required for. the purpose of a revenue 
 sufficient to defray the ordinary expenses of the General Gov 
 ernment, confined to its appropriate objects, and economically 
 administered. 
 
 Resolved, That we heartily approve the policy and measures 
 of President Jackson s administration, and in the present diffi 
 cult and threatening aspect of public affairs, we look with con 
 fidence to the patriotism, vigilance, and firmness of our Chief 
 
108 
 
 Magistrate, as sure pledges that all his efforts will be directec 
 to preserve unimpaired the union, happiness, and glory of oui 
 Republic. 
 
 Resolved, That the patriotic spirit and tone of the President s 
 recent Proclamation, relating to the extraordinary proceedings 
 of South Carolina, meet our warmest approbation ; and we ap 
 prove of the principles and policy avowed therein, as expound 
 ed, not in accordance with the federal doctrine of consolidation 
 but with the democratic doctrine of State rights, and a limita 
 tion of action of the Federal Government to the powers ex 
 pressly delegated to it by the Constitution, and in accordant 
 with the several messages of President Jackson, to Congress 
 and the uniform tenor of the acts of his administration 5 and ii 
 support of all constitutional measures adopted by him to pre 
 serve the Union, we tender him our undivided support. 
 
 Resolved, That the Secretary of State be, and hereby is direct 
 ed to transmit a copy of these Resolves, with the Preamble, t 
 each of the Representatives in Congress from this State. 
 
 Resolved, That the Governor be, and hereby is requested t 
 transmit a copy of these Resolves, with the Preamble to th 
 Executive of each of the other States of this Union, and th 
 President of the Senate of the United States. 
 
 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February 18, 1833. 
 Read and passed. 
 
 NATHAN CLIFFORD, Speaker. 
 
 IN SENATE, February 19, 1833. 
 Read and passed. 
 
 FRANCIS O. J. SMITH, President. 
 
 February 20, 1 833. 
 
 Approved. 
 
 SAMUEL E. SMITH, Governor. 
 
 [A true copy.] 
 
 Attest: R. G. GREENE, Secretary of State, 
 
RESOLVES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LEGISLATURE 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS, 
 
of Jtta00ac!)tt0*tt0. 
 
 HOUSE or REPRESENTATIVES, January 9, 1833. 
 
 Ordered, That Messrs. CROWNINSHIELD, of Boston, 
 SHAW, of Lanesborough, 
 LINCOLN, of Worcester, 
 HOLMES, of Rochester, and 
 ROBINSON, of Marblehead, 
 
 with such as the Senate may join, be a Committee to consider 
 so much of the Governor s Address as relates to the proceedings 
 of the late Convention of the people of South Carolina, and the 
 purposes and policy thereof, and also the Resolutions of the 
 State of Pennsylvania thereon : Sent up for concurrence. 
 
 L. S. CUSHING, Clerk. 
 
 IN SENATE, January 10th, 1833. 
 
 Concurred, and Messrs. Everett, Hoar, Barton and Burnell 
 are joined. 
 
 CHAS. CALHOUN, Clerk. 
 
of 
 
 IN SENATE, February 15, 1833. 
 
 The Joint Select Committee, appointed to consider so much of 
 the Governor s Address as relates to the proceedings of the 
 late Convention of the people of South Carolina, and the pur 
 poses and policy thereof: and to whom have been referred 
 Resolutions of the States of Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, 
 Illinois, North Carolina and Delaware upon that subject, have 
 attended to the duty assigned them, and beg leave to submit 
 the following 
 
 REPORT : 
 
 IN the partial Report which they have already submitted, the 
 Committee have stated in general terms the character of the 
 proceedings of the late Convention of the people of South Car 
 olina ; and the subject is now so familiar to the public, that it 
 does not seem necessary to enter very fully into a recapitulation 
 of facts. It is generally known that this Convention, which ap 
 pears to have been assembled agreeably to the forms prescribed 
 by the Constitution of the State, met at Columbia on the 22d of 
 last November : that almost immediately after, and with very 
 little deliberation, it proceeded to pass an Act, denominated an 
 Ordinance, declaring null and void all the laws of the United 
 States which impose duties upon the importation of foreign 
 goods, particularly those of the 19th of May, 1828, and the 14th 
 of June, 1S32; prohibiting the execution of them within the 
 State of South Carolina, and making it the duty of the Legisla 
 ture to pass such laws as should be necessary to give full effect 
 
113 
 
 to the Ordinance, and to prevent the enforcement and arrest the 
 execution of the laws aforesaid : that the Legislature, at a ses 
 sion subsequent to the meeting of this Convention, has in fact 
 passed certain laws for these purposes, which were to go into 
 operation on the first day of this month, and which, if executed, 
 must bring the constituted authorities of the United States and 
 of South Carolina, into open collision. 
 
 The papers in the hands of the Committee include a printed 
 copy of this Ordinance of the Convention, transmitted by its 
 order to His Excellency the Governor, and also printed copies 
 of a long report of the committee which drafted the Ordinance, 
 and of addresses in the name of the Convention to the people of 
 the United States and of South Carolina. These documents un 
 dertake to justify the proceedings of the Convention, on the 
 ground that the duties on the importation of foreign goods were 
 laid, in part at least, for the purpose of protecting domestic indus 
 try : that the General Government is not invested by the Consti 
 tution with the power of laying duties for this purpose, and that, 
 whenever the General Government assumes powers which, in the 
 opinion of any one of the States, are not given to it by the Con 
 stitution, the State which entertains this opinion may, without 
 violating the Constitution, declare the act by which the power 
 so assumed has been exercised, null and void, and prevent the 
 execution of it within its limits. It also appears to have been 
 supposed by the Convention, that, on the adoption of such 
 measures by any one State, it would become the duty of the 
 General Government to suspend the execution of the iaw com 
 plained of, at least within the limits of the complaining State, 
 and to apply to the people in the form prescribed for amending 
 the Constitution, for a grant of the power supposed to have been 
 unconstitutionally assumed : that, if the power should on this 
 application be refused by the people, it would be the duty of 
 the General Government definitively to repeal the law by which 
 it had been exercised, and that if, on the contrary, it should be 
 granted, it would then become the duty of the complaining 
 State to acquiesce. There seems, however, to be some uncer 
 tainty in the views of this part of the subject entertained by that 
 portion of the citizens of South Carolina upon whom the respon 
 sibility for the semeasures rests : as the Legislature of the State, 
 16 
 
114 
 
 instead of leaving it to the General Government to propose to 
 the people in the form prescribed for amending the Constitution 
 a grant of the power of laying duties upon the importation of 
 foreign goods, have themselves, at their late session, passed res 
 olutions, proposing to the other States to hold a Convention for 
 the purpose of settling this and other questions which they con 
 sider as doubtful. 
 
 It is affirmed, in these addresses and reports, that the laws of 
 the United States, imposing duties upon the importation of 
 foreign goods, thus declared to be null and void, are exceedingly 
 burthensome and oppressive to the people of South Carolina. 
 This proposition is not made out by the statement of any facts 
 which tend to prove the existence of actual distress ; and it is 
 remarkable that the Governor of South Carolina, in his address 
 to the Legislature, at the opening of their late session, congrat 
 ulates them upon the extraordinary prosperity of the State. The 
 Convention attempt to maintain their assertion of the ruinous 
 tendency of the impost laws, by laying down certain abstract 
 principles in political economy, which are very paradoxical, and 
 as the Committee believe, entirely erroneous. It is unnecessary, 
 however, for the purpose of the present report, to enter upon a 
 particular examination of these doctrines, because the justifica 
 tion of the proceedings of South Carolina does not, after all, de 
 pend in any degree upon the question of their truth or falsehood. 
 Whatever oay be the real operation of the impost laws upon the 
 peculiar interests of that State, were it as unfavorable as the 
 Committee believe it to be beneficial arid salutary, it is admitted 
 that the State would have no right to seek redress in the form in 
 which it is now sought, unless the enactment of these laws in 
 volve an assumption by the General Government of powers not 
 granted by the Constitution. No abuse of constitutional power, 
 however glaring and intolerable, would on the theory of the 
 Convention, justify a resort to nullification. 
 
 The question of the real operation of the impost laws upon the 
 prosperity of South Carolina, may therefore be laid entirely out 
 of the case. Nor, although the justification of the proceedings 
 of the Convention is to be sought, on the ground taken by that 
 body, in the supposed unconstitutional character of these laws, 
 do the Committee deem it important for the present purpose to 
 
115 
 
 inquire particularly how far this supposition is well founded. 
 Entertaining, themselves, no doubt whatever, that the power of 
 laying duties on imported foreign goods, with a view to any ap 
 propriation of them which, in the discretion of the Government, 
 may be required by the common defence and general welfare, is 
 given by the Constitution, the Committee are also persuaded, that 
 were this a doubtful point, or were it even conceded that the 
 General Government has no such power, the proceedings of 
 South Carolina would not, on that account, be any the more de 
 fensible. The objection to them is, that they propose an uncon 
 stitutional and illegal method of obtaining relief from a supposed 
 political grievance. It is therefore unnecessary to inquire, 
 whether this grievance be real or imaginary, since the objec 
 tion, if substantiated, is equally valid in either contingency. 
 
 Omitting, therefore, any consideration of the expediency or 
 constitutionality of the laws imposing duties on imported for 
 eign goods, the Committee will confine themselves to the single 
 inquiry, how far the proceedings of the Convention of South 
 Carolina are consistent with the Constitution and Laws of the 
 Country . p Even in this restricted shape, the subject is far too 
 extensive to be examined, in a full and satisfactory manner, 
 within the limits assigned by usage to a document of this kind. 
 The Committee can only undertake to present a few of the 
 considerations that bear most strongly and obviously upon the 
 leading points of the argument. 
 
 The suggestion that would probably first occur to an impar 
 tial mind, on examining the account of these proceedings, is the 
 apparent want of consistency and precision in the reejoning and 
 conduct of the Convention, admitting even the correctness of 
 the general principles on which they profess to act. It would 
 be natural to expect, that in a case of so novel a character, and 
 of such extraordinary interest and importance, every step would 
 be carefully guarded, and no conclusions drawn, which did not 
 follow, in the strictest manner, from their supposed premises. 
 This, however, is far from being the case. The Committee have 
 already remarked the difference between the theories of the 
 Convention and the Legislature, as to the second step in the 
 process of nullification. While the Convention appear to sup 
 pose that after a State has annulled an act of Congress, it be- 
 
116 
 
 comes the duty of the General Government to apply to the 
 States for a grant of the disputed power, the Legislature have 
 addressed themselves directly to the States, and proposed a Con 
 vention. The want of consistency in the texture of the Ordi 
 nance, is not less apparent. The whole reasoning of that act, 
 and the accompanying papers, supposes that the right of a State 
 to annul an act of Congress, can only exist in the case of an as 
 sumption by that body, of powers not delegated by the Consti 
 tution ; and for the purpose of bringing the impost laws within 
 this rule, the Convention attempt, at great length, to prove that 
 they do, in fact, involve such an assumption. Thus far their 
 conduct, if not justifiable, is consistent ; but after first annulling 
 the Tariff laws, the Convention proceed, in open defiance of 
 their own rules and reasoning, to annul an important provision 
 of another law, which has never been regarded by any one as 
 unconstitutional, and which the Convention themselves do not 
 even pretend to represent as being so. While the Judiciary 
 law gives the right of appeal from the State Courts to the 
 United States, in all cases involving any question of the validity 
 of an act of Congress, the Ordinance prohibits any such appeal 
 in all cases involving any question of the validity of the acts of 
 Congress which it professes to annul. This is done without 
 even the ceremony of affirming, or attempting to prove, that 
 this provision of the Judiciary act involves an assumption of 
 power not delegated by the Constitution. 
 
 This feature in the Ordinance renders it, perhaps, in some 
 degree, superfluous to examine the reasoning by which the Con 
 vention undertake to justify its leading provisions. If they can 
 venture to annul one act of Congress, without even pretending 
 to assert that it is unconstitutional, it is not easy to see why they 
 should be at so much pains to make this out, in regard to an 
 other, before they subject it to the same process : nor does it 
 seem to be very necessary to inquire, how far they succeed in 
 establishing this proposition, when their proceedings so clearly 
 shew, that if be necessary to their argument, it is in no way 
 necessary to their action. But without enlarging upon this con 
 sideration, the Committee will proceed to examine, very con 
 cisely, the nature of the reasoning by which the Convention 
 undertake to prove, that any one State has a right to annul an 
 
117 
 
 act of Congress, which, in the opinion of such State, involves an 
 assumption of power not delegated by the Constitution. The 
 substance of the argument is understood to be as follows : 
 
 The Constitution is a compcct between the States, which 
 were, at the time of forming it, and are now distinct communi 
 ties, politically independent of each other. It confers, on the 
 General Government, certain specific powers, and the assump 
 tion by that Government of any power not so delegated, is a 
 breach of the compact. But in this, as in all other cases of 
 compacts or treaties between independent States, a breach of 
 the compact by one party, exempts the rest from the obligation 
 they were under to observe it ; and each is, of course, the only 
 judge for itself, whether the compact is or is not observed. 
 Or, in still more concise language : 
 
 The States were independent of each other at the time when 
 they formed the Constitution ; therefore they are independent 
 of each other now. 
 
 This argument appears to the Committee to be defective in 
 both its parts. It is far from being a settled and acknowledged 
 point, that the States can fairly be considered as having been 
 absolutely independent of each other at the time when the pre 
 sent Constitution was formed ; and if this were even admitted, 
 it would by no means follow, that they possess, and may exer 
 cise under the Constitution, and consistently with it, the rights 
 belonging to mutually and absolutely independent States. 
 
 1. It is far from being a settled point, that the States can 
 fairly be considered as having been absolutely independent of 
 each other at the time when the Constitution was formed and 
 adopted. It is well known, that this is a question upon which 
 the ablest statesmen, and purest patriots in the country have 
 differed, and at this moment continue to differ, in opinion. The 
 President of the United States, in his late Proclamation upon 
 the subject of the proceedings of South Carolina, expressed his 
 belief, that the Acts of the Union which preceded the Declara 
 tion of Independence, had combined the States into ONE PEO 
 PLE, and that it was in their joint capacity as such, that they 
 formed the Constitution. His predecessor has publicly pro 
 fessed the same sentiment. On the other hand, Presidents Jef 
 ferson and Madison, with various other citizens of the highest 
 
118 
 
 respectability, many of whom had concurred in the forming of 
 the Constitution, consider the States as having been, from the 
 time of the Declaration of Independence, until the adoption of 
 the Constitution, distinct communities, entirely independent of 
 each other. 
 
 This diversity of views, among individuals of equal talent and 
 unsuspected integrity, will not appear very extraordinary, when 
 it is recollected that during the period in question, the country 
 was in a revolutionary state. Its condition was analogous to 
 that of England during the interval between the overthrow of 
 the arbitrary government of the Stuarts, and the settlement of 
 the Constitution in 1688; or that of France, between the de 
 struction of the old monarchy in 1789, and the final sanction of 
 the present charter, after the three great days of July 1830. In 
 both the cases alluded to, it is well known, that political institu 
 tions, of various and opposite characters, rapidly succeeded each 
 other, and that neither country could be said, with propriety, to 
 possess a regular and settled government. They were in a state 
 of transition from one form of political existence to another, and 
 this was substantially the condition of the United States from 
 the Declaration of Independence until the adoption of the Con 
 stitution. It was not only a natural, but, as the Committee con 
 ceive, a necessary result of this condition, that political events 
 of different and even contradictory characters, should success 
 ively occur, and that individuals, as they have been led, by cir 
 cumstances, to attach greater or less importance to one or an 
 other of these events, should draw different conclusions as the 
 existing forms of government. On the one hand, the States 
 acted, for many purposes, as distinct communities, claiming to 
 be politically independent of each other ; while, on the other 
 hand, they organized a Union among themselves, with a Con 
 gress of Delegates at the head of it, who exercised most of the 
 powers of a General Government. It would, perhaps, be diffi 
 cult to reconcile all the acts and powers of Congress and the 
 State Governments at that time, with any consistent and precise 
 political theory ; and the failure of the experiment tends to con 
 firm the opinion, that the elements which entered into the struc 
 ture of the old confederacy, were incoherent and self-contra 
 dictory. The Committee are inclined to believe, as they have 
 
119 
 
 already remarked, that the future historian will consider the 
 whole period in question as a revolutionary one, and the form 
 of the government as unsettled and fluctuating, until it was final 
 ly fixed, for the first time, by the adoption of the present Con 
 stitution. 
 
 2. But the Committee deem it unnecessary to dwell upon this 
 point, since, were it even admitted that the States, at the time 
 when they formed the Constitution, were distinct communities, 
 politically independent of each other, it would by no means fol 
 low, as the Convention of South Carolina appear to suppose, 
 that they are still in that condition, and that the Union is a 
 League or Confederacy of mutually and absolutely independent 
 States. The rights and obligations of the parties to a contract, 
 are determined by its nature and terms, and not by their condi 
 tion previously to its conclusion. As respects the latter point, 
 the only question is, were the parties legally, or in cases when 
 they are not subject to a Common Government, morally capable 
 of making such a contract? If this question be answered in the 
 affirmative, the previous condition of the parties, in other re 
 spects, is immaterial ; and in order to ascertain to what the con 
 tract binds them, we have only to inquire what the contract is. 
 
 Now there can be no doubt, that independent States are mor 
 ally as capable of forming themselves into a body politic, as in 
 dependent individuals. A great proportion of the political so 
 cieties which now exist, or of which we know the history, were 
 constituted in this way. Hence, were it even admitted, that the 
 States were distinct and independent communities at the time 
 when they framed the Constitution, the fact would no more 
 prove, that they are distinct and independent communities now, 
 than the fact that the two parties to a contract of marriage were 
 single before its conclusion goes to prove that they are single 
 afterwards. If the States were, at the time when they framed 
 the Constitution., as there cannot be a doubt, morally capable 
 of forming a contract, involving the entire surrender of their po 
 litical independence, it is quite apparent that, in order to ascertain 
 their rights and obligations under the Constitution, we have to 
 look exclusively to the nature and terms of that instrument, 
 without regard to the mutual relations of the parties before they 
 made it. 
 
120 
 
 Reposing mainly, as has been said, for the justificatkm of 
 their proceedings, upon the argument that the States were in 
 dependent at the time when the Constitution was adopted, and 
 must therefore of course be independent now, the Convention 
 has in a great measure lost sight of the course of reasoning 
 which is proper to the subject, and have made but little effort 
 to establish their doctrines, by reference either to the general 
 nature of the Constitution, or to its specific provisions. Some 
 considerations appertaining to this branch of the inquiry, are 
 however to be found in their publications, and to them the 
 Committee will now very briefly direct their attention. 
 
 Of these considerations the most important is, that the Gene 
 ral Government, created by the Constitution of the United 
 States, is a Government invested with specific and limited pow 
 ers, having no general and indefinite powers, excepting such as 
 are necessary to carry the specified ones into effect, and that the 
 powers not conferred upon the General Government are reserved 
 to the States. This is, no doubt, true in fact : but that it was not 
 intended in making this arrangement, to maintain the States in 
 possession of an absolute political independence, with a right of 
 judging for themselves when the General Government exceeds 
 its powers, and annulling any acts involving such excess, is ap 
 parent, as well from other particular provisions of the Constitu 
 tion, as from the general scope and purpose of that instrument. 
 
 1. In all cases the general purpose of a contract is one of the 
 most important elements to be taken into view in ascertaining 
 the rights and obligations resulting from it, because the general 
 purpose controls, to a certain extent, the construction of all the 
 particular provisions. It would be absurd to interpret any par 
 ticular part of an instrument in such a way as would suppose in 
 the parties an intention manifestly contrary to the general ob 
 ject of the whole ; as for example, to interpret one of the clauses 
 in a contract of marriage in such a way as would suppose that 
 it was the intention of the parties to remain single. Now it is 
 quite apparent from the general scope and purpose of the Con 
 stitution of the United States, that it was not the intention of 
 the parties who framed it, whether considered in their joint or 
 individual capacity, to retain the character of absolute political 
 independence. It is one of that class of agreements commonly 
 
121 
 
 denominated social compacts, the principal object of which is 
 to combine the parties forming them into one body politic, or 
 political society, under a common Government. This is appa 
 rent on the face of the instrument. We, the people of the 
 United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish 
 justice, ensure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common de 
 fence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of 
 liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this 
 Constitution for the United States of America. That such is g the 
 general scope of the instrument is not contested by the warmest 
 advocates of the doctrines maintained by the Convention of South 
 Carolina. But the precise object which the parties to a social 
 compact have in view in forming themselves into one political 
 society, is to terminate the relation of mutual independence 
 which previously existed between them. If the contract con 
 tained a clause providing that the parties should retain their 
 political independence, it would be self-contradictory ; and to 
 interpret a doubtful passage or particular provision in such a 
 a way as to attribute to the parties such an intention, would, as 
 the Committee have remarked, involve the same absurdity as to 
 interpret a clause in a marriage contract on the supposition that 
 the parties intended to remain single. It is of the essence of a 
 social compact or Constitution of Government, that the parties 
 to it surrender their absolute political independence, and be 
 come members of a society whose will is admitted to be the 
 common law. To declare this will, agreeably to the forms pre 
 scribed in the Constitution, in other words, to make and alter 
 the laws as occasion may require, is the office of the Govern 
 ment. No individual or other member of the body politic can 
 possibly as such, exercise the power of making or annulling the 
 laws, for the obvious reason that laws derive their character as 
 such, from being the acts of the Government, and that if an in 
 dividual, or other member of the body politic, should succeed in 
 giving to his own will the force of law, that is, in compelling 
 the society to obey it, he would at the same time cease to be a 
 citizen, and would concentrate in his own hands the Govern 
 ment of the country. In some extreme cases of intolerable op 
 pression, the individual and other members of the body politic 
 are justifiable in forcibly opposing the execution of the law ; but 
 17 
 
122 
 
 even in these cases there is no claim of any constitutional or 
 legal right to repeal or annul it. The claim is to resist, in the 
 exercise of the natural and inalienable right of self defence, the 
 execution of what is admitted at the time to be, in form, at least, 
 a law. 
 
 2. The general scope and objects of the Constitution pre 
 clude therefore the idea that it was the intention of the parties 
 to it to retain their absolute political independence, or that 
 they possess any right under it to annul the acts of the General 
 Government. The same conclusions result with equal certainty 
 from a view of its particular provisions. Had it been intended 
 that the States should possess the important power of annulling 
 or repealing at discretion the acts of the General Government, 
 this power would undoubtedly have been given to them in ex 
 press terms. It is not even pretended that the Constitution con 
 tains any such express concession. Not only is there no express 
 concession to this effect, but the idea that, any thing of the kind 
 was intended, is precluded by several provisions of an opposite 
 character. The Constitution gives to the Supreme Court cog 
 nizance of all cases arising under the Constitution, and the laws 
 and treaties made under the authority of the United States. 
 This involves the right of deciding, in the last resort, whether 
 a law is constitutional, which the Carolina doctrine claims for 
 the States. The Convention have accordingly found themselves 
 under the necessity of annulling the section of the judiciary act 
 by which provision was made for carrying this clause of the 
 Constitution into effect without even pretending that it was un 
 constitutional. Again : This Constitution, and the laws and 
 treaties made in pursuance of it, are the Supreme Law of the 
 land, any thing in the Constitution and laws of any State to the 
 contrary notwithstanding. By this provision, any act of a State? 
 whether performed in its sovereign or legislative capacity, pre 
 tending to annul an act of the General Government, is declared 
 in advance to be null and void. As respects the pretention 
 that the States retain under the Constitution their absolute po 
 litical independence, it may be remarked that, were there no 
 other objection to the dectrine, it would be satisfactorily refu 
 ted by the clause which regulates the form of making amend 
 ments. It is there provided that any amendment of the Con- 
 
123 
 
 stitution which may be proposed by two thirds of both Houses 
 of Congress, and ratified by three fourths of the States, shall be 
 binding on the rest. It is hardly necessary to add, that a com 
 munity which is not only bound to obey laws which twenty 
 three other communities have a common agency in making, but 
 which is bound to acquiesce in any changes in the form of the 
 common Government that may be proposed by a certain number 
 of these other communities, can have no claim to the character 
 of absolute independence. 
 
 It is apparent therefore, as well from the general objects of 
 the Constitution as from the tenor of its particular provisions, 
 that it was not the intention of the parties who formed it to re 
 tain their entire independence, or to exercise the power of an 
 nulling the acts of the General Government created by it. The 
 fact that the Government is invested with specific and not indefi 
 nite powers, has no tendency to prove the existence of such an 
 intention, and has in fact no bearing at all upon the subject. 
 The question at issue is, how much power the body politic of the 
 United States of America possesses over the individual States 
 of which it is composed. To the decision of this question, it is 
 obviously quite immaterial whether the powers attributed by 
 the Constitution to the General Government, are definite or in 
 definite. These are exercised upon the individual citizen, and 
 not upon the States, and neither their extent, nor the mode in 
 which they are determined, can have any effect in settling the 
 mutual relations between the States and the United States of 
 America. The powers of all Governments are prescribed and 
 limited, if not by written instruments, at least by usage and by 
 the moral law. When they transgress the limits prescribed for 
 them, the people cure the evil either by a change in the admin 
 istration effected in consistency with the forms of the Constitu 
 tion, or if the case be extreme, by recurring to the natural right 
 of violent resistance to the law. When the powers of the Gov 
 ernment are defined by a written instrument, an attempt at 
 usurpation is more likely to be distinctly seen and promptly at 
 tended to. But no new remedy is created, and in this, as in all 
 other cases, the people must tolerate the existence of the evil 
 until it can be removed by the silent efficacy of the ballot-box, 
 
124 
 
 or must recur at once to forcible resistance. There is, and can 
 be in the nature of things, no middle path between these two 
 courses. Every attempt to prevent by force, the execution of 
 the laws, by whatever name it may be called, is, in its na 
 ture, revolutionary, and can only be defended by such consid 
 erations as would justify an act of rebellion. 
 
 On the whole, the Committee have been led to conclude from 
 the best consideration which they have been able to give to the 
 subject, that the right claimed by South Carolina, for the sev 
 eral States, of annulling at discretion any act of the General 
 Government which they may deem unconstitutional, has no 
 foundation in the letter or spirit of the Constitution, Nor is it 
 countenanced in any degree by the practice under that instru 
 ment. For nearly half a century, .during which the Government 
 has been in operation, no case has occurred of an attempt by a 
 State to annul one of its acts, although serious discontents have 
 from time to time existed in different quarters, which would pro 
 bably have led to the adoption of such a course had it been 
 recognized by public opinion as constitutional. The only au 
 thority of a practical kind which has ever been adduced in sup 
 port of it, is that of certain Resolutions adopted by the State 
 Legislatures of Virginia and Kentucky, in 1798 9. Were it 
 admitted that these Resolutions go the full length of the Caro 
 lina doctrine, they would still afford no actual precedent, and 
 could only be regarded as an expression of the opinion tempo 
 rarily prevailing in the Legislatures of these two States, but 
 never even by them reduced to practice. These celebrated 
 Resolutions have however been recently explained in reference 
 to this very question, by the distinguished Statesman who draft 
 ed one set of them, and was at the time the confidential friend 
 and political associate of the author of the other, to intend 
 nothing more than an assertion, in strong terms, of the univer 
 sally acknowledged right of constitutional opposition to mea 
 sures regarded as oppressive, and in extreme cases, of forcible 
 resistance. This explanation of his own intentions, and those 
 of his immediate political friends, of course settles the construc 
 tion to be put upon these Resolutions, and removes the only 
 shadow of practical authority and precedent, that has ever been 
 claimed by the advocates of the doctrine of Nullification. 
 
125 
 
 As this doctrine receives no countenance from the theory of 
 the Constitution, or the practice under it, it is the less necessary 
 to dwell upon its practical tendency, a topic which would afford 
 very strong corroborating arguments against it, if, as a strict 
 question of right, it could be considered as doubtful. It hardly 
 requires any argument to shew that the exercise, by each of the 
 twenty-four States, of a right to annul, at discretion, any act of 
 the General Government which they might deem unconstitu 
 tional, is wholly incompatible with a consistent and settled ad 
 ministration of the public affairs. Any law which might be sup 
 posed, correctly or not, to operate with peculiar hardship upon 
 a particular State, would naturally appear, under the excite 
 ment of the moment, to be unconstitutional ; and as, in a com 
 munity so vast as ours, there can hardly ever be a time when there 
 is not some law which, for some reason, is particularly offensive 
 to some one State, the process of nullification, if once recog 
 nized, would be constantly going on in one quarter or another. 
 Every new attempt of the kind would shake the Government to 
 its foundations, and it would not probably require the occur 
 rence of many to reduce our happy Union to a state of dissolu 
 tion, more complete and hopeless than even that of the Old 
 Confederacy. The Committee refrain from enlarging upon 
 these results, the necessity of which is, however, apparent, to 
 the most superficial observation. The question is argued by 
 Carolina, chiefly as one of mere right; and the answer on that 
 ground only, is, in the opinion of the Committee, so clearly 
 against her, that it would be needless to attempt to sustain it by 
 any considerations of mere expediency. 
 
 With this view of the subject referred to them, and under a 
 conviction that it is proper and expedient that the opinion of 
 the General Court of this Commonwealth should be distinctly 
 expressed upon it, the Committee respectfully submit the ac 
 companying Resolves, which embody the most important prin 
 ciples that have now been suggested. 
 
 The Committee have felt a very deep regret at finding them 
 selves called upon to express opinions unfavorable to the pro 
 ceedings of a State so distinguished in the annals of the country, 
 and so remarkable for the lofty and generous character of its 
 sons as that of South Carolina, in so doing, they would not be 
 
126 
 
 understood to impeach the motives by which the State has been 
 governed, or to intimate that it has been actuated by any other 
 purpose, than that of procuring relief from a supposed grievance. 
 The Committee are well aware, that the purest patriots and 
 wisest statesmen may be led, under the influence of mistaken 
 views and excited feelings, into very dangerous measures. The 
 present proceedings in South Carolina are, in their opinion, of 
 that description. But the Committee indulge a confident hope, 
 that by the exercise of the necessary firmness and discretion, on 
 the part of the General Government, the danger may be averted, 
 and that South Carolina herself, recovering from the delusion 
 under which, for some time past she has appeared to labor, may 
 continue to maintain her accustomed place among the most en 
 lightened and patriotic States in the Union. 
 
 Before concluding their Report, the Committee deem it a duty 
 to themselves and to the Legislature, to advert very briefly to 
 some remarks which have been made upon the tendency of the 
 Resolves accompanying their former Report, and adopted by 
 the almost unanimous vote of both branches of the General 
 Court. In certain quarters of high respectability, where the 
 Resolves have been brought under discussion, it has been inti 
 mated that they favor the doctrine of Nullification, because they 
 express the sentiment that the Legislature is not bound, silently, 
 to acquiesce in measures considered by them as subversive of 
 the spirit of the Constitution ; and this in the way of instruction 
 to the delegation of the Commonwealth in Congress, for the pur 
 pose of preventing the adoption of these measures. The differ 
 ence between a proceeding of this kind, and an attempt to annul 
 and prevent the execution of existing laws, is too obvious to be 
 overlooked. That the General Government may adopt an un 
 constitutional measure, is of course possible ; and no one can 
 doubt that any portion of the people have a right, in an orderly 
 and peaceable manner, to express their opinion upon the charac 
 ter of any of the measures of the General Government. But 
 when this is done in advance, for the purpose not of denouncing 
 an existing law, but of preventing a threatened mischief, it is 
 not easy to see how the most fastidious judge can find any thing 
 at which to take offence. 
 
 But were it even true, that the Legislature of this Common- 
 
127 
 
 wealth had expressed the intention of forcibly resisting the ex 
 ecution of an unconstitutional law, it would not therefore follow, 
 that they had countenanced the doctrine of Nullification. The 
 right of forcible resistance to the laws, in cases of extreme op 
 pression, is undisputed. If such a case should ever occur, Mas 
 sachusetts will openly take her stand upon that undisputed and 
 indefeasible natural right. Nullification undertakes to recon 
 cile resistance with submission ; to obey and break the law at 
 one and the same time. It must be justified, if at all, on prin 
 ciples entirely different from those which justify the natural 
 right of resistance, and on principles which have never been 
 professed, countenanced or practised upon by the Government 
 or people of this Commonwealth. 
 
 All which is respectfully submitted. 
 For the Committee, 
 
 A. H. EVERETT. 
 
RESOLVES 
 
 In relation to the Proceedings of the Convention of South 
 
 Carolina. 
 
 Whereas, The People of South Carolina, assembled by their 
 Delegates in Convention, have recently passsed an act, denomi- 
 ted an Ordinance, purporting to annul certain acts of the Gov 
 ernment of the United States, and to arrest their execution 
 within the limits of that State, and have transmitted a copy of 
 the same to His Excellency the Governor, witli an accompany 
 ing address to the people of this Commonwealth, setting forth 
 the reasons by which they justify this extraordinary measure ; 
 and 
 
 Whereas, It is important that the opinion of the General 
 Court of this Commonwealth should be publicly and distinctly 
 expressed upon those proceedings, in order that their silence 
 may not be construed into acquiescence in the propriety of the 
 same, or approbation of the reasons alleged in justification of 
 them : therefore 
 
 Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Com 
 monwealth of Massachusetts, in General Court assembled, That the 
 Constitution of the United States of America, is a solemn Social 
 Compact, by which the people of the said States, in order to 
 form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic 
 tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the gene 
 ral welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty for themselves 
 and their posterity, formed themselves into one body politic, 
 under a common Government : that this Constitution, and the 
 laws of the United States made in pursuance thereof, and all 
 treaties made under the authority of the same, are the supreme 
 law of the land, any thing in the Constitution or laws of any 
 State to the contrary notwithstanding : and that no citizen, 
 State, or other member of the body politic, has a right in any 
 
129 
 
 shape, or under any pretext, to annul or prevent the execution 
 of the said Constitution, laws, or treaties, or any of them, ex 
 cepting in such extreme cases as justify a violent resistance to 
 the laws on the principle of the natural and indefeasible prerog 
 ative of self-defence against intolerable oppression. 
 
 Resolved, That the right claimed by the Convention of South 
 Carolina for that State, of annulling any law of the United 
 States which it may deem unconstitutional, is unauthorized by 
 the letter or spirit of the Constitution not supported by any 
 contemporaneous exposition of that instrument, or by the prac 
 tice under it : inconsistent with the nature of political society, 
 and tending, in practice, to the subversion of public tranquillity, 
 and the complete overthrow of the Government. 
 
 Resolved, That the President of the United States is empow 
 ered, and in duty bound by the express provisions of the Con 
 stitution, and by his oath of office, to take care that the laws 
 are faithfully executed : that when attempts are made to dis 
 turb by force the execution of the laws, it is the duty of the 
 President to employ the means which are placed at his disposal 
 by the Constitution and laws for the purpose of defeating them : 
 that the Proclamation of the 10th December last, is a judicious, 
 well timed and salutary measure, well calculated to prevent the 
 necessity of recurring to others of a different character : that 
 we approve the determination therein expressed by the Presi 
 dent, to enforce the laws ; and that we are prepared to support 
 him and the other constituted authorities of the Union, in all the 
 necessary, suitable, constitutional and legal measures, which 
 they may be called upon to adopt for that purpose. 
 
 Resolved, That while we find ourselves compelled to express 
 an unfavorable opinion of the recent proceedings of South 
 Carolina, we entertain no sentiments of unkindness towards 
 our fellow citizens of that State : that we look back with 
 pride and satisfaction to the brilliant services rendered by 
 South Carolina in the struggle for Independence, and have ever 
 regarded her as among the most distinguished members of the 
 Union : that we deeply regret that measures adopted in good 
 faith, and in a strictly constitutional form, by the constituted au 
 thorities of the country, should have been considered by the 
 people of that State as intended to build up another section of 
 18 
 
130 
 
 the Union at their expense : that we are, and always have been 
 ready and desirous to listen in a sincere spirit of conciliation to 
 any propositions for changing, in a constitutional and legal 
 manner, any part of the existing legislation, and to give them all 
 the attention to which they are fairly entitled : and that we 
 earnestly entreat our brethren and fellow citizens of South 
 Carolina, to desist from the irregular, violent and uncon 
 stitutional attempts to obtain redress for their supposed griev 
 ances, in which they are now engaged, the result of which, if 
 further pursued, can only be to create collision between the 
 General and State Governments, endanger the public tranquil 
 lity, and seriously compromise the safety of the persons imme 
 diately concerned in them. 
 
 Resolved, That His Excellency the Governor be requested to 
 transmit a copy of these Resolves, and the Report preceding 
 them, to the President of the United States, the Governors of all 
 the States, and to each of the Senators and Representatives of 
 this Commonwealth in Congress. 
 
 IN SENATE, March 1, 1833. 
 Read twice, and passed. 
 
 Sent down for concurrence. 
 
 B. T. PICKMAN, President. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, March 9, 1833. 
 Read twice, and passed in concurrence. 
 
 W. B. CALHOUN, Speaker. 
 
 March 11, 1833. 
 Approved. 
 
 LEV! LINCOLN. 
 
RESOLVES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LEGISLATURE 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 
REPORT. 
 
 THE right claimed by the State of South Carolina, to make 
 void the laws of the United States within her territory, is so 
 fully set forth in the Ordinance and Documents before the Leg 
 islature, and so well understood, that a precise statement, in 
 this report, of its nature and extent, would be superfluous. 
 
 The Committee have considered the claim, thus set up, ; with 
 the attention due to the high respectability of the source from 
 which it emanated, and to the very grave consequences that 
 would unavoidably result from its establishment; and they con 
 cur with the Governor in regarding it as a pretension, "not 
 merely unauthorized by the Constitution of the United States 
 but fatally repugnant to all the objects for which it was framed." 
 
 The unfounded nature of the authority asserted by South Car 
 olina, has been so clearly demonstrated in the Proclamation of 
 the President of the United States, which has been published by 
 order of the Legislature, and is now on its files ; and is so fully 
 confirmed by the concurring opinions of the people of every 
 other State in the Union ; that it cannot be necessary that the 
 Committee should attempt to shed any additional light upon a 
 subject, in respect to which, the argument may, with so much 
 truth, be said to be exhausted. 
 
 The duty of the President to exercise the authority vested in 
 
 him by the Constitution and laws of the United States; to en- 
 
 rce the latter in the State of South Carolina, notwithstanding 
 
 the unjustifiable attempt on the part of that State to arrest the 
 
 due execution thereof, is obvious and imperative. And the 
 
 >mmittee are well satisfied that they represent truly the opin- 
 ons of the Government and People of the State of New York 
 
 ien they reciprocate the assurance given by the Governor 
 
134 
 
 that in the performance of that great and responsible duty, by 
 the exercise of necessary and proper means, the President may 
 count on their support and co-operation. 
 
 With this brief statement of the principal matter referred to 
 them, the Committee would prefer to leave the subject. Con 
 sidered only with reference to the present aspect of the affair, 
 it might not be strictly necessary to say more ; and they depre 
 cate too sincerely the asperities which usually grow out of di 
 versities of opinion upon doctrinal points, not to be anxious to 
 avoid them as far as it can properly be done. The more espe 
 cially are they impressed with the propriety of such a course, in 
 reference to the present posture of our public affairs, when the 
 hearts and minds of our citizens should be exclusively directed 
 to the measures best calculated to preserve the happy union of 
 these States in the spirit of affection and brotherly love in which 
 it was established. The Committee however, are too well ad 
 vised of the desire of the Legislature that their opinion should 
 be distinctly expressed upon some points of deep interest, grow 
 ing out of the assumptions of right contained in the Ordinance 
 of South, Carolina, and the commentary of the President there 
 on in his recent Proclamation and Message, to feel themselves 
 at liberty to exercise a discretion upon the subject. 
 
 In the performance of the duty assigned them, they will sub 
 mit the dictates of their best judgment, in that spirit of liberal 
 ity and forbearance which, under any circumstances, it would 
 give them pleasure to cherish, but which, under those that now 
 exist, they consider it a sacred duty to observe. 
 
 They believe that this duty cannot be better discharged than 
 by a frank and explicit avowal of the principles which, in their 
 opinion, ought to be applied to the construction of the Consti 
 tution of the United States, and to control in that respect the 
 administration of the government established by it. They re 
 gard it the more important to do so, from the attempts which 
 have been made to bring into discredit political principles 
 which the people of this State have so long and so ardently 
 cherished ; and upon the maintenance of which, in all their pu 
 rity, the Committee firmly believe the safety of our institutions, 
 and the future welfare of the country, mainly depend. The re- 
 assertion of those principles at a period like the present, when 
 
135 
 
 there is reason to fear that they may suffer from misapprehen 
 sion or misrepresentation, is, in the opinion of the Committee, a 
 matter of paramount obligation. 
 
 There is no reasonable ground to doubt, that the great body 
 of the American people are fervently attached to the Union of 
 the States, and sincerely desirous that the partition and limita 
 tions of power intended to be established by the Federal Con 
 stitution, and the republican principle on which it rests, should 
 be preserved inviolate. They have, however, greatly differed 
 as to the most effectual and least exceptionable means, of ef 
 fecting those objects ; and as to the true source of the dangers 
 to which our political system was exposed. 
 
 These differences arose in the Convention which framed the 
 Constitution ; attended every step of its formation and estab 
 lishment, and have never ceased to exist. Consolidation on the 
 one hand, tending to monarchy in the head, and on the other, 
 anarchy, consequent upon the insubordination and resistance of 
 the members, were the evils anticipated at its formation, and 
 have ever since been dreaded by the respective parties. 
 
 A portion of the people believed, that unless great vigor was 
 imparted to the Federal arm, it would not be able to sustain it 
 self against the power and influence of the States, and effect the 
 great objects which all desired to accomplish, through the agency 
 of the Federal Government. Others supposed, that the natural 
 tendency of the new system would be towards consolidation ; 
 and that unless the powers delegated to the government, thus 
 created, were granted with a sparing hand, scrupulously and 
 vigilantly guarded, and the remaining powers and sovereignty 
 of the States amply protected, there would be reason to appre 
 hend that the revolution of 1776 would be shorn of its honors 
 and its benefits ; and the consequence ultimately would be, a 
 return to that form of government which had been thrown off at 
 so much cost. No candid and intelligent observer can have 
 failed to witness the enduring effects of these early differences, 
 nor be ignorant of the unceasing influence they have exercised 
 on public affairs. On every recurrence to the conflicting prin 
 ciples by which they were generated, we have seen on the one 
 side, a strong inclination to yield, readily, to that construction? 
 and to that course of measures, which might best serve to 
 
136 
 
 strengthen the Federal Government, and extend the sphere of 
 its action ; a disposition which at all times, but with various suc 
 cess, has been resisted by those, who entertain different views, 
 as to the best means of securing the efficacy and harmony, and 
 of preserving the equilibrium and constant stability of the entire 
 system. It is not the intention of the Committee to enter into 
 a particular consideration of the reasons, by which these con 
 flicting opinions are respectively sustained ; nor to advert to them, 
 farther than is necessary to the distinct and intelligible expla 
 nation of their own views, upon the subject referred to them. 
 
 The Committee are advocates for the reserved rights of the 
 States, and a strict construction of the Constitution of the United 
 States. Experience has, they think, fully demonstrated the 
 wisdom of the determination of the Convention to commit to the 
 Federal Government, the management of such concerns only, as 
 appertain to the relations of the States with each other, and with 
 foreign nations, and certain other matters particularly enumera 
 ted in the Constitution : leaving the great mass of the business 
 of the people, relating as it does mainly to their domestic con 
 cerns, to the legislation of the States. They were wisely re 
 garded as the safest depositories of the latter powers. This 
 course was moreover due to the reserved sovereignty of the 
 States, and required by an enlightened estimate of the dangers 
 to the harmony of National Legislation, inseparable from the 
 great diversity in the interests and conditions of the different 
 States. A sincere adherence to this partition of legislation 
 amongst the respective governments, and an honest and inflexi 
 ble observance of the specifications and restrictions by which it 
 was defined, in the sense designed by the Convention, and as 
 understood by the people in the adoption of the Constitution, 
 are in the best judgment of the Committee, indispensably ne 
 cessary to its preservation. 
 
 Time, and the course of events, have solved the great prob 
 lem that divided the Convention. It is now apparent that the 
 tendency of the system is to encroachments by the Federal 
 Government upon the reserved rights of the States, rather than 
 to an unwillingness on the part of the States to submit to a full 
 exercise of the powers which were intended to be delegated to 
 the General Government. So manifest has this tendency been 
 
137 
 
 rendered to the people of the United States, that at several in 
 teresting eras in our history, they have been induced by the ex 
 cesses to which it led, to rise in their strength, and drive from 
 power, the agents employed in giving it effect. Such was their 
 course in the memorable civil revolution of 1800 : and the same 
 sovereign remedy, upon the same impulse, and, it is hoped, with 
 similar effect, was applied by the people in 1828. Whilst these 
 scenes have passed before our eyes, and stand forth upon the 
 page of our history, for our edification and security, not an in 
 stance has occurred in which the resistance of a single State, to 
 the measures of the Federal Government, has excited sufficient 
 sympathy or countenance from her sister States, to afford cause 
 for a well grounded apprehension of detriment to the Union, by 
 an improper combination amongst its members. Even at this 
 critical emergency in our public affairs, when so much discredit 
 is apprehended to the sacred cause of State rights from the ex 
 cesses of South Carolina, the confidence of the Committee in the 
 correctness of that cause is strengthened by the exemplary con 
 duct of her sister States. When we witness the fervent zeal that 
 pervades them all, and see so many who have the same cause of 
 complaint as South Carolina, and who are equally solicitous for 
 a redress of their grievances, rising superior to local interests, 
 exhibiting to the world the most sublime spectacle of devoted 
 patriotism, and throwing their great moral and physical weight 
 into the scale of the Union, who can doubt that now, as in the 
 late war, the federal arm, in the hour of its greatest peril, will 
 be upheld by the State authorities ? The Committee are cheer 
 ed by this animating indication of fidelity, not merely because 
 they see in it the unequivocal evidence of the safety of that 
 Union which they so highly cherish, but on account of the fa 
 vorable influence which the complete establishment of the prin 
 ciples to which they have avowed their attachment, is calcula 
 ted to exercise on the future administration of this government. 
 In " the support of the State governments in all their rights as 
 the most competent administrators of our domestic concerns and 
 the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies : and the 
 preservation of the general government in its whole constitu 
 tional vigor, as the sheet-anchor of our peace at home and safety 
 abroad," the Committee recognize the highest duties of every 
 19 
 
138 
 
 public functionary ; and in the encouragement derived from the 
 approving voice of a virtuous and grateful people, the best se 
 curity for their faithful performance. 
 
 Of the deeply interesting questions arising upon the Ordi 
 nance and other documents referred to the Committee, there is 
 none of more immediate importance, than the claim which is 
 advanced, that a single State has a right to withdraw herself, 
 against the wishes of her co-States, from the Union, whenever, 
 in her sole judgment, the acts of the Federal Government shall 
 be such as to justify the step. 
 
 The Committee cannot approve this doctrine. Anxious as 
 they are to sustain the sovereignty of the States in its full force, 
 they do not feel it to be less their duty to " preserve," in the lan 
 guage of Mr. Jefferson, "the General Government, in its whole 
 constitutional vigor." There is no conflict of duty between 
 these sentiments ; so far from it, that, in the opinion of the 
 Committee, no man can be a good citizen, who is disloyal to 
 either. No apprehension too alarming, can be entertained as to 
 the injurious consequences which may result from the principles 
 attempted to be established. The Committee have witnessed, 
 with deep regret, that an impression has gone abroad, that the 
 assertion of this right was embraced in the proceedings of the 
 Legislatures of Virginia and Kentucky, in 1798 and 1799. 
 Whatever authority there may be for the right of secession, it 
 certainly cannot, in the opinion of the Committee, claim any 
 from those proceedings. They took place at a very dark and 
 portentous period in our history ; when the encroachments of 
 the Federal Government, and the general temper of the times 
 had filled the hearts of many of our firmest patriots with alarm. 
 
 The respect of the people of this State, for those emanations 
 of lofty and devoted patriotism, is at this day as great, and their 
 devotion to the principles they inculcated, as sincere as it was 
 in 1800. And the Committee cannot, as they conceive, render a 
 more acceptable service to the Republic, than by separating 
 them from a doctrine which, however sincerely it may be enter 
 tained by others, is rejected by our citizens, with a degree of 
 unanimity heretofore unknown to political controversy. A very 
 brief exposition of the nature and history of those proceedings, 
 is all that is essential for that purpose. The portions of the 
 
139 
 
 Virginia Resolutions, upon the alien and sedition laws, (and 
 there is not, in this respect, sufficient difference between them 
 and those of Kentucky, to make the separate examination of each 
 necessary) from which such a deduction is attempted to be made, 
 are in the following words : 
 
 " That this Assembly doth explicitly and peremptorily declare, 
 that it views the powers of the Federal Government, as resulting 
 from the Compact, to which the States are parties, as limited by 
 the plain sense and intention of the Instrument constituting that 
 Compact ; as no farther valid than they are authorized by the 
 grants enumerated in that Compact ; and that, in case of a de 
 liberate, palpable and dangerous exercise of other powers, not 
 granted by the said Compact, the States who are parties 
 thereto, have a right, and are in duty bound, to interpose, for 
 arresting the progress of the evil, and for maintaining within 
 their respective limits, the authorities, rights and liberties ap 
 pertaining to them." 
 
 et That the good people of this Commonwealth, having ever 
 felt, and continuing to feel the most sincere affection for their 
 brethren of other States: the truest anxiety for establishing and 
 perpetuating the union of all ; and the most scrupulous fidelity 
 to that Constitution which is the pledge of mutual friendship, 
 and the instrument of mutual happiness ; the General Assembly 
 doth solemnly appeal to the like dispositions in the other States, 
 in confidence that they will concur with this Commonwealth in 
 declaring, as it does hereby declare, that the acts aforesaid are 
 unconstitutional ; and, that the necessary and proper measures 
 will be taken by each, for co-operating with this State in main 
 taining unimpaired, the authorities, rights and liberties reserved 
 in the States respectively, or to the people." 
 
 These resolutions were met by several of the State Legisla 
 tures to whom they had been communicated, by counter reso 
 lutions, protesting against them with much warmth, chiefly on 
 the ground that the act of a State Legislature, declaring a law 
 of the United States unconstitutional, was, in itself, an unconsti 
 tutional assumption of authority, and an unwarrantable interfer- 
 ance with the exclusive jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the 
 United States : accompanied, in some instances, with severe de 
 nunciations against their disorganizing tendency. 
 
140 
 
 The resolutions of the protesting States were, at a succeeding 
 session of the Virginia Legislature, referred to and reported 
 upon, at large, by a Committee of that body. Their report was 
 written by Mr Madison, and led to a re-affirmance by Virginia, 
 of the unconstitutionally of the alien and sedition laws, and a 
 re-assertion of the doctrines of the original resolutions. This 
 masterly exposition of the true principles of the Constitution, 
 and of the abuses which had been practised under it, contrib 
 uted more than any event, to that radical change in the public 
 sentiment of the country, which was consummated by the elec 
 tion of Mr. Jefferson, and has, from that day to the present, been 
 justly regarded as the genuine text book of political orthodoxy. 
 The Committee do, unhesitatingly, and with great satisfaction, 
 embrace this occasion to avow their decided approbation of its 
 doctrines ; and they feel, that they would be wanting in grati 
 tude and duty, if they were not to express their conviction of the 
 benefits which have been derived from their influence : of the 
 extent to which, in their opinion, the future operations of our 
 political institutions are dependent upon the continued respect 
 and confidence of the people in them : as well as their unfeign 
 ed admiration of the unsurpassed disinterestedness and inflexi 
 ble fidelity, with which those doctrines have, through evil and 
 through good report, been sustained by that truly patriotic 
 member of the confederacy. 
 
 That the judicial department of the Federal Government, was 
 the exclusive expositor of the Constitution, in cases submitted 
 to its judgment, in the last resort, was freely admitted. But, it 
 was contended by that Committee " First, that there may be 
 instances of usurped power, which the forms of the Constitution 
 would never draw within the control of the judicial department : 
 Secondly, that if the decision of the judiciary be raised above 
 the authorities of the sovereign parties to the Constitution, the 
 decisions of the other departments not carried by the forms of 
 the Constitution before the Judiciary, must be equally authorita 
 tive and final with the decisions of that department. That the 
 resolutions of the General Assembly, related to those great and 
 extraordinary cases in which all the forms of the Constitution 
 may prove ineffectual against infractions dangerous to the essen 
 tial rights of the parties to it. That the resort to the judiciary 
 
141 
 
 must necessarily be deemed the last, in relation to the authori 
 ties of the other departments of the Government : not in rela 
 tion to the rights of the parties to the constitutional compact, 
 from which the judicial as well as the other departments hold 
 their delegated trusts. On any other hypothesis, the delegation 
 of judicial power would annul the authority of the power dele 
 gating it ; and the concurrence of this department with others 
 in usurped powers, might subvert forever, and beyond the pos 
 sible reach of any rightful remedy, the very Constitution which 
 all were instituted to preserve." That "a declaration that pro 
 ceedings of the Federal Government are not warranted by the 
 Constitution, was a novelty neither among the citizens nor the 
 Legislatures of the States ;" " nor could the declarations of 
 either, whether affirming or denying the constitutionality of the 
 measures of the Federal Government ; or whether made before 
 or after judicial decisions thereon, be deemed in any point of 
 view an assumption of the office of a judge. The declarations 
 in such cases are expressions of opinion, unaccompanied with 
 other effect than what they may produce on opinion by exciting 
 reflection. The expositions of the judiciary, on the other hand, 
 are carried into immediate effect by force. The former may lead 
 to a change in the legislative expression of the general will 
 possibly to a change in the opinion of the judiciary." Hence it 
 was urged that there was no impropriety in the declaration by 
 the Legislature that the alien and sedition laws were unconsti 
 tutional : nor was there any valid objection to the communica 
 tion of that resolution to her sister States ; nor in the invita 
 tion which was given to them to concur therein ; nor in asking 
 for the adoption of " necessary and proper measures by each, 
 for co-operating with her in maintaining unimpaired the author- 
 ties, rights, and liberties reserved in the States respectively, or 
 to the people." 
 
 But what were those measures which the Legislature of Vir 
 ginia deemed " necessary and proper" to meet the exigency in 
 the affairs of the country so truly alarming as that which then 
 existed, and to which their proceedings had reference ? Was it 
 to oppose, by State authority, the regular administration of jus 
 tice in any case in law or equity committed by the Constitution 
 
142 
 
 to the Federal Judiciary ? Did they relate to resistance by a 
 member of the confederacy, to the execution of the laws of the 
 United States, passed in conformity to the provisions of the Con 
 stitution ; or embrace the revocation by a State of the powers 
 which had, with so much solemnity, and under such high penal 
 ties, been granted by the people of the respective States to the 
 Federal Government ? Far, very far from it. Anticipations of 
 this character were entertained when those resolutions were 
 under discussion in the Virginia Legislature, and they were con 
 sequently denounced as the harbinger of civil commotion. 
 These denunciations were met and refuted by the advocates of 
 the resolutions, not only after they had been submitted to the 
 other States, but when they were first submitted to the Legisla 
 ture of that State. They were introduced by John Taylor, of 
 Caroline. 
 
 In reply to these predictions, he said, " Suppose a clashing of 
 opinion should exist between Congress and the States, respect 
 ing the true limits of the constitutional territories, it was easy to 
 see that if the right of decision had been vested in either party, 
 that party deciding in the spirit and interest of party, would in 
 evitably have swallowed up the other. The Constitution must 
 not only have foreseen the possibility of such a clashing, but 
 also the consequence of a preference on either side as to its con 
 struction ; and out of this foresight must have arisen the fifth 
 article, by which two-thirds of Congress may call upon the 
 States for an explanation of any such controversy as the present, 
 by way of amendment to the Constitution, and thus correct an 
 erroneous construction of its own acts, by a minority of the 
 States ; whilst two-thirds of the States are also allowed to com 
 pel Congress to call a convention, in case so many should think 
 an amendment necessary, for the purpose of checking the un 
 constitutional acts of that body. Thus, so far as Congress may 
 have power, it might exert it to check the usurpations of a 
 State, and so far as the States may possess it, an union of two- 
 thirds in one opinion might effectually check the usurpations of 
 Congress. And under this article of the Constitution, the in 
 controvertible principle before stated might become practically 
 useful, otherwise no remedy did exist for the only case which 
 could possibly destroy the Constitution, namely, an encroach- 
 
143 
 
 ment by Congress or the States upon the rights of the other. 
 * * * * M rt Taylor then proceeded to apply these observ 
 ations to the threats of war, and the apprehension of civil 
 commotion, towards which the resolutions were said to have a 
 tendency. Are the republicans, said he, possessed of fleets and 
 armies ? If not, to what could they appeal for defence and sup 
 port? To nothing except public opinion. If that should be 
 against them, they must yield. * * * * How could the 
 fifth article of the Constitution be brought into practical use, 
 even upon the most flagrant usurpations ? War or insurrection, 
 therefore, could not happen," &c. * " Such, how 
 
 ever, he hoped would be the respect to public opinion, that he 
 doubted not but that the two reprobated laws would be sacri 
 ficed, to quiet the apprehensions even of a single State, without 
 the necessity of a convention or a mandate from three-fourths of 
 the States, whenever it shall be admitted that the quiet and hap 
 piness of the people is the end and design of Government." 
 
 Similar sentiments were advanced by the other supporters of 
 the resolutions. Mr. Mercer said "that force was never thought 
 of by any one. The preservation of the Federal Constitution, 
 the cement of the Union, with its original powers, was the ob 
 ject of the resolutions." 
 
 But all pretence for misapprehension or misconstruction upon 
 this head is put at rest by the direct explanations of the Virginia 
 Legislature, in the report which was made and received their 
 sanction in the session of 1799; in which, in relation to the 
 means referred to in the resolutions, and in answer to the objec 
 tion that they might have been such as conflicted with the order 
 and stability of the Union, they say, "In the example given by 
 the State, of declaring the alien and sedition acts to be uncon 
 stitutional, and of communicating the declaration to the other 
 States, no trace of improper means has appeared. And if the 
 other States had concurred in making a like declaration, sup 
 ported too by the numerous applications flowing immediately 
 from the people, it can scarcely be doubted, that these simple 
 means would have been as sufficient as they are unexceptionable. 
 
 " It is no less certain that other means might have been em 
 ployed which are strictly within the limits of the Constitution. 
 The Legislatures of the States might have made a direct repre- 
 
144 
 
 sentation to Congress, with a view to obtain a rescinding of the 
 two offensive acts ; or they might have represented to their re 
 spective Senators in Congress their wish that two-thirds thereof 
 would propose an explanatory amendment to the Constitution; 
 or two-thirds of themselves, if such had been their option, 
 might, by an application to Congress, have obtained a conven 
 tion for the same object. 
 
 " These several means, though not equally eligible in them 
 selves, nor probably to the States, were all constitutionally open 
 for consideration. And if the General Assembly, after declaring 
 the two acts to be unconstitutional, the first and most obvious 
 proceeding on the subject, did not undertake to point out to the 
 other States a choice among the farther measures that might 
 become necessary and proper, the reserve will not be miscon 
 strued by liberal minds into any culpable imputation." 
 
 Such was the understanding of the import and the intent of 
 the resolutions by him who introduced them ; by those who sup 
 ported them ; by the Committee to which they were at a subse 
 quent session referred ; and by the Legislature which adopted 
 their exposition. 
 
 It is a matter of undoubted historical fact, that the Virginia 
 resolutions were drawn up by Mr, Madison, and those of Ken 
 tucky by Mr. Jefferson. 
 
 In the dispensation of an all-wise Providence, Mr. Madison s 
 useful and brilliant life has been prolonged to this late period of 
 existence. He has borne his testimony against the justice of any 
 of the inferences which the Committee have felt it their duty to 
 repel ; and they are unadvised of any act or declaration of Mr. 
 Jefferson, who, in the confidence and affections of his fellow 
 citizens, was only second to the Father of his Country, which 
 conflicts with the known views of his great coadjutor. The 
 Committee are well aware that the advocates of nullification 
 have attempted to sustain that doctrine by expressions contained 
 in an unpromulgated draft of the Kentucky resolutions found 
 among his papers, in which is set forth the right of a State to 
 nullify an act of Congress, passed in respect to a subject upon 
 which its action is expressly inhibited, or upon which it had no 
 authority to legislate at all. A suggestion which, if it were pos 
 sible to make a paper so circumstanced whenever it may be 
 
145 
 
 found, the basis of so solemn an act, is clearly inapplicable to 
 the case under consideration, inasmuch as it expressly declares, 
 that for "an abuse of delegated power," (the most that could by 
 possibility be made of the revenue laws) "the members of the 
 General Government being chosen by the people, a change by 
 the people would be the Constitutional remedy." But the pub 
 lished writings of that great man are replete with the evidences 
 of his avowed opinions, inconsistent with the supposition that 
 he believed in the right of a single State either to make consti 
 tutional resistance to the laws of the United States or to dissolve 
 the Union by withdrawing herself from it, when in her sole 
 judgment, the circumstances were sufficient to justify the act. 
 
 In a letter to Mr. Destutt Tracy, in January, 1811, he says, 
 "Dangers of another kind might more reasonably be apprehend 
 ed from this perfect and distinct organization, civil and military, 
 of the States, to wit: that certain States from local and occa 
 sional discontents, might attempt to secede from the Union. 
 This is certainly possible ; and would be befriended by this 
 regular organization. But it is not probable that local discon 
 tents can spread to such an extent as to be able to face the 
 sound parts of so extensive a Union and if ever they should 
 reach the majority, they would then become the regular govern 
 ment, acquire ascendency in Congress, and be able to redress 
 their own grievances by laws peaceably and constitutionally 
 passed." 
 
 In a letter to Elbridge Gerry, of January, 1812, he uses these 
 significant and emphatic expressions : "What, then, does this 
 English faction with you mean ? Their newspapers say rebel 
 lion, and that they will not remain united with us, unless we 
 will permit them to govern the majority. If this be their pur 
 pose, their anti-republican spirit, it ought to be met at once. 
 But a government like ours should be slow in believing this, 
 should put forth its whole might when necessary to suppress it, 
 and promptly return to the paths of reconciliation. The extent 
 of our country secures it, I hope, from the vindictive passions of 
 the petty incorporations of Greece. I rather suspect that the 
 principal office of the other seventeen States, will be to mode 
 rate and restrain the local excitement of our friends with you, 
 20 
 
146 
 
 when they (with the aid of their brethren of the other States, 
 if they need it,) shall have brought the rebellious to their feet." 
 
 In a letter to Major John Cartwright, as late as June, 1824, he 
 says, "But, you may ask, if the two departments, (meaning the 
 General and State Governments,) should claim each the same 
 subject of power, where is the common umpire to decide ulti 
 mately between them ? In cases of little importance or urgency, 
 the prudence of both parties will keep them aloof from the 
 questionable ground ; but if it can neither be avoided nor com 
 promised, a convention of the States must be called, to ascribe the 
 doubtful power to that department which they may think best. 
 You will perceive by these details, that we have not yet so far 
 perfected our Constitutions as to venture to make them un 
 changeable. But still, in their present state, we consider them 
 not otherwise changeable than by the authority of the people, 
 on a special election of representatives for that purpose express 
 ly : They are until then the lex legum." 
 
 The Committee have felt it their duty to say thus much, in 
 order to separate the doctrines of 1798, from the principle now 
 in question. So far, at least, as they are contained in and de 
 pend on documents which deserve to be held in respectful re 
 membrance whilst the Constitution endures. 
 
 Neither do the Committee concur in the opinion that the 
 right of secession necessarily results from the sovereignty of the 
 States. It appears to the Committee, and they express their 
 views with unfeigned deference to the highly respectable opin 
 ions of those who differ with them, that this impression arises 
 from erroneously regarding the sovereignty of the respective 
 States as unqualified, and the association a mere confederacy of 
 free and sovereign States. If such were the case, if the union 
 were a mere league, the result contended for might follow ; but 
 the Committee do not so understand the system. The States, 
 on the contrary, as it was competent for the people of each, act 
 ing in their highest sovereign character, have voluntarily estab 
 lished, by express grant, a sovereignty in some respects concur 
 rent with, and in other respects superior to, their own. This 
 authority thus established, though founded on a compact, is nev 
 ertheless a government which is made by that compact sovereign 
 and independent as to the powers granted to it, in the same 
 
147 
 
 manner as the States are sovereign and independent as to powers 
 not granted. The people of the respective States have stipula 
 ted that their legislatures, and all their executive and judicial 
 officers, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support the 
 Constitution of that government. For a breach of their allegi 
 ance to it, they have voluntarily subjected themselves to the 
 highest penalties known to human laws; and to maintain its 
 sovereignty, they have invested this government of their own 
 creation with the purse and sword of the nation. The faithful 
 performance of this contract is certainly matter of high obliga 
 tion on all the parties to it ; and no condemnatien by the people 
 can be too severe upon such as are so lost to the obligation 
 under which they rest, to each other, to the people, and to the 
 cause of free government throughout the world, as to be guilty 
 of its intentional violation. But, of the fact and consequences 
 of such a breach, in cases where no other umpire has been de 
 signated, it is the right of each party to judge for itself; not for 
 the Federal Government exclusively, as was contended by the 
 States which protested against the Virginia and Kentucky res 
 olutions in 1799 ; nor for each State solely, as is now contend 
 ed. No right is reserved to the people of any State to absolve 
 themselves from the performance of duties which they have so 
 solemnly assumed, without the consent of the other party or par 
 ties to the compact. Each State, on surrendering a portion of 
 its sovereignty, acquired, in consequence thereof, a right to the 
 perpetual adherence of each of its co-States to that Union which 
 is so necessary to, and was established for, the security of all. 
 
 The articles of Confederation abound with declarations that 
 the Union then formed should be perpetual ; and the present 
 Constitution was established for the avowed purpose of making 
 it more perfect. New York entered into the formation of it ex 
 pressly " to render the Federal Constitution adequate to the exi 
 gencies of the Government, and the preservation of the Union." 
 Deficient, indeed, would have been the work which came from 
 the hands of those great men who framed the Constitution, the 
 final adoption of which was hailed with so much joy by the peo 
 ple, if it thus contained the elements of its own destruction. 
 
 When a State shall attempt to withdraw herself from the Con 
 federacy, it is for her co-States to decide whether they wilt re- 
 
148 
 
 linquish the rights which they acquired when they surrendered 
 a portion of their sovereignty consent to a dissolution, and en 
 deavor to establish a new Government ; or whether they will 
 insist on the preservation of the Union as it is. Without the 
 recognition of this right, the Union could not have existed to the 
 present day. Strip the States of this right, and a system which 
 but yesterday excited the respect and admiration of the world, 
 must soon, very soon, serve only as an additional argument in 
 the mouths of monarchists and absolutists against the capacity 
 of man for self-government. 
 
 Let it not, however, be supposed that the Committee are the 
 advocates of unconditional submission. Such are not their 
 views. They concur fully in the sentiment, " that the authority 
 of constitutions over governments, and of the sovereignty of the 
 people over constitutions, are truths which are at all times neces 
 sary to be kept in mind." Or, in the language of our own 
 State, " that the powers of Government may be re-assumed by 
 the people, whenever it shall become necessary to their happi 
 ness." In respect to State governments, this control can be 
 constitutionally exercised by a bare majority of the people ; and 
 in the Federal Government, by a specified number of the States. 
 But this is not the only mode by which the people can redress 
 intolerable grievances. There is another, which cannot be bet 
 ter described than has been done by Mr. Madison. " And in 
 the event (says he) of the failure of every constitutional resort, 
 and an accumulation of usurpations and abuses, rendering pass 
 ive obedience and non-resistance a greater evil than resistance 
 and revolution, there can remain but one resort, the last of all 
 an appeal from the cancelled obligations of the compact, to 
 original rights and the law of self-preservation. This is the ultima 
 ratio under all governments, whether consolidated, confederated, 
 or a compound of both. And it cannot be doubted that a single 
 member of the Union, in the extremity supposed, but in that 
 only, would have a right, as an extra and ultra-constitutional 
 right, to make the appeal." 
 
 It was to this species of separation, which God in his infinite 
 mercy avert ! that the Committee understand Mr. Jefferson as 
 referring, when he alluded to the farther measure of redress 
 which might be resorted to in extreme cases, and spoke of Vir- 
 
149 
 
 ginia s " standing by her arms." It was this great calamity that 
 he sought to avoid, when he so eloquently and feelingly invoked 
 his native State never to think of it, until the sole alternatives 
 left, were a dissolution of the Union, or submission to a Gov 
 ernment, without limitation or power. 
 
 The history given by the President, of the formation of our 
 Government, has drawn forth conflicting opinions in respect to 
 its accuracy ; and lest the Committee might be regarded as hav 
 ing omitted any portion of their duties, they will, upon this sub 
 ject, also, with deference to the views of others, but frankly 
 state their own. 
 
 The character of our Government, so far as that is effected by 
 the manner in which the Federal Constitution was framed and 
 adopted, has been always a matter of more or less contention. 
 Differences of opinion upon the subject, have been in some de 
 gree fostered by a seeming discrepancy between the preamble 
 of the Constitution, and historical facts ; and perhaps in a still 
 greater degree, by the different senses in which the term 
 " States," is used by different persons. If we use that term, not 
 merely as denoting particular sections of territory, nor as refer 
 ring to the particular governments, established and organized 
 by the political societies within each, but as referring to the 
 people composing those political societies, in their highest sove 
 reign capacity (as the Committee think that in this respect the 
 term should be used) it is incontrovertible, that the States must 
 be regared as parties to the compact. For it is well establish 
 ed, that, in that sense, the Constitution was submitted to the 
 States ; that in that sense, the States ratified it. This is the ex 
 planation which is given of the matter in the report to the Vir 
 ginia Legislature, which has already received the sanction of 
 the Committee. It is in this sense of the term " States," that 
 they form the constituency from which the Federal Constitution 
 emanated, and it is by the States, acting either by their Legis 
 latures, or in Convention, that any valid alterations of the in 
 strument can alone be made. It is by so understanding the 
 subject, that the preamble is reconciled with facts, and that it is 
 a Constitution established by "the people of the United States," 
 not as one consolidated body, but as members of separate and 
 independent communities, each acting for itself, without regard 
 
150 
 
 to their comparative numbers. It was in this form that the Con 
 stitution of the United States was established by the people of 
 the different States, with the same solemnity that the Constitu 
 tions of the respective States were established ; and, as the 
 Committee have heretofore insisted, with the same binding force 
 in respect to the powers which were intended to be delegated 
 to the Federal Government. The effects which are likely to be 
 produced by the adoption of either of the different versions of 
 the Constitution, which have at different times been contended 
 for, it is not the intention of the Committee to discuss. The 
 positive provisions and restrictions of that instrument, could not 
 be directly abrogated by the recognition of either. The com 
 parative weight and influence which would be attached to 
 the allegations and remonstrances of the States, in respect to the 
 supposed infractions of the Compact, might, however, be very 
 different, whether they are regarded as sovereign parties of the 
 Compact, acting upon their reserved rights, or as forming only 
 indiscriminate portions of the great body of the people of the 
 United States, thus giving a preponderence to mere numbers, in 
 compatible with the frame and design of the Federal Consti 
 tution. 
 
 The diversities of opinion which have arisen upon this sub 
 ject, have been more or less injurious according to their influ 
 ence in inclining or disinclining the minds of those who enter 
 tain them, to a faithful observance of the landmarks of authority 
 between the respective Governments. Professions are easily 
 made ; and the best evidence of a correct appreciation of the 
 nature and design of the system by a public agent, is to be found 
 in the general bearing of his official acts. If his conduct be 
 characterized by a desire to administer the Government upon 
 the principles which his constituents have elected, and by a de 
 termination to repudiate the dangerous heresy, that the Consti 
 tution is to be interpreted, not by the well understood intentions 
 of those who framed and those who adopted it, but by what can 
 be made out of its words by ingenious interpretation ; if he 
 honestly believes that the people are the safest depository of 
 power, and acts up to that belief, by evincing an unwillingness 
 to exercise authority which was not intended to be granted, and 
 which the States and the people might not, on open application? 
 
151 
 
 be willing to grant ; if he has steadily opposed the adoption of 
 all schemes, however magnificent and captivating, which are 
 not warranted by the Constitution which, from the inequality 
 of their benefits and burthens, are calculated to sow discord 
 where there should be union, and which are too frequently 
 the offspring of that love of personal authority and aggrandize 
 ment which men in power find it so difficult to resist. If he has 
 done all in his power to arrest the increase of monopolies, under 
 all circumstances so adverse to public liberty, and the equal 
 interests of the community. If his official career has been dis 
 tinguished by unceasing assiduity to promote economy in the 
 public expenditures, to relieve the people from all unnecessary 
 burthens, and generally to preserve our republican system in 
 that simplicity and purity which were intended for it under 
 which it has hitherto been so successful, by which it can alone be 
 maintained ; and on account of which it has, until this moment, 
 stood in such enviable and glorious contrast with the corrupt 
 systems of the old world. If such be the traces of his official 
 course, and if in maintaining it he shall have impressed all man 
 kind with the conviction that he regards as nothing, conse 
 quences which are merely personal to himself, when they come 
 in contact with duty to his country, the people of the United 
 States will not doubt his attachment to the true principles of 
 that Constitution which he has so faithfully administered and so 
 nobly supported. Such, the Committee take pride in saying, 
 has been the official course of our present Chief Magistrate a 
 course by which, in the judgment of the people of this State, he 
 has established for himself imperishable claims to their grati 
 tude, respect, and confidence. 
 
 The Committee have thus explained their views upon the 
 several delicate and deeply interesting questions before them, 
 with that frankness which becomes the solemn occasion on 
 which they act, and which should always characterize the move 
 ments of a sovereign State upon matters involving her relations 
 with her sister States. In doing so, they have felt it to be their 
 duty to vindicate and explain the political principles which are 
 entertained by themselves, and, as they believe, by a majority 
 of the go~d people of this State. In the performance of this 
 act of justice and duty, they have endeavored to avoid all impu- 
 
152 
 
 tations upon the motives of those who may differ from them- 
 The same independence and toleration which they claim for 
 themselves, they are disposed to extend to others. Amidst the 
 conflict of interest and feelings with which those, who are 
 charged with the conduct of public affairs at this interesting 
 crisis, are obliged to struggle, there is happily one opinion 
 which has not yet met with a dissenting voice in all the land j 
 and which it is fervently hoped, is too deeply implanted in the 
 minds and hearts of the people to be ever eradicated. It is a 
 thorough conviction, that anarchy, degradation, and intermina 
 ble distress, will be, must be, the unavoidable results of a disso 
 lution of the union of these States. Associated with this undeni 
 able and undenied truth, and growing out of it, there are, we 
 trust, two other sentiments of eqnal universality a determina 
 tion to maintain the Union at all hazards, and a willingness to 
 make liberal concessions, nay sacrifices, for the preservation of 
 peace and reciprocal good will amongst its members. Upon 
 this great conservative platform, all sincere friends of the Union, 
 all who honor and truly respect the parting admonitions of the 
 Father of his country, all who prefer that country to their own 
 ambitious views and personal aggrandizement, and who are dis 
 posed to give the Executive of the United States a cordial and 
 efficient support, can meet, and act in concert to promote the 
 greatest of all earthly objects. Here all may earn the enduring 
 respect and confidence of the people, by an honorable sacrifice 
 of personal and party feelings on the altar of their country s 
 safety. We may differ as to the time, the manner, or the extent 
 of the measures to be employed, whether of conciliation or co 
 ercion. It cannot be expected, at the present crisis, that honest 
 and unprejudiced minds should all happen to arrive at the same 
 conclusion. But such differences should not occasion heart 
 burnings, much less resentments. Our fathers differed in like 
 manner in the establishment of our Government; and it is in 
 vain for us to hope for exemption from similar embarrassments ; 
 the causes which produced them have not yet ceased to operate ; 
 they have been planted by the hand of nature, and cannot be 
 entirely removed by that of man. Those, to whose valor and 
 disinterested patriotism we are indebted for this glorious system 
 under which we have so long and so happily lived, overcame 
 
153 
 
 them by mutual concession and compromise. If every man 
 looks only to his own interests, or every State to its own favorite 
 policy, and insists upon them, this Union cannot be preserved. 
 We must not deceive ourselves upon this point, or suffer others 
 to deceive us. Our errors, in this respect, may lead to conse 
 quences which can never be recalled ; and over which we and 
 our posterity may have occasion to shed bitter tears of repen 
 tance ; we must take higher counsel than that which is derived 
 from our pockets or our passions; we must be just, and, if need 
 be, generous ; and the deep and overpowering attachment of 
 the great mass of the people to the Union, the fidelity, energy, 
 and fortitude of their character, directed by the illustrious man 
 so providentially at the head of the Government, will carry us 
 safely through the dangers which threaten our beloved country. 
 
 It remains only to reciprocate, as the Committee doubt not the 
 two Houses will readily do, the magnanimous and enlightened 
 sentiments expressed by the Governor, upon the subject which 
 has caused the present embarrassments in our public affairs. 
 Most cheerfully, therefore, do they respond to his declarations, 
 which "disclaim for New York all desire to aggrandize herself 
 at the expense of her sister States, or to pervert to local purpo 
 ses, a system of government intended for the common benefit of 
 all ;" which assert her estimate of the value of the Union and 
 her devotion to it; and which avow her willingness, if the ope 
 ration of existing laws be adverse to those views, to consent to 
 such a modification of them as will remove all just ground of 
 complaint, and afford substantial relief to every real grievance. 
 In these sentiments the committee recognize the best policy as 
 well as the true glory of these States ; a policy, "which culti 
 vates peace and harmony by observing justice." 
 
 The opinion of this State in favor of the constitutional power 
 of Congress, to afford encouragement and protection to domestic 
 products, by the establishment for that object of suitable com 
 mercial regulations, has been too often declared to need repeti 
 tion. Neither time nor circumstances have contributed to 
 change its convictions, either of the existence or importance of 
 this right. Without it, it would not be possible for the Federal 
 Government to carry into effect one of the principal objects of 
 its institution : and the United States would, in relation to our 
 21 
 
154 
 
 own exports, be left altogether at the mercy of foreign nations. 
 The possession of the right, however, and the manner and extent 
 of its exercise are very different matters. Whatever causes of 
 serious apprehension for the stability of the Union may hereto 
 fore have arisen from this source, it appears to the Committee 
 that they have been greatly lessened by the payment of the na 
 tional debt, and the disposition of the Executive of the United 
 States, and, as the Committee firmly believe, of the great body 
 of the people, to make such a modification of the tariff as be 
 comes by that event just and practicable. The repeated recom 
 mendations of the President to reduce the revenue to what is 
 requisite to defray the expenses of the government, necessarily 
 incurred within the pale of the Constitution, and under a strictly 
 economical administration of our affairs, have been so distinctly 
 and emphatically sanctioned by the people of this State, as to 
 leave no room for doubt or cavil as to their cheerful acqui 
 escence in the measure. Indeed, the Committee are yet to learn, 
 that there is any man in this great community who advocates or 
 would justify the collection of taxes from the people for any 
 other purpose, and certainly not for the sole one of taking money 
 from the pockets of one class of our people to put into those 
 of another. All that is asked, is, that the amount of duties thus 
 raised, and so expended, shall be levied in such a manner as to 
 afford reasonable encouragement and protection to our own 
 manufactures and other productions, to enable them to compete 
 with similar articles, the manufacture or production of other 
 countries. With such qualifications as may be necessary to 
 prevent injustice, and to preserve inviolate that sound rule of 
 egislation, which requires that all public burthens should be 
 borne in a fair proportion to the ability of the contributors, and 
 the extent of the security which they derive from the govern 
 ment. In other words, that too large a share of the public 
 taxes be not imposed upon those articles of prime necessity to 
 the poor, to the exoneration of articles of luxury, which are used 
 only by the rich. And further, that the reduction of duties thus 
 rendered practicable by the payment of the public debt, though 
 ultimately certain, should not be sudden or capricious, but tem 
 pered to the condition of existing establishments establishments 
 which have grown up and been encouraged by our legislation^ 
 
155 
 
 and whose claims to the favor and indulgence of the government 
 and people are founded upon the public faith. To a claim so 
 reasonable the Committee are unwilling to believe that the real 
 friends of the Union any where can object. Men may resist to 
 the uttermost the imposition of unreasonable burthens for the 
 protection of articles, in the manufacture and production of 
 which they are not immediately concerned. But, there are, 
 surely, no American citizens who, exempt from such impositions, 
 would not prefer to encourage those of their own country, in 
 preferenoe to the fruits of foreign labor. 
 
 It is not in behalf of New York, particularly, that these con 
 siderations are urged. For it is notorious that this State is not 
 the principal seat of manufacturing establishments. But jus 
 tice dictates the same course whatever and wherever be its ap 
 plication. 
 
 The rules by which this distribution and reduction of the pub 
 lic burthens are to be effected, must from the nature of things, 
 be more or less arbitrary and uncertain. But if the subject be 
 undertaken and prosecuted in good faith if the tariff system be 
 not made subservient to the purposes of personal ambition, nor 
 to the cravings of individual cupidity, but treated as a matter of 
 business, affecting deeply the private concerns of every man in 
 every quarter of the Union, there is no doubt of the ability of 
 Congress to adopt such rules as will be satisfactory to the nation. 
 
 That the bill of the last session will not reduce the revenue to 
 the proposed standard is certain. The anticipated excess is es 
 timated at between six and seven millions of dollars. Whether 
 the late act should be permitted to go into operation with the 
 intention of modifying the system at the next session of Con 
 gress; or whether the object in view shall be effected at the 
 present session, by a law which, though passed now, shall have 
 a gradual operation, is an important point in the difficult and 
 deeply interesting question to be decided. The Committee are 
 by no means insensible to the embarrassment arising from the 
 existence of the Ordinance of the State of South Carolina, and 
 regret that any such obstruction should have been thrown in 
 the way of a regular expression of the public will. They could 
 never advise any legislation by Congress under the dictation of 
 any power; and they have very little fear, that any such will be 
 
156 
 
 desired by the Executive, or sanctioned by that body. It must, 
 however, be borne in mind, that South Carolina is not the only 
 State which considers herself injuriously affected by the existing 
 law, and seeks relief from its operation ; that there are many 
 other States who are, in this respect, similarly circumstanced* 
 whose alienation from the Union would be the greatest calamity 
 that could befal us, but who have shown as much devotion to 
 the Union, and have manifested as much repugnance to the 
 measures of South Carolina as any. It is then for the justice 
 and sound discretion of Congress to decide, whether, whilst all 
 proper measures are adopted to maintain the laws of the United 
 States in the State of South Carolina, in the same manner as if 
 no such Ordinance had been passed, they may not without det 
 riment to the honor and dignity of the Government, now act 
 upon a matter which has been so specially and urgently submit 
 ted to them by the Executive. We may be assured that there is 
 sufficient intelligence and virtue in the people to judge those 
 greatly deprecated measures by themselves, uninfluenced by 
 prejudices of any sort on the one hand, or by the cotemporane- 
 ous measures of the Government on the other. Nor is it a mat 
 ter of slight importance to the people of this State to consider 
 whether the acts of South Carolina ought to occasion a collec 
 tion from them of about one million of dollars annually, a sum 
 three times as large as is required for the entire expenses of our 
 State Government, when the President informs us that it is not 
 needed for the public service. 
 
 The duty of deciding upon these grave matters, rests, as has 
 been justly observed by the Governor, so far as this State has a 
 voice in the discussion, with those who represent us in the Con 
 gress of the United States. There, the Committee think, with a 
 general expression of the sense of the Legislature, it ought and 
 may with safety be left. It would, doubtless, be competent for 
 the Legislature to give explicit advice and instruction to their 
 representatives upon the subject; but from the obvious superi 
 ority in position of our representatives in Congress, to take a 
 better view of the whole ground than that which is possessed by 
 us, and from the great extent to which the question as to the 
 most proper time for action, as well as the particular provisions 
 which ought to be made, are dependent on facts and details, of 
 
157 
 
 which it is impossible that we can be as capable of judging as they 
 are, the Committee think the Legislature will best consult their 
 duty and the interests of all, by confining themselves, at this 
 time, to the general expression of opinion which is now most 
 respectfully proposed. 
 
 If by a faithful adherence to the principles here advanced in 
 their behalf, the people of this State can contribute to th<; res 
 toration and preservation of that fraternal affection in which t.-u; 
 Union was originally founded, by which it was once cemented, 
 and which is so essential to its preservation, it will be to them ^ 
 source of much joy and deep gratitude to the Supreme Disposer 
 of events, for the agency they have been permitted to exercise 
 in effecting so great a good. But if, on the contrary, their well- 
 meant efforts prove unavailing ; if (he offerings of peace and 
 good will which have been freely and so sincerely tendered by 
 them, in conjunction with their co-States who participate in the 
 same sentiments, shall be rejected ; if, in the providence of God, 
 it be decreed that this Government and this happy Union, the 
 affairs of which have been hitherto so successfully directed by 
 it, are to be put to the final test, the Government and people of 
 this State will meet the crisis with the sustaining consciousness, 
 that they have done all that duty enjoined and honor permitted 
 to avert the worst calamity that could befall the country. 
 
 The Committee respectfully suggest, for the consideration of 
 the Legislature, the following resolutions. 
 
RESOLVES. 
 
 State of mto 
 
 IN SENATE, February 16th, 1833. 
 
 Resolved, (if the Assembly concur,) That we approve of the 
 general views and conclusions of the preceding Report. 
 
 Resolved, (if the Assembly concur,) That we regard the Union 
 of these States as indispensable to their prosperity and happi 
 ness : that we participate fully in the desire which has been 
 manifested by the President, to restore harmony, and conciliate 
 affection amongst all the people of the United States, by a sea 
 sonable and equitable modification of the Tariff, adapting it to 
 the present condition of the country : that we approve the mea 
 sures he has adopted and recommended to sustain the authority 
 and execute the laws of the United States ; and that the Govern 
 ment and people of this State will cordially co-operate with him 
 in the exercise of all the means which may be necessary and 
 proper to secure those objects. 
 
 Resolved, (if the Assembly concur,) That we regard the right 
 of a single State, to make void within its limits the laws of 
 the United States, as set forth in the Ordinance of South Caro 
 lina, as wholly unauthorized by the Constitution of the United 
 States, and in its tendency subversive of the Union and the Gov 
 ernment thereof. 
 
 Resolved, (if the Assembly concur,) That we do dissent from 
 the doctrine, that a single State has a right to withdraw itself 
 from the Union against the wishes of its co-States, whenever in 
 
159 
 
 its sole judgment the acts of the Federal Government shall be 
 such as to justify the step. 
 
 Resolved, (if the Assembly concur,) That the Governor be re 
 quested to transmit a copy of the foregoing Report and Resolu 
 tions, to the Executive of the State of South Carolina, and to the 
 Executives of the other States respectively, to the end that they 
 may be communicated to the Legislatures thereof, and also a 
 copy of the same to the President of the United States, and to 
 each of our Senators and Representatives in Congress. 
 
 By order, 
 
 J. F. BACON, 
 
 Clerk of the Senate. 
 
 IN ASSEMBLY, February 23d, 1833. 
 
 Resolved, That this House do concur with the Senate, in their 
 said Resolutions. 
 
 By order, 
 
 FRANCIS SEGER, 
 
 Clerk of the Assembly. 
 
RESOLVES 
 
 OP THE 
 
 LEGISLATURE 
 
 OF 
 
 NEW-JERSEY. 
 
 22 
 
State of 
 
 WHEREAS the people of the State of South Carolina, in Con 
 vention assembled, have, by an ordinance, dated twenty-fourth 
 of November, eighteen hundred and thirty-two, declared and 
 ordained that the several acts and parts of acts of the Con 
 gress of these United States, purporting to be laws for the 
 imposing of duties and imposts on the importation of foreign 
 commodities, are unauthorised by the constitution, violate the 
 true intent and meaning thereof, and are null and void and 
 not binding upon the said State, its officers or citizens and have 
 proclaimed their determination to enforce said ordinance at 
 every hazard, denied the authority of the general government 
 to enforce the revenue laws within the said State of South 
 Carolina, and transmitted a copy of such ordinance, together 
 with an appeal to the people of the United States, to the 
 Executive of this State: AND WHEREAS the high obligations 
 we owe to our common country, as a member of this great 
 confederacy, as well as the due preservation of the inestima 
 ble privileges we enjoy under this free and happy government, 
 secured by the toils and cemented by the blood of our com 
 mon ancestors, has rendered it an imperative duty to proclaim 
 our opinions upon this important subject THEREFORE, in the 
 name and in behalf of the people of the State of New Jer 
 sey, and as their legal representatives, 
 
 1 . Be it Resolved, by the Council and General Assembly of said 
 State, That the Constitution adopted and sanctioned by the peo 
 ple of these United States, as well as our early history, our com 
 mon interest, our habits, our intercourse, our love of freedom, 
 the honor, strength and durability of our country, proclaim that 
 
164 
 
 all the States of this Union make one indivisible nation united in 
 prosperity and adversity, in peace as in war, by the sacred and 
 indissoluble bond of their Union. 
 
 2. Resolved, That we deprecate the acts and proceedings of 
 our brethren of the State of South Carolina, as opposed to the 
 fundamental principles upon which the government of these 
 United States is based, as violating the spirit and meaning of 
 the Federal Constitution, and tending to rend asunder those ties 
 of common interest and fraternal regard, of mutual dependance 
 and reciprocal obligation, which are alike our pride, our glory, 
 and our strength, and which have proclaimed us to the world a 
 United People. 
 
 3. Resolved, That when South Carolina, together with all the 
 other States, acceded to this Union, and adopted the Constitu 
 tion, she and they became thereby irrevocably bound that all 
 controversy upon the constitutionality of an act of Congress, 
 should be finally adjudicated by the Supreme Court of these 
 United States. The sacred charter of our liberties never con 
 templated that each state had reserved to itself an ultimate ap 
 peal to its own citizens in their sovereign capacity. 
 
 4. Resolved. That the manufactures of America, are one of the 
 elements of our Independence and greatness ; not oppressing 
 but advancing hand in hand with agriculture and commerce. 
 These three sources of National prosperity, demand equally the 
 fostering protection of Government ; to crush either would be 
 to paralyze all ; and to the General Government, alone, standing 
 on an elevation to survey the whole ground, belongs the infor 
 mation, the wisdom, and the power to apportion just patronage 
 wherever circumstances may require. 
 
 5. Resolved, That the Constitution of the United States, now 
 contains within itself, an ample provision for its amendment, and 
 for the remedy of every evil which may arise from unforeseen 
 events, or ambiguous construction. When this provision shall 
 be legally called into operation, we shall be prompt to concede 
 all to justice, much to fraternal feeling, and somewhat even to 
 local excitement and mistaken enthusiasm. But it cannot com 
 port either with dignity or sound policy to yield aught in the 
 face of threatened disunion and an armed resistance to the 
 laws. 
 
165 
 
 6. Resolved, That the principles contained in the Proclama 
 tion, and late Message of the President of the United States, 
 meet our entire approbation ; and that we will sustain the Chief 
 Magistrate of the Union in the Constitutional enforcement of 
 these principles. 
 
 7. Resolved, That we implore our Fellow Citizens of South 
 Carolina, allied as they are to us, by all the heart stiring and in 
 spiriting recollections of the eventful struggle, that made us an 
 independent nation, maturely to ponder over the present crisis 
 in their affairs, and magnanimously to return to more temperate 
 councils, and a juster sense of that obedience to the general 
 will which constitutes the lasting security, and should be the 
 glory and the ornament of every member of this confederacy. 
 But should our fellow citizens of South Carolina, contrary to 
 our reasonable expectations, unsheath the sword, it becomes our 
 solemn and imperative duty to declare, that no separate nation 
 ought or can be suffered to intrude into the very centre of our 
 Territory. 
 
 8. Resolved, That the Governor be requested to transmit a 
 copy of these resolutions to the President of the United States, 
 to each Senator and Representative in Congress, from this State, 
 and to the Governors of the respective States of the Union. 
 
 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY, February 18th, 1833. 
 
 These re-engrossed Joint Resolutions having been three times 
 read in the House of Assembly. 
 
 Resolved, That the same do pass. 
 By order of the House. 
 
 JOHN P. JACKSON, Speaker of Assembly. 
 IN COUNCIL, February 18th, 1833. 
 
 These re-engrossed Joint Resolutions having been three times 
 read in the Council and compared. 
 
 Resolved, That the same do pass. 
 By order of Council. 
 
 ELIAS P. SEELEY, Vice President. 
 
166 
 
 I, JAMES D. WESTCOTT, Secretary of the State of New-Jer 
 sey, do certify, that the foregoing is a true copy of the Joint 
 Resolutions of the Legislative Council and General Assembly 
 of the State of New-Jersey, passed February 18th, A. D. one 
 thousand eight hundred and thirty three, as compared with the 
 original, now remaining on file in my office. 
 
 In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed 
 the seal of my said office, at the city of Trenton, in said 
 State, this 18th day of February, A. D. one thousand 
 eight hundred and thirty-three. 
 
 JAMES D. WESTCOTT. 
 
RESOLVES 
 
 or THE 
 
 LEGISLATURE 
 
 OF 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
RESOLVES 
 
 Relative to the Union of the States and the Constitution of the 
 
 United States. 
 
 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Com- 
 monweallh of Pennsylvania, in General Assembly met, That the 
 Constitution of the United States, and the laws of the United 
 States made in pursuance of the Constitution, are the supreme 
 law of the land, to which every citizen of the United States owes 
 obedience ; and that no authority whatever can release him 
 from his obligation to obey, or require him to take any oath, or 
 enter into any engagement inconsistent with such obligation; 
 and that any pretension on the part of a State, or any portion 
 thereof, so to release any citizen of the United States, or so to 
 require of him, is unconstitutional, and without the least foun 
 dation of right, and can afford neither shelter nor excuse for 
 offences he may commit against the laws of the United States. 
 
 Resolved, That no portion of the citizens of the United States, 
 have a rightful power to render invalid an act of the Congress 
 of the United States, duly made by the people s representatives, 
 and approved by the Executive, in the mode prescribed by the 
 Constitution ; nor to nullify the same, either generally, or with 
 in particular districts ; but that every such act of Congress con 
 tinues in full force every where within the United States, not 
 withstanding any such asserted nullification ; and all persons 
 who resist its execution, offend against the Constitution and 
 laws of the United States, and are liable to prosecution and 
 punishment for such offence. 
 
 Resolved, That no State has a right to withdraw from the 
 Union, and to declare itself independent of it; and that every 
 attempt to do so, would be a virtual infraction of the Constitu 
 tion of the United States, justifying and requiring the use of 
 constitutional measures to suppress it. 
 23 
 
170 
 
 Resolved That the faithful execution of all laws of the United 
 States, made in the mode prescribed by the Constitution, is a 
 duty enjoined upon the President of the United States, in the 
 constitutional discharge of which he is entitled to, and ought to 
 receive the aid and support of every citizen of the Union. 
 
 Resolved, That it is the clear and indisputable right of Con 
 gress, to impose duties upon importations, and of the Govern 
 ment of the United States to collect the duties payable by law 
 upon goods imported into every part of the Union ; and that 
 every resistance to the collection of the same, is an offence 
 against the Constitution and laws of the United States, and that 
 the offenders are liable to prosecution and punishment for such 
 offence. 
 
 Resolved, That in enforcing, by all constitutional means, the 
 laws passed by Congress, for imposing and collecting duties 
 upon goods imported into the United States, and all other acts 
 of the Congress of the United States; and in bringing to pun 
 ishment all persons, who, under any pretence, may offer resist 
 ance to them, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will, if neces 
 sary, aid and assist the Government of the United States, by all 
 the means in her power. 
 
 Resolved, That we pledge ourselves, jointly and individually 
 to sustain the Chief Magistrate of the United States, in all con 
 stitutional measures calculated to preserve and perpetuate the 
 union of the States. 
 
 Resolved, That the Governor be requested to transmit a copy 
 of these Resolutions to the President of the United States, and 
 to each Senator and Representative in Congress from this Com 
 monwealth, and to the several Governors of the respective 
 States and Territories of these United States. 
 
 SAMUEL ANDERSON, 
 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 
 JESSE R. BURDEN, 
 
 Speaker of the Senate. 
 
171 
 
 Approved, the twentieth day of December, A. D. one thou 
 sand eight hundred and thirty-two. 
 
 GEO. WOLF. 
 
 SECRETARY S OFFICE, PENNSYLVANIA, 
 HARRISBURG, December 21, 1832 
 
 -I 
 
 This is to certify, that the foregoing Resolutions are truly 
 copied from the original roll in this office. 
 
 Witness my hand and seal. 
 
 SAML. M KEAN. 
 
RESOLVES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LEGISLATURE 
 
 OF 
 
 DELAWARE. 
 
REPORT. 
 
 The Committee to whom was referred so much of the Governor s 
 Message as relates to the communication from the Governor 
 of the State of South Carolina, respectfully submit the following 
 
 REPORT: 
 
 THE communication from the Governor of South Carolina is 
 composed of documents ordered by a Convention of the people 
 of that State, held in November last, to be transmitted to the 
 Governors of the several States for the information of their re 
 spective Legislatures. These documents consist of a report of 
 a Committee of twenty-one, to the Convention, on the subject 
 of the several acts of Congress imposing duties for the protec 
 tion of domestic manufactures, with the Ordinance to Nullify 
 the same, an address to the people of that State, and an address 
 to the people of the United States. Your Committee have ex 
 amined the papers with great care, and with that respectful at 
 tention which is due to the source from which they emanate, but 
 they cannot disguise their astonishment at the position assumed 
 by the Convention and the arguments by which it is attempted 
 to be sustained. The position taken by the Convention is, that 
 they have a right to suspend the operation of certain acts of 
 Congress within the limits of the State by declaring those acts 
 null and void, on the ground of their supposed unconstitutional- 
 ity. This extraordinary right is assumed not as a revolutionary 
 measure, but as one that results from the nature of the compact, 
 created by the Constitution, and as in perfect harmony with its 
 principles. It becomes necessary, therefore, to settle distinctly, 
 
176 
 
 the nature of that instrument, in order to decide the question of 
 this right. 
 
 The ground taken by the Convention on this subject is, " that 
 the Federal Constitution is a treaty, a confederation, an alliance, 
 by which so many sovereign States agree to exercise their sove 
 reign powers conjointly, upon certain objects of external con 
 cern, in which they are equally interested." That the Federal 
 Government is the common agency of the sovereign States, and 
 possesses no more inherent sovereignty than an incorporated 
 town, that it is a mere political corporation, " and that it is the 
 moral obligation alone which each state has chosen to impose 
 on herself, and not the want of sovereignty" which restrains her 
 from exercising all those powers which have been granted to the 
 Federal Government. And this is declared by the Convention 
 to be the true nature of the compact. The principle with which 
 they set out, and upon which the whole doctrine is built, is thus 
 laid [down in the address to the people of the State page 4. 
 " The Constitution of the United States, as is admitted by co- 
 temporaneous writers, is a compact between sovereign States." 
 This is the corner stone of the whole system of Nullification. 
 For if it be true that the Constitution is a mere treaty or com 
 pact between sovereign States, which now possess all the sove 
 reignty they ever had, and among whom there can be no com 
 mon arbiter, the rest of the doctrine follows as a matter of 
 course. The question then arises, is this proposition true? 
 Your Committee conceive that it is false in both its branches. It 
 is neither a compact between sovereign States, nor is so admitted 
 to be, by cotemporaneous writers, at least of any credit. 
 
 The first and most natural source to look to, for the settle 
 ment of this question, is the instrument itself. Since it is appa 
 rent that it would be utterly useless to reduce an agreement or 
 compact to writing, that it would be useless to establish a writ 
 ten constitution for any government or any people, if the crude 
 notions and wild conceits of any individual may be substituted 
 for the terms of the instrument. This is more particularly true 
 with regard to such an instrument as the Constitution of the 
 United States, which was the work, in the first instance, of a 
 general convention from the different States, and was afterwards 
 submitted to the conventions of the people in each of the States. 
 
177 
 
 So that not a word or letter, and certainly not a single principle 
 contained in it can be supposed to have escaped the severest 
 srcutiny, and the whole must therefore have the highest sanction. 
 
 Upon opening that instrument, the first principle which pre 
 sents itself is, that it purports to be the act of the American 
 people. It is not stated to be a compact between New Hamp 
 shire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and the other ten sovereign 
 States, and which would have been the appropriate, and indeed 
 the only preamble, if the idea intended to be conveyed was, that 
 of a compactor treaty between those sovereign States; but on 
 the contrary, it is declared to be the act of the American peo 
 ple. The language is, "We the people of the United States do 
 ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of 
 America." The principle here established is, that the govern 
 ment created by that Constitution is the act of the people of the 
 United States, and not the act of the States, as sovereignties. 
 As this principle lies at the foundation of the whole system, it is 
 impossible that it should have escaped the attention of the Gen 
 eral Convention, and of the thirteen State conventions which 
 passed upon it. They could not have been ignorant of, or inat 
 tentive to, the difference of the two principles involved in the 
 question, whether the instrument to which they assented, was a 
 Constitution of Government to be established by the people, or a 
 treaty or compact between thirteen sovereign States. To sup 
 pose them ignorant, is to suppose them incompetent to their 
 task, and to suppose them inattentive, is to suppose them culpa 
 bly negligent of their duty. But we will show that they were 
 neither the one or the other. 
 
 The very first question, as might naturally be supposed, that 
 presented itself to the General Convention was, whether the 
 Constitution they were about to form should be a compact 
 among the States, or the act of the people. The particular busi 
 ness of the Convention was opened by Governor Randolph, who 
 submitted to their consideration, on the 29th May, 1787, various 
 resolutions, with a view to settle the principles on which they 
 were to proceed. The first of those resolutions was in these 
 words "Resolved, that the articles of confederation ought to 
 be so corrected and enlarged as to accomplish the objects pro 
 posed by their institution, namely, common defence, security of 
 24 
 
178 
 
 liberty and general welfare." Elliott s Debates, vol. 4, p. 41. 
 Now it must be recollected that the articles of confederation 
 were, in point of fact, and in terms, a compact between the dif 
 ferent States as sovereignties. The instrument itself purports 
 to be such, and is described in the preamble as " Articles of 
 confederation and perpetual union between the States of New 
 Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence 
 Plantations," &c. As Governor Randolph s proposition was 
 merely to correct and enlarge those articles, if it had been adop- 
 ed, the nature of the compact would have been the same, and 
 it would have continued to stand on the fooling of an agreement 
 among the States as sovereignties. The very point now at issue 
 was therefore brought at once, and directly before the Conven 
 tion. On the same day the Convention resolved to go into 
 Committee of the whole, on the State of the Union, and the pro 
 positions of Governor Randolph were referred to that Commit 
 tee. On the following day, May 30th, these resolutions were 
 taken up for consideration, and the particular one in question 
 being the first in order, was, on his own motion, postponed ; and 
 another, offered likewise by him, was, after debate, adopted as a 
 substitute, in the following words : " Resolved that a National 
 Government ought to be established, consisting of a Supreme 
 Legislative. Judiciary, and Executive." On this question, six 
 States, namely, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virgin 
 ia, North Carolina and South Carolina voted in the affirmative ; 
 Connecticut voted in the negative, and New York was divided. 
 Elliott s Debates, vol. 4, p. 49. Mr. Yates, a member of the 
 Convention from New York, who was opposed to the present 
 Constitution, and afterwards withdrew from the Convention be 
 cause he thought they were exceeding their powers, kept min 
 utes of the debates while he was there, which are published in 
 the fourth volume of Elliott s Debates, and has thus thrown much 
 light on the questions that were agitated ; and may be consider 
 ed for that purpose, as of the highest authority. In his minutes 
 of the debate on that day, he observes, " this last resolve had its 
 difficulties, the term supreme required explanation. It was ask 
 ed whether it was intended to annihilate the State Governments ? 
 It was answered only so far as the powers intended to be granted 
 to the new government should clash with the States, when the 
 
179 
 
 lattershould yield." Yates Minutes, p. 50. It was thus decided 
 that the articles of confederation should be laid aside, and the 
 principle of a compact among the States as sovereignties aban 
 doned. Accordingly, we find that on the 6th June following, 
 when the fourth resolution offered by Governor Randolph, was 
 under consideration, which provided that the members of the 
 first branch of the National Legislature should be elected by the 
 people, a motion having been made to strike out the word 
 " people," and substitute the word " Legislatures, "of the several 
 States, the motion was lost by a vote of eight States to three. 
 In the debate on that point, Mr. Madison is reported by Mr. 
 Yates, to have observed " that when we agreed to the first re 
 solve of having a National Government, consisting of a Supreme 
 Executive, Judicial and Legislative power, it was then intended 
 to operate to the exclusion of a Federal Government, and the 
 more extensive we made the basis, the greater probability of du 
 ration, happiness and order." Yates Minutes, p. 63. 
 
 The first resolution was afterwards modified so as to read thus : 
 " Resolved that the Government of the United States ought to 
 consist of a Supreme Legislative, Judiciary and Executive/ 
 The reason for which is stated by Mr. Luther Martin, one of the 
 delegates from Maryland, and a most determined opponent of the 
 proposed system at the time, to have been that they were afraid 
 that the word national might tend to alarm. Yates Minutes, 
 p. 22. 
 
 The principle was thus therefore clearly established and re 
 mained unchanged, that the new government was not to be 
 placed on the footing of a compact among the States as sove 
 reigns ; but was to emanate from the people and be established 
 by their authority. On the twenty-third of July the resolution 
 thus modified, was, together with the others which had been 
 elaborated in the debate that had been carried on in the Com 
 mittee of the whole, referred to a Committee of five for the pur 
 pose of reporting a Constitution. It is evident that the Com 
 mittee appointed for the purpose, were bound, in drafting the 
 instrument, to preserve that fundamental principle. Accordingly, 
 on the 6th of August, the Committee reported the draught of a 
 Constitution, the preamble to which began in these words : " We 
 the people of the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, &c. 
 
180 
 
 do ordain and establish the following Constitution for the gov 
 ernment of ourselves and our posterity." Elliot s Debates, vol. 
 4, p. 116. The principle was here distinctly set forth, but as it 
 might have afforded some room for cavil, and it was determined 
 that there should not be a loop to hang a doubt upon, the phra 
 seology was changed, and that of the present Constitution adopt 
 ed, "We the people of the United States," &c. If it is possi 
 ble for human language or for human conduct to express the 
 intentions of the mind, nothing can be clearer than the inten 
 tion of the General Convention on this point. If regard then 
 be had to the instrument itself, it is, and it purports to be, a 
 Constitution of Government established by the people of the 
 United States. For this purpose it was not at all necessary that 
 they should be assembled in one body, in one place, or by one 
 authority. It was sufficient for them to assemble in their respec 
 tive states, at their usual places of election, and under the usu 
 al authority. When once assembled and they proceeded to rat 
 ify the instrument, it became to all intents and purposes their act. 
 Nor does it at all affect the question that it was provided, that 
 the ratification of a certain number of the States should be ne 
 cessary for its establishment. That was a mere condition which 
 amounted to no more than a declaration, that the experiment 
 was not worth the trial, unless such a portion of the people 
 should concur. So far as this particular subject is concerned, 
 the term States is a mere description of the people by classes, 
 and is of no more moment in the argument than if the provision 
 had been, that it should not take effect unless ratified by two 
 millions of people, or by two hundred and forty counties, or one 
 hundred districts. The provision was a condition precedent 
 which ceased to be of importance the moment it was ful 
 filled. 
 
 The tenth amendment of that Constitution which provides 
 that "the powers not delegated to the United States by the 
 Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to 
 the States respectively or to the people," illustrates and confirms 
 the view here taken of the character of the instrument and the 
 source of its authority. But if in addition to this, the frame of 
 government be considered which deprives the States of almost 
 all the essential rights of sovereignty, and makes them amena- 
 
181 
 
 ble to the tribunals of the United States Government, whose 
 decisions are conclusive in relation to all controversies arising 
 under the Constitution or laws of the United States, it becomes 
 a matter of surprise that any doubt should have been expressed 
 on the subject. 
 
 It thus appears that the Constitution is not a treaty or com 
 pact between sovereign States, and it remains to show that such 
 was the opinion of cotemporaneous writers. Reference has al 
 ready been made to the work of Mr. Yates who was a member 
 of the Convention from New York, and whose minutes of the 
 debates are of the highest degree of authenticity, and which in 
 the passage already cited, as well as in others, confirms the po 
 sition taken by your Committee. In the debate on the 29th June, 
 the first clause of the seventh proposition being under consider 
 ation, which respected the suffrage of each State in the first 
 branch of the Legislature, Mr. Madison who was so much re 
 lied on by the Carolina Convention as an authority, in the cele 
 brated resolutions of 1798, expressed himself as follows, as re 
 ported by Mr. Yates : " Some gentlemen are afraid that the plan is 
 not sufficiently national, while others apprehend that it is too 
 much so. If this point of representation was once well fixed, we 
 would come nearer to one another in sentiment. The necessity 
 would then be discovered of circumscribing more effectually the 
 State governments, and enlarging the bounds of the general 
 government. Some contend that States are sovereigns, when in 
 fact, they are only political societies. There is a gradation of 
 power in all societies, from the lowest corporation to the highest 
 sovereign. The States never possessed the essential rights of 
 sovereignty. These were always vested in Congress. Their 
 voting as States in Congress, is no evidence of sovereignty. 
 The State of Maryland voted by counties did this make the 
 counties sovereign f The States at present are only great cor 
 porations having the power of making by-laws, and these are 
 effectual only if they are not contradictory to the general con 
 federation. The States ought to be placed under the control of 
 the general government. If the power is not immediately de 
 rived from the people, in proportion to their numbers, we may 
 make a paper confederacy, but that will be all. VV^e know the 
 
182 
 
 effects of the Old Confederation, and without a general govern 
 ment this will be like the former." Yates Minutes, p. 114. 
 
 In the debate on the 5th June, the last or 15th proposition of 
 Governor Randolph, being under consideration, which provided 
 that the work of the convention should be submitted to assem 
 blies of representatives to be chosen by the people expressly for 
 that purpose. Mr. Yates resports that " Mr. Madison endeavor 
 ed to enforce the necessity of this resolve, because the new 
 National Constitution ought to have the highest source of au 
 thority at least, paramount to the powers of the respective 
 constitutions of the States ; points out the mischiefs that had 
 arisen in the Old Confederation, which depends upon no higher 
 authority than the confirmation of an ordinary act of the Legis 
 lature." Yates Minutes, p. 62. 
 
 Mr. Luther Martin, who was a delegate from the State of 
 Maryland, in the General Convention, and violently opposed to 
 the new system at the time, in his report to the Legislature of 
 Maryland, on the subject of the proceedings of the Convention, 
 thus details the arguments used by himself and his friends : " It 
 was urged, that the Government we were forming, was not in 
 reality a Federal, but a National Government, not founded on 
 the principles of the preservation, but the abolition or consoli 
 dation of all State governments. That we appeared totally to 
 have forgot the business for which we were sent, and the situa 
 tion of the country for which we were preparing our system. 
 That we had not been sent to form a Government over the in 
 habitants of America, considered as individuals, that as individ 
 uals they were all subject to their respective State governments, 
 which governments would still remain, though the Federal 
 Government should be dissolved. That the system of govern 
 ment we were entrusted to prepare, was a government over 
 these thirteen States ; but that in our proceedings, we adopted 
 principles which would be right and proper only on the suppo 
 sition that there were no State governments at all, but that all 
 the inhabitants of this extensive continent were in their individ 
 ual capacity without government, and in a state of nature. 
 That, accordingly, the system proposes the Legislature to con 
 sist of two branches, the one to be drawn from the people at 
 large, immediately in their individual capacity, the other to be 
 
183 
 
 chosen in a more select manner, as a check upon the first. It 
 is in its very introduction, declared to be a compact between 
 the people of the United States, as individuals ; and it is to be 
 ratified by the people at large in their capacity as individuals ; 
 all which it was said would be quite right and proper, if there 
 were no State governments, if all the people of this continent 
 were in a state of nature, and we were forming one National 
 Government for them as individuals, and is nearly the same as 
 was done in most of the States, when they formed their govern 
 ments over the people who compose them." Yates Minutes, 
 pages 19, 20. Notwithstanding these arguments, the Constitu- 
 tution was prepared and adopted on the principles which were 
 thus opposed ; and we have here the commentary of one of the 
 ablest lawyers that this country ever produced, who was him- 
 mself a member of the Convention, and opposed to the system, 
 upon that very instrument ; and putting it beyond all doubt and 
 controversy, that it was the design of the Convention to abandon 
 the principle of a compact among the States as sovereigns, and 
 substitute for it, that of a government established by the people. 
 The same view of the subject is presented in the Federalist, a 
 work which was written at the time for the express purpose of 
 explaining and recommending the new Constitution, and which 
 was the joint production of three of the ablest men of the day, and 
 has been regarded and relied upon, both in and out of Congress, 
 and even in the courts of justice, as presenting a most able, au 
 thentic, and correct exposition of its principles. The conclu 
 sion of the twenty-second number, in which some of the evils 
 of the Old Confederation, are pointed out, is as follows : " It has 
 not a little contributed to the infirmities of the existing Federal 
 system, that it never had a ratification by the people. Resting 
 on no better foundation than the consent of the several Legisla 
 tures, it has been exposed to frequent and intricate questions 
 concerning the validity of its powers; and has, in some in 
 stances, given birth to the enormous doctrine of a right of legis 
 lative repeal. Owing its ratification to the law of a State, it has 
 been contended that the same authority might repeal the law 
 by which it was ratified. However gross a heresy it may be, to 
 maintain that a party to a compact has a right to revoke that 
 compact, the doctrine itself has had respectable advocates 
 
184 
 
 The possibility of a question of this nature, proves the necessity 
 of laying the foundations of our National Government deeper 
 than in the mere sanction of delegated authority. The fabric 
 of the American empire, ought to rest on the solid basis of the 
 consent of the people. The streams of national power ought to 
 flow immediately from that pure original fountain of all legiti 
 mate authority." 
 
 It is unnecessary to multiply quotations. The question is 
 not under what name the Government established by the Con 
 stitution would be classed by political writers ; whether it would 
 be called a Federal Government, or a National Government, or 
 a compound of the two but simply from whom does it derive 
 its powers ? whether from the States as sovereigns ? or from the 
 people ? It thus appears from the Constitution itself, from the 
 journal of the Convention, from the debates on its proceedings, 
 from the reports of its enemies, and from the arguments of its 
 friends, that the principle on which it was founded, was, that it 
 was to be a government emanating from, and established by the 
 people. If any thing more were wanting to make assurance 
 doubly sure, the ratification by the State of Virginia, where 
 more opposition was experienced than in any other State, and 
 more debate was had on the subject, the solemn act of ratifica 
 tion by that State recognizes the fact in so many words. It is 
 as follows : 
 
 " We, the delegates of the people of Virginia, &c. do, in the 
 name and behalf of the people of Virginia, declare and make 
 known, that the powers granted under the Constitution, being 
 derived from the people of the United States, may be resumed 
 by them, whensoever the same shall be perverted to their injury 
 or oppression ; and that every power not granted thereby, re 
 mains with them, and at their will," &c. Elliott s Debates, vol. 
 4, p. 215. 
 
 It is thus established beyond a doubt, whether we regard the 
 instrument itself, or its cotemporaneous history, that the Consti 
 tution is a form of government established by the people, and 
 not a compact or treaty among the States. If this be true, then 
 the whole system of nullification topples into ruin. 
 
 The principle on which that system is built, is, that the Con 
 stitution is a treaty between sovereign States and the General 
 
185 
 
 Government an agency for them. The moment this founda 
 tion is destroyed, the whole system of reasoning fails with it. 
 If the General Government be one, established by the people of 
 the United States, then they owe it allegiance, and may be 
 guilty of treason towards it. Its laws are supreme, and no por 
 tion of the people can abrogate them. The State Governments 
 are component but subordinate parts of the system. They are as 
 necessary and useful in their sphere as the General Government, 
 but that portion of the people of the -United States, who consti 
 tute a particular State, can have no more right to nullify or sus 
 pend a law of the United States, than a smaller portion of them, 
 as a county of a particular State, or than any individual : in 
 other words, the union of any number, whether great or small, 
 can give no greater or other right than that which belongs to 
 each individual, as a constitutional measure. It is to be recol 
 lected, that the ground taken by the Nullification Party, is, that 
 Nullification is a right consistent with the Constitution, and 
 peaceable in its nature. In order to sustain that position, it 
 was essential to show that the Constitution is a treaty between 
 sovereign States, and that in such case there could be no com 
 mon arbiter, but that each was entitled to construe the instru 
 ment for itself, and was bound only by moral obligation to ob 
 serve its stipulations, and was therefore the judge of their 
 infraction, and of the measure and mode of redress. But so far 
 from this being true, it has been shown that the Constitution is 
 a form of government established by the people of the United 
 States ; and having provided a tribunal for the settlement of all 
 controversies arising under its provisions, or the laws of the 
 United States, it necessarily follows, that no other mode of de 
 cision can be resorted to as consonant with its principles. 
 
 If the ground had been taken, that it was a revolutionary 
 measure, and justified on the great principle of self-preservation, 
 it would have had the merit of being intelligible; and, if true, 
 would have enlisted the sympathies of other States, and, indeed, 
 of other nations. In such a case it would be an appeal to arms, 
 and the legal consequences of such a step would have to be 
 met. The case would then be one of an insurrection of a por 
 tion of the people against the Government, in consequence of 
 alleged oppression. But it was clearly seen, that the real state 
 25 
 
186 
 
 of the case would not justify such a measure. It was clearly 
 seen, that neither the rest of the people of the United States, nor 
 any portion of the world, could be made to believe that in the 
 midst of so much general happiness and prosperity, in a time of 
 profound peace, with an overflowing treasury, and under such a 
 Government as that of the United States, such a case of oppress 
 ion could be made out, as would justify rebellion. It was there 
 fore necessary to resort to this doctrine of nullification, for the 
 purpose of disguising the real nature of the measure, and to give 
 to a contemplated resistance the air of constitutional right. 
 The act of nullification is, itself, nullity, and the consequences 
 are treason. 
 
 The State governments, it is true, are sovereign for some 
 purposes; but have, by the Constitution of the United States, 
 been stripped of most of the essential attributes of sovereignty 
 such as the right to declare war, make peace, enter into treaties 
 and alliances, coin money, &c. It is a matter of no sort of im 
 portance, which instrument happened to precede the other in 
 point of time, whether the Constitution of the State, or the 
 Constitution of the United States. The latter instrument hav 
 ing been declared the supreme law, and being the work of the 
 same people, necessarily controls and abridges any sovereign 
 power vested in the State Governments under the State Consti 
 tutions. It is needless to pursue the subject further ; it is apparent 
 that the State of South Carolina has no such right as she claims 
 under the Constitution. And if she can justify the measure at 
 all, it must be on the ground of intolerable oppression, and the 
 unconstitutionally of the acts complained of; but, on this 
 ground, the rights of her whole body of citizens, or any portion 
 of them, are no other and no greater than those of the humblest 
 individual in the community ; but they cannot trammel up the 
 consequences. Their political organization as a State, may 
 furnish readier means of resistance and greater probabilities of 
 success, but the consequences are the same. They cannot 
 sanctify or legalize resistance, and the predicament in which 
 the individual may stand, if mistaken in his judgment, is that of 
 a traitor to his country. 
 
 The view here taken of the origin of the Government, and the 
 nature of the Constitution, is confirmed by the solemn decisions 
 
187 
 
 of that great tribunal which has been created by that instru 
 ment, and which is the sole and proper one for the settlement of 
 all controversies arising under it. The language of the Su 
 preme Court, as delivered by Chief Justice Marshall, in the case 
 of M Cullough against the State of Maryland, is as follows : 
 "In discussing this question, the counsel for the State of Mary 
 land have deemed it of some importance in the construction of 
 the Constitution, to consider that instrument not as emanating 
 from the people, but as the act of sovereign and independent 
 States. The powers of the General Government, it has been 
 said, are delegated by the States, who alone are truly sove 
 reign ; and must be exercised in subordination to the States, 
 who alone possess supreme dominion. It would be difficult to 
 sustain this proposition. The Convention which framed the 
 Constitution, was indeed elected by the State Legislatures. 
 But the instrument, when it came from their hands, was a mere 
 proposal, without obligations or pretentions to it, It was re 
 ported to the then existing Congress of the United States, with 
 a request that it might be submitted to a Convention of Dele 
 gates chosen in each State, by the people thereof, under the 
 recommendation of its Legislature, for their assent and ratifica 
 tion. This mode of proceeding was adopted ; and by the Con 
 vention, by Congress, and by the State Legislatures, the instru 
 ment was submitted to the people. They acted upon it in the 
 only manner in which they can act safely, effectually, and wisely 
 on such a subject, by assembling in Convention. It is true, 
 they assembled in their several States and where else should 
 they have assembled ? No political dreamer was ever wild 
 enough to think of breaking down the lines which separate the 
 States, and of compounding the American people into one com 
 mon mass. Of consequence, when they act, they act in their 
 States. But the measures they adopt, do not on that account 
 cease to be the measures of the people themselves, or become 
 the measures of the State Governments. From these conven 
 tions the Constitution derives its whole authority. The Govern 
 ment proceeds directly from the people, is ordained and estab 
 lished in the name of the people ; and is declared to be 
 ordained in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, 
 ensure domestic tranquillity, and secure the blessings of liberty 
 
188 
 
 to themselves and to their posterity." Wheaton s Rep. vol. 4, 
 p. 403. 
 
 The same principles are recognized as being true in the late 
 admirable Proclamation of the President of the United States. 
 
 As to the doctrine of Nullification, your Committee would 
 scarcely have considered it worth the trouble of discussion, but 
 for the grave sanction that has thus been given to it by the 
 Convention of South Carolina. They would have treated it as 
 one of those conceits which might have formed the subject of 
 debate in a Moot Court of a law school, but would never have 
 conceived it possible that it could enter into the business reali 
 ties of life. 
 
 Under the view which had been taken of the subject, it is 
 scarcely necessary to inquire into the grounds of complaint, 
 since they are not deemed strong enough, even on the part of the 
 Convention, to warrant a revolutionary measure or, in other 
 words, rebellion ; and the particular subject of attention under 
 the communication, is the attitude assumed by the State on the 
 ground of her sovereign power. 
 
 But your Committee cannot forbear from expressing the opin 
 ion, that their views of political economy are as erroneous as 
 their constitutional principles. They conceive that it would be 
 no difficult matter to show that the distress of South Carolina 
 may be imputed to very different causes than those assigned, 
 and might be traced with much more semblance of reason, 
 among other causes, to the increased production of their prin 
 cipal staple, both here and in other parts of the world ; but 
 your Committee refrain from touching further on this subject. 
 They cannot perceive that the people of South Carolina have 
 any constitutional cause of complaint. If there is distress 
 among them, it is a matter in which we deeply sympathize. 
 But if in the due administration of the General Government, any 
 measure has borne hardly upon them, we know of but one rem 
 edy under the Constitution and Laws, and that is in the exercise 
 of the elective franchise. 
 
 Your Committee abstain from the expression of any hopes or 
 wishes on the subject, they lament the delusion under which 
 they believe a portion of the people of that State labor. But 
 they are free to say, that as the people of this State were the 
 
189 
 
 first to adopt the present Government, they will be the last to 
 abandon it ; and that whenever and wherever the exigency may 
 arise they will be found on the side of the Constitution and the 
 Country. 
 
 Your Committee therefore report the following Resolutions : 
 
RESOLVES. 
 
 WHEREAS, a Convention of tfie people of the State of South 
 Carolina has undertaken, by an ordinance passed in November 
 last, to declare certain acts of Congress, for imposing duties and 
 imposts on the importation of foreign commodities, null and 
 void, and not binding on the State, its officers and citizens ; and 
 has prohibited the enforcement of those laws within the limits of 
 that State, and has also prohibited any appeal from the decisions 
 of the State Courts, wherein the authority of the ordinance shall 
 be drawn in question, to the United States Courts : And 
 whereas, this measure has been communicated by order of the 
 Convention to the Governor of this State, for the purpose of be 
 ing laid before the Legislature, and it is expedient that the 
 sense of the people of this State should be expressed in relation 
 thereto Therefore, 
 
 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State 
 of Delaware, in General Assembly met, That the Constitution of 
 the United States is not a treaty or compact between sovereign 
 States, but a form of Government emanating from, and estab 
 lished by, the authority of the people of the United States of 
 America. 
 
 Resolved, That the Government of the United States, although 
 one of limited powers, is supreme within its sphere, and that the 
 people of the United States owe to it an allegiance which can 
 not be withdrawn, either by individuals or masses of individuals, 
 without its consent. 
 
 Resolved, That the Supreme Court of the United States is the 
 only and proper tribunal for the settlement, in the last resort, of 
 controversies in relation to the Constitution and the Laws of Con 
 gress. 
 
 Resolved, That if in the regular action of the Government, 
 mischief of any kind be produced, the proper remedy is to be 
 found in the elective franchise, and the responsibility of its offi 
 cers. 
 
191 
 
 Resolved, That in cases of gross and intolerable oppression, 
 which in a Government like that of the United States, can be 
 little else than a hypothesis, the natural right of self defence re 
 mains ; but which must, in the nature of things, be an appeal to 
 arms, and subject to all the consequences of resistance to the 
 constituted authorities. In such a case the measure is revolu 
 tionary, and the result remains in the hands of the Almighty. 
 
 Resolved, That the Convention of South Carolina can have no 
 other or greater right to annul or resist the laws of Congress, 
 than any assemblage of an equal number of individuals in any 
 part of the United States ; nor can any assemblage, however 
 large, have any other or greater right, for such a purpose, than 
 belongs to each individual citizen, considered as a constitutional 
 measure. 
 
 Resolved^ That it is a subject of regret, that such a delusion 
 should exist among any portion of the citizens of that State, 
 towards whom the people of this State, entertain the kindest 
 feelings, with whom they stood side by side in the war of the 
 revolution, and in whose defence their blood was freely spilt. 
 But if the measure which has been adopted is intended ab the 
 precursor of resistance to the government, the people of Dela 
 ware will not falter in their allegiance, but will be found now as 
 then, true to their country and its government. 
 
 Resolved, That we cordially respond to the sentiments on this 
 subject, contained in the able Proclamation of the President of 
 the United States, and shall be at all times prepared to support 
 the Governmont in the exercise of its constitutional rights, and 
 in the discharge of its constitutional duties. 
 
 Resolved^ That the Governor be requested to transmit a copy 
 of these Resolutions and the accompanying Report of the Com 
 mittee to the President of the United States, to each of our 
 Senators and our Representatives in Congress, and to the Gov 
 ernors of the respective States and Territories of the United 
 States of America. 
 
 JOSHUA BURTON, 
 
 Speaker of the Senate. 
 THOMAS DAVIS, 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 
 Passed at Dover, January 16th, 1833. 
 
RESOLVES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LEGISLATURE 
 
 OF 
 
 VIRGINIA. 
 
 26 
 
RESOLVES. 
 
 WHEREAS, the General Assembly of Virginia, actuated by an 
 ardent desire to preserve the peace and harmony of our common 
 country relying upon the sense of justice of the people of each 
 and every State of the Union, as a sufficient pledge that their 
 Representatives in Congress, will so modify the acts laying du 
 ties and imposts on the importation of foreign commodities, 
 commonly called the Tariff Acts, that they will no longer fur 
 nish cause of complaint to the people of any particular State ; 
 believing, accordingly, that the people of South Carolina are 
 mistaken in supposing that Congress will yield them no relief 
 from the pressure of those acts, especially as the auspicious ap 
 proach of the extinguishment of the public debt affords a just 
 ground for the indulgence of a contrary expectation ; and con 
 fident that they are too strongly attached to the union of the 
 States, to resort to any proceedings which might dissolve or en 
 danger it, whilst they have any fair hope of obtaining their ob 
 ject by more regular and peaceful measures ; persuaded, also, 
 that they will listen willingly and respectfully to the voice of 
 Virginia, earnestly and affectionately requesting and entreating 
 them to rescind or suspend their late Ordinance, and await the 
 result of a combined and strenuous effort of the friends of union 
 and peace, to affect an adjustment and reconciliation of all pub 
 lic differences now unhappily existing ; regarding, moreover, an 
 appeal to force on the part of the General Government, or on 
 the part of the Government of South Carolina, as a measure 
 which nothing but extreme necessity could justify or excuse in 
 either 5 but, apprehensive at the same time, that if the present 
 state of things is allowed to continue, acts of violence will oc 
 cur, which may lead to consequences that all would deplore, 
 cannot but deem it a solemn duty to interpose and mediate be- 
 
196 
 
 tween the high contending parties, by the declaration of their 
 opinions and wishes, which they trust that both will consider and 
 respect. Therefore, 
 
 1 . Resolved, by the General Assembly, in the name and on behalf of 
 the people of Virginia, That the competent authorities of South 
 Carolina be, and they are hereby earnestly and respectfully re 
 quested and entreated to rescind the Ordinance of the late Con 
 vention of that State, entitled " An Ordinance to Nullify certain 
 Acts of the Congress of the United States, purporting to be laws 
 laying duties and imposts on the importation of foreign com 
 modities ;" or, at least to suspend its operation until the close of 
 the first session of the next Congress. 
 
 2. Resolved, That the Congress of the United States be, and 
 they are hereby earnestly and respectfully requested and entreat 
 ed, so to modify the Acts laying duties and imposts on the impor 
 tation of foreign commodities, commonly called the Tariff Acts, 
 as to effect a gradual but speedy reduction of the resulting reve 
 nue of the General Government, to the standard of the necessary 
 and proper expenditure for the support thereof. 
 
 3. Resolved, That the people of Virginia expect, and in the 
 opinion of the General Assembly, the people of the other States 
 have a right to expect, that the General Government, and the 
 Government of South Carolina, and all persons acting under the 
 authority of either, will carefully abstain from any and all acts 
 whatever, which may be calculated to disturb the tranquillity of 
 the country, or endanger the existence of the Union. 
 
 AND, WHEREAS, considering the opinions which have been ad 
 vanced and maintained by the Convention of South Carolina, in 
 its late Ordinance and Addresses, on the one hand, and by the 
 President of the United States, in his Proclamation, bearing 
 date the 10th day of December, 1832, on the other, the Gene 
 ral Assembly deem it due to themselves, and the people whom 
 they represent, to declare and make known their own views in 
 relation to some of the important and interesting questions 
 which these papers present. Therefore, 
 
 4. Resolved by the General Assembly, That they continue to 
 regard the doctrines of State Sovereignty and State Rights, as 
 
197 
 
 set forth in the Resolutions of 1798, and sustained by the Re 
 port thereon of 1799, as a true interpretation of the Constitution 
 of the United States, and of the powers therein given to the 
 General Government ; but that they do not consider them as 
 sanctioning the proceedings of South Carolina, indicated in her 
 said Ordinance ; nor as countenancing all the principles as 
 sumed by the President in his said Proclamation many of 
 which are in direct conflict with them. 
 
 5. Resolved, That this House will, by joint vote with the Sen 
 ate, proceed on this day to elect a Commissioner, whose duty it 
 shall be to proceed immediately to South Carolina, and commu 
 nicate the foregoing Preamble and Resolutions to the Governor 
 of that State, with a request that they be communicated to the 
 Legislature of that State, or any Convention of its citizens, or 
 give them such other direction, as in his judgment may be best 
 calculated to promote the objects which this Commonwealth 
 has in view ; and that the said Commissioner be authorized 
 to express to the public authorities and people of our sister 
 State, in such manner as he may deem most expedient, our sin 
 cere good will to our Sister State, and our anxious solicitude 
 that the kind and respectful recommendations we have address 
 ed to her, may lead to an accommodation of all the difficulties 
 between that State and the General Government. 
 
 6. Resolved, That the Governor of the Commonwealth be, and 
 he hereby is requested to communicate the foregoing Preamble 
 and Resolutions to the President of the United States, to the 
 Governors of the other States, and to our Senators and Repre 
 sentatives in Congress. 
 
 VIRGINIA City of Richmond, to wit : 
 
 I, GEORGE W. MUNFORD, Clerk of the House of Delegates, 
 and Keeper of the Rolls of the Commonwealth of Virginia, do 
 hereby certify and make known, that the foregoing is a true 
 copy of a Preamble and Resolutions adopted by the General 
 Assembly of Virginia, on the 26th day of January, 1833. 
 
 Given under my hand, this 8th of February, 1833. 
 
 GEORGE W. MUNFORD, C. H. D 
 
 And Keeper of the Rolls of Virginia. 
 
RESOLVES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LEGISLATURE 
 
 OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
RESOLVES. 
 
 IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 
 
 Resolved, That the General Assembly of the State of North 
 Carolina doth entertain, and doth unequivocally express a warm 
 attachment to the Constitution of the United States. 
 
 Resolved, That the General Assembly doth solemnly declare 
 a devoted attachment to the Federal Union, believing that on 
 its continuance depend the liberty, the peace and prosperity of 
 these United States. 
 
 Resolved, That whatever diversity of opinion may prevail in 
 this State, as to the constitutionality of the acts of Congress 
 imposing duties on imports for protection, yet, it is believed, a 
 large majority of the people think those acts unconstitutional ; 
 and they are united in the sentiment, that the existing Tariff is 
 impolitic, unjust and oppressive ; and they have urged, and will 
 continue to urge its repeal. 
 
 Resolved, That the doctrine of Nullification as avowed by the 
 State of South Carolina, and lately promulgated in an Ordinance, 
 is revolutionary in its character, subversive of the Constitution of 
 the United States and leads to a dissolution of the Union. 
 
 Resolved, That our Senators in Congress be instructed, and 
 our Representatives be requested to use all constitutional means 
 in their power, to procure a peaceable adjustment of the exist 
 ing controversy between the State of South Carolina and the 
 General Government, and to produce a reconciliation between 
 the contending parties. 
 
 Resolved further, That a copy of these resolutions, be respect 
 fully communicated by his Excellency the Governor of this State, 
 to the President of the United States, the Governors of the sev- 
 27 
 
202 
 
 eral States, and to our Senators and Representatives in Con 
 gress. 
 
 Read three times and ratified in General Assembly, this 5th 
 day of January, 1833. 
 
 LOUIS D. HENRY, S. H. C. 
 W. D. MOSELY, S. S. 
 
RESOLVES 
 
 LEGISLATURE 
 
 OHIO 
 
RESOLVES 
 
 .On the subject of the South Carolina Ordinance. 
 
 WHEREAS, His Excellency the Governor, has transmitted to 
 this General Assembly, the Ordinance of the late Convention of 
 the people of South Carolina, together with the proceedings of 
 that body, whose object appears to be, a resistance to the collec 
 tion of duties, imposts, &c. upon foreign commodities, imported 
 into that State, by nullifying the acts of Congress, providing for 
 the levying and collecting such duties. And this General Assem 
 bly cannot but view, with the deepest regret, the avowed deter 
 mination of a majority of the citizens of the State of South Car 
 olina, to resist the operation of the laws of the General Govern 
 ment, in the manner pointed out by the ordinance adopted by 
 their late Convention ; and we have no doubt that such a course, 
 if persisted in, must inevitably lead to consequences the most 
 disastrous, and ruinous to the peace, prosperity and happiness of 
 our common country. 
 
 Being connected, as we are, with our brethren of South Car 
 olina by the strongest ties of consanguinity, and endeared by the 
 mutual reciprocity of friendly intercourse and national attach 
 ment, and being sensible of the importance of our connexion 
 as States, belonging to the same Federal Union, we cannot but 
 deprecate every effort or measure which is calculated, in the re 
 motest degree, to operate to the severance of any of those ties, 
 or render doubtful the permanent existence of our Confederacy. 
 And entertaining, as we do, the most implicit confidence in the 
 wisdom, justice, and integrity of the General Government, we 
 are well persuaded that no partial evil would be permitted to ex 
 ist in any particular section of the Union, should it not be appa 
 rent that such evil was fully overbalanced by a general benefit 
 afforded by the same policy, out of which that evil was found to 
 spring up. Such evils, if such exist, we should endeavor to rem 
 edy in a spirit of moderation and good faith, to the end, that the 
 
206 
 
 unparalleled prosperity of the whole Union, unequalled as it is, 
 in the history of civilized man, may not be intercepted, or paral- 
 ized in any of its parts. 
 
 Believing that the prosperity and independence of this Repub 
 lic, mainly depend upon the general peace and harmony which 
 ought to exist among the several States, and that all should ever 
 keep in view the adopted maxim, "united we stand, divided we 
 fall," we feel it a duty, therefore, as American citizens, to cling, 
 with pertinacity, to the Constitution of the United States, and to 
 the preservation of the Union of the States. We cannot, there 
 fore, view with indifference, much less can we lend our aid to 
 any measure which is calculated to disturb the integrity of that 
 Union. 
 
 Resolved, therefore, by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, 
 That we view with the deepest regret the unhappy movements, 
 and apparent determination of the late Convention of the people of 
 South Carolina, to Nullify the Laws of the General Government, 
 made in conformity to the Constitution of the United States. 
 
 Resolved, That the Federal Union exists in a solemn compact, 
 entered into by the voluntary consent of the people of the United 
 States, and of each and every State, and that, therefore, no State 
 can claim the right to secede from, or violate that compact, and 
 however grievous may be the supposed or real burthens of a 
 State, the only legitimate remedy is in the wise and faithful ex 
 ercise of the elective franchise, and the solemn responsibility of 
 the public agents. 
 
 Resolved, That the doctrine, that a State has the power to 
 Nullify a Law of the General Government, is revolutionary in its 
 character, and is, in its nature, calculated to overthrow the great 
 Temple of American Liberty. Such a course cannot absolve 
 that allegiance which the people of this Union, owe to the su 
 premacy of the laws. 
 
 Resolved, That in levying and collecting duties, imposts and 
 excises, whilst the general good should be the primary object, a 
 special regard ought to be had to the end, that the interest and 
 prosperity of every section of the country, should be equally con 
 sulted, and its burthens proportionably distributed. 
 
 Resolved, That the first object of the American people, should 
 be, to cherish the most ardent attachment to the Constitution 
 
207 
 
 and Laws of this Union ; and as a first and paramount object of 
 a free people, we should use every honorable means to preserve 
 the honor and integrity of the Union. 
 
 Resolved, That the Governor be requested to transmit copies 
 of the foregoing preamble and resolutions to the President of the 
 United States, and to the Executives of the several States. 
 
 DAVID T. DISNEY, 
 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 
 SAMUEL R. MILLER, 
 
 Speaker of the Senate. 
 February 25th, 1833. 
 
208 
 
 RESOLVES 
 
 In relation to a call of a Convention to amend the Constitution 
 of the United States. 
 
 Resolved, ly the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That in 
 the opinion of this General Assembly, it is inexpedient, at the 
 present time, to apply to the Congress of the United States, for 
 a call of a Convention of the people to amend the Constitution of 
 the United States, or to call a Convention of the States to con 
 sider and define questions of disputed powers, which may have 
 arisen between any State of this Confederacy and the General 
 Government. 
 
 Resolved further, That His Excellency the Governor be, and 
 he is hereby requested to transmit copies of the foregoing reso 
 lution to each of the Executives of the several States of this 
 Union, for the consideration of the Legislatures thereof. 
 
 DAVID T. DISNEY, 
 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 
 SAMUEL R. MILLER. 
 
 Speaker of the Senate. 
 
 February 25th, 1833. 
 
209 
 
 RESOLVES 
 
 Relating to the President s Proclamation and Message. 
 
 Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That this 
 
 Legislature do cordially approve of the exposition of the princi- 
 
 >f the Constitution of the United States, touching the per- 
 
 ious doctrines of nullification and secession, set forth in the 
 
 Proclamation of the President of the United States, of the tenth 
 
 December last, and in his late Message to Congress, and that 
 
 Legislature do also feel the strongest assurance that the 
 
 >nnciples contained in that exposition, will be firmly sustained 
 
 by the people of Ohio. 
 
 Resolved, That the Governor be requested to forward a copy 
 the foregoing resolution to the President of the United States 
 to the Executive of each of the United States, and to each of our 
 senators and Representatives in Congress. 
 
 DAVID T. DISNEY, 
 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 
 SAMUEL R. MILLER, 
 
 Speaker of the Senate. 
 February 25th, 1833. 
 
 SECRETARY OF STATE S OFFICE, ) 
 COLUMBUS, OHIO, Feb. 26, 1833. 5 
 
 I hereby certify, that the foregoing Resolutions are true copies 
 the original rolls now on file in this office. 
 
 MOSES H. KIRBY, 
 
 Secretary of State. 
 
 28 
 
RESOLVES 
 
 LEGISLATURE 
 
 OF 
 
 INDIANA. 
 
RESOLVES 
 
 Relative to the Proceedings of a late Convention of South 
 Carolina, and to the President s Proclamation in relation 
 thereto. 
 
 WHEREAS, An unusual and alarming excitement prevails in the 
 State of South Carolina, on the subject of the Tariff Laws, awak 
 ened, as is believed, by a mistaken view of their constitutionali 
 ty, and by exaggerated representations of their unequal opera 
 tion ; and whereas, heretical and dangerous doctrines have 
 sprung up under the name of Nullification, in which the consti 
 tutional right in a state, to render nugatory and resist the laws 
 of the United States, and to secede from the Union, is boldly 
 assumed ; and whereas, a Convention, delegated from a portion 
 of the citizens of that State, has recently passed an Ordinance, 
 a copy of which, and of the report of a Committee of said 
 Convention thereon, and of Addresses to the people of the sev 
 eral States and of South Carolina, transmitted by order of the 
 said Convention, through the Governor of that State to the Gov 
 ernor of Indiana, avowedly for the information of this Legisla 
 ture, are now before the same ; and whereas, we, the Represen 
 tatives of the People of Indiana, view the doctrines contained 
 in those documents, as carrying with them internal evidence of 
 their impracticability, absurdity, and treasonable tendency ; and 
 whereas, we regard the said Ordinance as prescribing to, and 
 attempting to enforce upon the people of South Carolina, " a 
 course of conduct, in violation of their duty as citizens of the 
 United States, contrary to the laws of their country, subversive 
 of its Constitution, and as having for its object the destruction 
 of the Union," and as a necessary consequence, the prostration 
 of our liberties : Therefore, 
 
 Resolved, by the General Assembly of the State of [ndiana, 
 that we deeply deplore the political heresies, and threatened dis- 
 
214 
 
 organization, recently promulgated by a portion of our brethren 
 of South Carolina. 
 
 Resolved, That we cordially concur in the persuasive appeals 
 of our venerable Chief Magistrate, to the people of South Car 
 olina, to pause ere it be too late to save themselves from ruin. 
 
 Resolved, That the sentiment, " our Union must be preserved," 
 meets with a hearty response from the people of Indiana, bound 
 as they are, by interest and honor, to that confederacy into 
 which they voluntarily entered, and from which they will never 
 willingly be severed. 
 
 Resolved, That we regard the present juncture of our national 
 affairs, as involving the preservation of our liberties, and as 
 scarcely inferior in importance to that in which they were 
 achieved. 
 
 Resolved, That as regards this important question, all minor 
 differences should be forgotten ; that devotion to party should 
 be lost in devotion to country, and that the great contest among 
 Americans, should be, as to the means best calculated to prevent 
 the temple of our Union from crumbling into ruins. 
 
 Resolved, That the constitutional doctrines advanced, and 
 views of policy embraced in the President s Proclamation on the 
 present difficulties in South Carolina, the patriotic spirit per 
 vading that able document, and the prompt and decisive manner 
 in which he has rebuked the pernicious doctrines, and unjustifi 
 able course, recently adopted by a portion of the citizens of 
 that State, command our entire approbation, and have crowned 
 with new laurels the " Defender of his Country." 
 
 Resolved, That at the present alarming and eventful crisis, 
 we conceive it to be a solemn and paramount duty of the peo 
 ple of the different States to express through their Representa 
 tives, a firm and unwavering determination, to protect "the Ark 
 of our political safety" from the hand of violence, and to pledge 
 their support in furtherance of the laudable resolution of the 
 National Executive, " to take care that the Republic receive no 
 detriment." 
 
 Resolved, That the Governor of this State be requested to 
 transmit a copy of the foregoing Preamble and Joint Resolu 
 tions, to the President of the United States, and also, a copy to 
 each of our Senators and Representatives in Congress, to be 
 
215 
 
 laid before that body, and one to the Governor of each State in 
 the Union. 
 
 JOHN W. DAVIS, 
 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 
 DAVID WALLACE, 
 
 President of the Senate. 
 
 Approved 9th January, 1833. 
 
 N. NOBLE. 
 
RESOLVES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LEGISLATURE 
 
 OF 
 
 ALABAMA. 
 
 29 
 
REPORT 
 
 Of the Select Committee of the House of Representatives, to 
 whom was referred so much of the Message of the Governor, 
 as relates to the Tariff, to the principle of protection and to 
 the doctrine of Nullification. 
 
 THE Select Committee to whom was referred so much of the 
 Message of the Governor, as relates to the Tariff, to the princi 
 ple of protection and to the doctrine of Nullification, have had 
 the same under consideration, and have instructed me to report 
 a preamble and resolutions, which they respectfully submit to 
 the House for its adoption. 
 
 Your Committee deeply impressed with the present alarming 
 crisis in our history, have given to the subject that profound con 
 sideration, which its paramount importance so justly demands. 
 
 So much has been said and written on the subject submitted 
 to them, that they may be said to be exhausted, and they will 
 therefore submit a very few remarks prefatory to the resolu 
 tions, which they recommend to the adoption of the House. 
 
 In a country of such vast extent as the United States, em 
 bracing such a variety of soil, climate and products, arid inhabit 
 ed by a people, whose pursuits are as various as the climate un 
 der which they live ; any attempt on the part of the Government 
 to force manufactures into existence, by governmental bounties, 
 must of necessity operate unequally, and therefore be unjust. 
 
 If it be a truth, not now to be questioned, that no Govern 
 ment can justly take from one portion of its citizens a part of 
 their property, to benefit another, it is more especially unjust in 
 a country like ours, composed of different States, who are unit 
 ed in one common bond, only for the purpose of providing for 
 the common defence, of promoting the general welfare, and se 
 curing the blessings of liberty to themselves and posterity. For 
 these purposes, this Union was formed, and it cannot be sup- 
 
220 
 
 posed, that those who consented to it, intended by implication 
 and construction to confer on the General Government powers 
 destructive of their happiness and best interest. Laws having 
 their operation, and professing to derive their authority from the 
 Constitution under which we live, being opposed to the true in 
 terest of every section of the republic and unjust in their oper 
 ation on the Southern States, even if sustained by the letter of 
 the Constitution, are contrary to its spirit and at war with the 
 general scope and tenor of that instrument. 
 
 It cannot be believed that if the framers of the Constitution 
 had assigned the exercise of such a power, as the right to cre 
 ate and protect domestic manufactures, by a system of high du 
 ties, that it would have been left to inference or implication ; its 
 framers therefore could not have intended that such a power 
 should be exercised. This reasoning is founded on, and these 
 results drawn from the instrument itself; but in addition there 
 to, contemporaneous history informs us, that in the Convention 
 which framed the Constitution, it was proposed in various modes 
 to give that power to Congress, and refused. 
 
 It is the exercise of this power, which a large majority of the 
 South believe to be against the spirit of the Constitution, and 
 no inconsiderable number, contrary to its express letter, which 
 has driven them to consider their Government as foreign to their 
 interests, and alien to their feelings. Instead of looking up to 
 it with pride and veneration, as the world s last hope, and as the 
 favorite resort of freedom, no inconsiderable portion of the 
 South have begun to estimate its value ; and to contemplate 
 even disunion itself, as an evil less formidable than submission 
 to the exactions of the Government. 
 
 And now at this fearful crisis, when one of our co-States has 
 assumed the alarming attitude of declaring an act of Congress 
 void within her limits, and the note of preparation is sounded to 
 sustain this attitude by force, what shall Alabama do ? Our an 
 swer is never despair of our country. We believe that there is 
 a vital energy, a living principle inherent in our institutions, and 
 a sense of justice residing in the bosoms of our fellow citizens, 
 which when properly appealed to, must succeed. We concede 
 that our Northern brethren believe that they are acting within 
 the pale of the Constitution ; but can it be believed, that they 
 
221 
 
 will by insisting on the obnoxious duties, peril the Union of 
 these States, and make shipwreck of the last hope of mankind? 
 Can any pecuniary benefit compensate for results like these? 
 If blood be shed in this unhallowed contest, a wound will be in 
 flicted, which may never be healed, to confidence will succeed 
 distrust, mutual recriminations, and mutual interest, and the 
 choicest blessings of Heaven, by madness and folly of man, will 
 be converted into the most deadly poison. 
 
 Deeply impressed with these views, we recommend the adop 
 tion of the following resolutions, which we are satisfied embody 
 the opinions of our constituents, and in their name propose to 
 our co-States a Federal Convention. 
 
RESOLVES. 
 
 JBe it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
 State of Alabama in General Assembly convened, That we consider 
 the present Tariff of duties, unequal, unjust, oppressive and 
 against the spirit, true intent and meaning of the Constitution ; 
 that if persevered in, its inevitable tendency will be to alienate 
 the affections of the people of the Southern States from the 
 General Government. 
 
 And. be it further Resolved, That we do not consider the Tariff 
 of 1832, as fastening upon the country the principle of protection, 
 but that we receive it as the harbinger of better times, as a 
 pledge that Congress will at no distant period, abandon the prin 
 ciple of protection altogether, and reduce the duties on imports 
 to the actual wants of the Government, levying those duties on 
 such articles as W 7 ill operate most equally on all sections of the 
 Union. 
 
 And be it further Resolved, That Nullification, which some of 
 our Southern brethren recommend as the Constitutional remedy 
 for the evils under which we labor, is unsound in theory and 
 dangerous in practice, that as a remedy it is unconstitutional and 
 essentially revolutionary, leading in its consequences to anarchy 
 and civil discord, and finally to the dissolution of the Union. 
 
 And be it further Resolved, That we earnestly intreat the peo 
 ple of this State, not to distrust the justice of the General Gov 
 ernment, and to rest satisfied, though long delayed, it will cer 
 tainly be accorded to them. And above all things, to avoid 
 those dangerous and unconstitutional remedies proposed for their 
 imitation and adoption, no matter how specious their exterior, 
 which may lead to bloodshed and disunion, and will certainly 
 end in anarchy and civil discord. And at the same time we 
 would most solemnly adjure the Congress of the United States, 
 in the name of our common country to abandon the exercise of 
 those dubious and constructive powers, claimed under the Consti 
 tution, the assertion of which has produced jealousy, excitement 
 
223 
 
 and dissatisfaction to the Government, and if persevered in, will 
 in all human probability dissolve this Union. By this means, 
 and by this alone, can we be prevented from fulfilling our high 
 destinies, and our onward march to greatness be arrested. 
 
 And be it further Resolved, That as we have now for the first 
 time in the history of our country, presented to us the appalling 
 spectacle of one of the States of this Union, arraying herself 
 against the General Government, and declaring sundry acts of 
 Congress void and of no effect within her limits ; presenting to 
 Congress the alternative of repealing the obnoxious laws or per 
 mitting her secession from the Union, and preparing by an 
 armed force to sustain the position she has assumed, and as we 
 cannot silently look on and witness the failure of the high 
 raised hopes and just expectations of those patriots who cement 
 ed our liberty with their blood : Therefore, as a last resort, we 
 recommend to our co-States the calling of a Federal Convention, 
 to meet in the City of Washington on the first of March, 1834, 
 or at such other time and place as may be agreed on, which 
 shall be authorized to devise and recommend such plan, which 
 will satisfy the discontents of the South, either by an explicit de 
 nial of the right of Congress to protect domestic industry by 
 duties on imports laid for protection, or by defining and restrict 
 ing the power aforesaid, within certain prescribed limits, and 
 making such other amendments and alterations in the Constitu 
 tion as time and experience have discovered to be necessary. 
 
 Resolved, That the Governor be desired to transmit a copy of 
 the foregoing resolutions to the President of the United States, 
 and to the Executive of each of the States, with a request that 
 the same may be communicated to the Legislature thereof. 
 
 Resolved further, That the Governor furnish a copy of said res 
 olutions to each of the Senators and Representatives of this 
 State, in the Congress of the United States. 
 
 Approved, January 12, 1833. 
 
RECOMMENDATIONS 
 
 Of the General Assembly of the State of Alabama to the Pres 
 ident of the United States, to the State of South Carolina, 
 and to the different States. 
 
 THE General Assembly of the State of Alabama have received 
 and considered with absorbing interest, the late Ordinance of 
 South Carolina, with the Address to the co-States accompany 
 ing the same, together with the Proclamation of the President 
 of the United States, consequent thereon. The attitude assum 
 ed by the State of South Carolina and the Government of the 
 United States through its Chief Magistrate, forbodes a crisis 
 which threatens the peace of society and the harmony of the 
 Union, and which should be deplored by every one who loves 
 his country and liberty. The existence of our Constitution and 
 the integrity of the Union, require the instant exertion of that 
 patriotism, forbearance and virtue, which have hitherto charac 
 terised the history of our Government. Omitting, on this occa 
 sion, to enter into the causes which have produced the present 
 afflicting posture between one State and the Federal Govern 
 ment; this General Assembly now affectionately and solemnly ap 
 peals to the Congress of the United States, and to the State of 
 South Carolina, for that forbearance, patriotism and virtue, which 
 alone can restore, by mutual sacrifice of opinion, harmony, 
 peace and prosperity to our common country. The only bonds 
 of our Union, and the sole preservatives of rational and con 
 stitutional liberty, are a strict adherence on the part of the con 
 stituted authorities, to the principles of our Government the af 
 fection of the people for that Government, and a firm persuasion 
 of the equality and justice of its administration, aided by a spir 
 it of forbearance on the part of those States who may differ 
 from the opinion of the majority. 
 
 To this end the General Assembly of Alabama recommend to 
 the Congress of the United States, a speedy modification of the 
 
225 
 
 Tariff Laws, in such manner as to equalise their burthens, and 
 cause only so much revenue to be collected as will be necessary 
 to pay the expenses of the Government, in its constitutional and 
 economical administration. This Assembly further recommends 
 to the Congress of the United States, as she has already done to 
 her co-States, the call of a Federal Convention, to propose such 
 amendments to our Federal Constitution, as may seem necessary 
 and proper, to restrain the Congress of the United States from 
 exerting the taxing power, for the substantive protection of do 
 mestic manufactures. This Assembly further earnestly recom 
 mends to the State of South Carolina, to suspend the operation 
 of her late Ordinance, that the unfortunate collision of powers 
 between that State and the Government of the United States, 
 may be amicably adjusted in such manner as not to impair the 
 rights and powers granted to the General Government, or re 
 tained and reserved to the States, or the people by the Consti 
 tution. This General Assembly further urgently recommends to 
 the State of South Carolina to abstain from the use of military 
 power, in enforcing her Ordinance, or in resisting the execution 
 of the revenue laws of the United States. And this General As 
 sembly, with equal earnestness, recommends to the Government 
 of the United States, to exercise moderation, and to employ only 
 such means as are peaceful and usual to execute the laws of the 
 Union. The General Assembly of this State further recommends 
 to her co-States, to concur with this State in the foregoing re 
 commendations. 
 
 Resolved, That the Executive of this State be requested to 
 transmit copies of the foregoing recommendations, to the Exec 
 utive authorities of each of the United States : to the President 
 of the United States, and to our Senators and Representatives 
 in Congress, with instructions to lay the same before the Con 
 gress of the United States. 
 
 Approved, January 12, 1833, 
 
RESOLVES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LEGISLATURE 
 
 or 
 
 MISSISSIPPI. 
 
REPORT. 
 
 The select Committee to which was referred " so much of the 
 Governor s Message as rektes to the Resolutions from the 
 States of Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, and Pennsylva 
 nia, with the accompanying documents," beg leave to report: 
 
 That they have had them under consideration, and would 
 recommend, in regard to the Resolution first named, the adoption 
 of the following Resolutions : 
 
 In relation to the Resolutions from the States of Maine, New 
 Hampshire, and Pennsylvania, and that portion of the Message 
 which points to their consideration, your Committee would ex 
 press the belief that the sentiments of a majority of the people 
 of this State, in regard to the subjects to which "they relate, are 
 in accordance with those expressed by the General Assembly in 
 the year 1829, declaring the Tarifflaw of 1828, so far as it con 
 templated a system of protection, carried beyond the manufac 
 ture of such articles as are necessary to the national defence, to 
 be contrary to the spirit of the Constitution of the United 
 States, impolitic and oppressive in its operation on the southern 
 States, and should be resisted by all constitutional means." 
 But fearful lest false inferences should be drawn from this ex 
 pression of public opinion inferences, calculated to induce a 
 belief that this State is prepared to advocate and uphold the 
 disorganizing doctrines, recently promulgated in South Caroli 
 na, your Committee deem it their duty to speak plainly, and to 
 undeceive their sister States in this respect. We are opposed to 
 Nullification. We regard it as a heresy, fatal to the existence 
 f the Union. It is resistance to law by forceit is disunion 
 by force it is civil war." Your Committee are constrained to 
 express the opinion, that the State of South Carolina has acted 
 
230 
 
 with a reckless precipitancy, (originating, we would willingly be 
 lieve, in delusion,) well calculated to detract from her former 
 high character for wisdom in council, purity of patriotism, and 
 a solicitous regard for the preservation of those fundamental 
 principles, on which alone rest the peace, the prosperity and 
 permanency of the Union. Your Committee deeply deplore the 
 alarming crisis in our national affairs ; they regret it the more as 
 proceeding from the unwarrantable attitude assumed by a sister 
 of the South, whose best interests are identified with our own. 
 In the spirit of brethren of the same family, we would invoke 
 them to pause to hearken attentively to the paternal, yet omin 
 ous, warning of the Executive of the Union. We would con 
 jure them to await patiently the gradual progress of public opin 
 ion ; and to rely, with patriotic confidence, on the ultimate de 
 cision of the talented statesmen and pure patriots in the Congress 
 of the United States. But they would also loudly proclaim, that 
 this State owes a duty to the Union, above all minor considera 
 tions. That she prizes that Union less than liberty alone. That 
 we heartily accord in the general political sentiments of the 
 President of the United States, as expressed in his recent Proc 
 lamation ; and that we stand firmly resolved, at whatever sacri 
 fice of feeling, in all events, and at every hazard, to sustain him 
 in enforcing the paramount laws of the land, and preserving the 
 integrity of the Union that Unicn, whose value we will never 
 stop to calculate holding it, as our fathers held it, precious 
 above all price. Your Committee would therefore recommend 
 the adoption of the following resolutions : 
 
RESOLVES. 
 
 1. Be it resolved by the Legislature of the State of Mississippi, 
 That, in the language of the father of his country, we will " in 
 dignantly frown upon the first dawning of every attempt to 
 alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble 
 the ties which link together its various parts." 
 
 2. Resolved, That the doctrine of Nullification is contrary to 
 the letter and spirit of the Constitution, and in direct conflict 
 with the welfare, safety and independence of every State in the 
 Union ; and to no one of them would its consequences be more 
 deeply disastrous, more ruinous, than to the State of Mississippi 
 
 that State in which are concentrated our dearest interests 
 
 around which cling our most tender ties the fair land of our 
 nativity or adoption the haven of our hopes, the home of our 
 hearts. 
 
 3. Resolved, That we will, with heart and hand, sustain the 
 President of the United States, in the full exercise of his legiti 
 mate powers, to restore peace and harmony to our distracted 
 country, and to maintain, unsullied and unimpaired, the honor, 
 the independence and integrity of the Union. 
 
 4. Resolved, That the Governor of the State be, and he is 
 hereby required to transmit a copy of the last Resolutions, with 
 the preamble, to our Senators and Representatives in Congress, 
 also to the Governors of the different States, with a request that 
 the same may be laid before their respective Legislatures. 
 
 DAVID PEMBLE, 
 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 
 CHARLES LYNCH, 
 
 President of the Senate, 
 
RESOLVES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LEGISLATURES 
 
 SOUTH CAROLINA AMD GEORGIA, 
 
 PROPOSING A 
 
 CONVENTION OF THE STATES 
 
 31 
 
The following Resolves of the Legislatures of South 
 Carolina and Georgia, with those of the Legislature of Massa 
 chusetts, consequent upon them, though not directly embraced 
 by the terms of the order under which the present volume has 
 been published, are so closely connected with the general sub 
 ject of the late political controversies, that it has been thought 
 expedient to include them. It appears from a letter of the Gov 
 ernor of Georgia, subsequently received by the Governor of this 
 Commonwealth, and which is also published, that the document 
 transmitted and certified by the Governor of Georgia, as Re 
 solves of the Legislature of that State, was in fact, a mere re 
 port, which was not adopted. The Resolves which were really 
 passed, are now published from the printed volume of the Laws 
 of Georgia. 
 
State of Sotttlj 
 
 IN THE SENATE, 13th December, 1832. 
 
 The Committee on Federal Relations, to whom was referred that 
 portion of the Governor s Message, No. 3, which relates to the 
 call of a Convention of the States, respectfully report the fol 
 lowing 
 
 PREAMBLE AND RESOLUTIONS : 
 
 WHEREAS, serious causes of discontent do exist among the 
 States of this Union, from the exercise, by Congress, of powers 
 not conferred or contemplated, by the sovereign parties to the 
 Compact therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That it is expedient that a Convention of the States 
 be called as early as practicable, to consider and determine 
 such questions of disputed power, as have arisen between the 
 States of this confederacy and the General Government. 
 
 Resolved, That the Governor be requested to transmit copies 
 of this Preamble and Resolutions to the Governors of the several 
 States, with a request that the same be laid before the Legisla 
 tures of their respective States, and also to our Senators and 
 Representatives in Congress, to be by them laid before Congress 
 for consideration. 
 
 Resolved, That the Senate do agree. 
 
 Ordered to the House of Representatives for concurrence. 
 IN THE SENATE, 19th December, 1832. 
 
 The House of Representatives returned, with their concur 
 rence, the Report of the Committee on Federal Relations, on 
 that portion of the Governor s Message, No. 3, which relates to 
 the call of a Convention of the States. 
 
 A true copy from the Journals. 
 
 JACOB WARLEY, Clerk of the Senate. 
 
State of fttovgf au 
 
 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 FOR as much as throughout the United States, there exist 
 many controversies growing out of the conflicting interests 
 which have arisen among the people, since the adoption of the 
 Federal Constitution ; out of the cases in which Congress claims 
 the right to act under constructive or implied powers ; out of the 
 disposition, shown by Congress, too frequently to act under as 
 sumed powers, and out of the rights of jurisdiction, either claim 
 ed or exercised by the Supreme Court all of which tend di 
 rectly to diminish the affection of the people for their own gov 
 ernment, to produce discontent, to repress patriotism, to excite 
 jealousies, to engender discord, and finally to bring about the 
 event, of all other, most deeply to be deplored, and most anx 
 iously to be guarded against, viz : a dissolution of our happy 
 Union, and a severance of these States into hostile communities, 
 each regarding and acting towards each other with the bitterest 
 enmity. 
 
 And the experience of the past having clearly proved, that the 
 Constitution of the United States needs amendment in the fol 
 lowing particulars : 
 
 1. That the powers delegated to the General Government, and 
 the rights reserved to the States or to the people, may be more 
 distinctly defined. 
 
 2. That the power of coercion by the General Government 
 ever the States, and the right of a State to resist an unconstitu 
 tional act of Congress, may be determined. 
 
 3. That the principle involved in a Tariff for the direct pro 
 tection of domestic industry, may be settled. 
 
 4. That a system of Federal taxation may be established, 
 which shall be equal in its operation upon the whole people, and 
 in all sections of the country. 
 
 5. That the jurisdiction and process of the Supreme Court? 
 may be clearly and unequivocally settled. 
 
239 
 
 6. That a tribunal of last resort may be organized to settle 
 disputes between the General Government and the States. 
 
 7. That the power of chartering a Bank and of granting in 
 corporations, may be expressly given to, or withheld from Con 
 gress. 
 
 8. That the practice of appropriating money for works of In 
 ternal Improvement, may be either sanctioned by an express del 
 egation of power, or restrained by express inhibition. 
 
 9. That it may be prescribed, what disposition shall be made 
 of the surplus revenue, when such revenue is found to be on hand. 
 
 10. That the right to, and the mode of disposition of the pub 
 lic lands of the United States, may be settled. 
 
 11. That the election of President and Vice President may be 
 secured, in all cases, to the people. 
 
 12. That their tenure of office may be limited to one term. 
 
 13. That the rights of the Indians may be definitely settled. 
 
 Be it therefore Resolved by the Senate and House of Representa 
 tives of the State of Georgia, in General Assembly met, and acting 
 for the people thereof, That the State of Georgia, in conformity 
 with the Fifth Article of the Federal Constitution, hereby makes 
 application to the Congress of the United States, for the call of 
 a Convention of the people, to amend the Constitution afore 
 said, in the particulars herein enumerated, and in such others as 
 the people of the other States may deem needful of amendment. 
 
 Resolved further, That His Excellency the Governor be, and he 
 is hereby requested to transmit copies of this document to the 
 other States of the Union, and to our Senators and Representa 
 tives in Congress. 
 
 Agreed to, 12th December, 1832. 
 
 Attest > ASBURY HULL, Speaker. 
 
 ROBERT W. CARNES, Clerk. 
 
 IN SENATE, 20th December, 1832. 
 Concurred in. 
 
 Attest > THOMAS STOCKS, President. 
 
 IVERSON L. HARRIS, Secretary. 
 Approved, 22d December, 1832. 
 
 WILSON LUMPKIN, Governor. 
 
RESOLVES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LEGISLATURE 
 
 OF 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 32 
 
eommoutoealti) of 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, January 16th, 1833. 
 
 Ordered, That the Resolutions of the Legislature of Georgia, 
 proposing a Convention of the People of the United States, for 
 the Amendment in various respects of the Constitution, and so 
 much of the Governor s Special Message as relates thereto, be 
 referred to 
 
 Messrs. CUSHING, of NEWBURYPORT, 
 SHAW, of LANESBOROUGH, 
 WHITE, of BOSTON, 
 
 with such as the Senate may join. 
 Sent up for concurrence. 
 
 L. S. CUSHING, Clerk. 
 
 IN SENATE, January 17, 1833. 
 
 Read, and referred to Messsrs. BLAKE and WELLS, in con 
 currence. 
 
 CHARLES CALHOUN, Clerk. 
 
of 
 
 IN SENATE, February, 1833. 
 
 The Special Joint Committee, to whom was referred, among 
 other things, that portion of His Excellency the Governor s 
 Message, relating to the subject of the Preamble and Reso 
 lutions of the Legislature of South Carolina, proposing that 
 a " Convention of the States should be called, as early as 
 practicable, to consider and determine such questions of dis 
 puted power as have arisen between the States of this con 
 federacy and the General Government," have had the same 
 under consideration, and respectfully submit the following 
 
 REPORT IN PART : 
 
 Upon the first presentment of the Resolutions in question, 
 taken in connection with the matter contained in the Preamble, 
 with which they are introduced, your Committee were consid 
 erably at a loss to determine what should be regarded as being 
 their precise scope and object. The question occurred to them, 
 whether it was the intention of the Legislature of South Caro 
 lina to invite a Convention of the States, with a view to certain 
 specific amendments of the Constitution of the General Gov 
 ernment, in conformity with the provisions in the fifth article of 
 that instrument, or to assume the novel and extraordinary ground 
 that such a Convention was necessary or expedient, for the pur 
 pose, merely, of considering, and determining, in their sove 
 reign capacity, certain questions of disputed power, which are 
 supposed to exist between that State more particularly, and the 
 Government of the Union. 
 
245 
 
 With reference to this point, the Committee were naturally 
 led, in the first place, to a consideration of the very unusual 
 manner (in case an amendment of the Constitution, in conform 
 ity with the article alluded to, were alone contemplated,) in 
 which the proposition is submitted to the Legislature of Massa 
 chusetts. 
 
 Since the first organization of the Federal Government, it 
 has, as the Committee believe, been the uniform practice of the 
 Legislature of a State, whenever it has proposed to bring about 
 any amendment or change in the Constitution of that Govern 
 ment by a Convention of the States, to specify, in their applica 
 tion to other States, for co-operation and support in such a 
 measure, the precise points wherein the existing provisions of 
 the system were supposed to be doubtful or insufficient, and the 
 nature and extent of the correction proposed to be applied. 
 This form of application, which, whether prescribed or not by 
 the terms of the article before referred to, would seem to be 
 such as the nature of the case requires, appears, nevertheless, to 
 have been not inadvertently, but studiously avoided by the 
 Legislature of South Carolina on the present occasion. 
 
 In another particular, the novelty of the proposition now sub 
 mitted to this Legislature, not as respects its form only, but its 
 matter and substance, is not less conspicuous. It is not pro 
 posed that a Convention should be called, with a view to any 
 particular amendment, or even, in general terms, to a revision 
 of the Constitution of the General Government, but that it 
 should take upon itself, when assembled, in a manner wholly 
 unknown in any existing provision of the Federal Compact, the 
 office of umpire, and sit in judgment on certain disputes which 
 are alleged to exist between a State or States, and the nation. 
 It is believed by your Committee, that, with the exception of 
 one solitary case of an analogous description, to which they 
 may hereafter have occasion to advert, for another purpose, but 
 which, considering the time of its occurrence, and the fate that 
 awaited it, they can hardly suppose would be relied upon as 
 affording the authority of a precedent, the proposition now sub 
 mitted is entirely unexampled in the history of this Government. 
 
 It i?, at any rate, most manifest, that, if assented to by the 
 States, it would necessarily be attended with the most fatal con- 
 
246 
 
 sequences to the Union. If the principle be sanctioned that, 
 whenever a single member of this confederacy, conceiving itself 
 aggrieved by any, even a questionable measure of the General 
 Government, shall be permitted, first, to resist the measure, and 
 then to summon a Convention of the whole, in order to consider 
 and determine the matter in dispute, it is easy to foresee what 
 utter degradation of all the regular authorities of the Govern 
 ment, what scenes of anarchy and disorder throughout the land 
 must inevitably and speedily ensue. But it appears to your 
 Committee, that the proposition, in itself, is not more extraor 
 dinary than is the sweeping assertion with which it is prefaced, 
 and which seerns, indeed, to constitute the only grounds upon 
 which it is predicated. In the Preamble to the Resolutions in 
 question, it is declared " that serious causes of discontent do 
 exist among the States of this Union, from the exercise by Con 
 gress of powers not conferred or contemplated by the sovereign 
 parties to the compact." The Committee will not trust them 
 selves to express, in terms such as their feelings might prompt 
 them to employ on the occasion, the surprise, as well as the 
 regret they have experienced, at meeting with a solemn, delib 
 erate announcement like this, from the Legislative body of a 
 respectable member of this Union. Nor will they stop to con 
 sider how far, under almost any imaginable circumstances, it is 
 consistent with that courtesy and comity, to say nothing of 
 respect and confidence, which the constituted authorities of the 
 different States have hitherto been accustomed to manifest in 
 their intercourse with one" another, and with the several depart 
 ments of the General Government. In the view of your Com 
 mittee, the position here assumed, for it is unaccompanied by 
 any reserve or qualification whatsoever, amounts in fact to 
 nothing less than this, that both branches of the legislative de 
 partment of this nation, including of course the chief executive, 
 who must have sanctioned their proceedings, have manifestly 
 been guilty of a dereliction of duty, a palpable abuse of power, 
 while in the pretended exercise of their official functions. 
 
 An imputation of so grave and serious a nature, is not indeed 
 in so many words pronounced against them, but as much as this 
 is clearly implied by the whole tenor of the document alluded 
 to. If, according to the naked assertion of the Preamble, which 
 
247 
 
 is wholly unaccompanied by any allowance for a possible error 
 of judgment, the Congress of the United States have, on any oc 
 casion, been found to have exercised " powers not conferred 
 nor even contemplated by the parties to the Federal Compact," 
 the inference would seem to follow of course, for all acts of a 
 legislative body must be supposed to have been the result of de 
 liberation, that the outrage was perpetrated knowingly, inten 
 tionally. Indeed, the Committee have been reluctantly led to 
 the conclusion, especially when taking into view the present 
 communication from the Legislature of South Carolina, in con 
 nection with the extraordinary measures antecedently adopted, 
 and still maintained by a majority of the people of that State, 
 in their Convention, and in their halls of legislation, that it was, 
 in reality, their deliberate intention to pronounce a sentence 
 not less serious and severe than that before supposed, against 
 the legislative authorities of the General Government. It is, as 
 your Committee, from a due consideration of all the circum 
 stances of the case, are constrained to believe, principally, with 
 a view to the confirmation or the reversal of this sentence, that 
 the invitation is now given to Massachusetts, to unite in sum 
 moning a Convention of the States. In this connection, it may 
 be useful to notice, very briefly, the grounds on which, not the 
 leading politicians only, but the high functionaries in the Gov 
 ernment of South Carolina, have attempted to justify the extra 
 ordinary proceedings that have been adverted to. It has been 
 promulgated as one of the first and fundamental principles in 
 their new theory of the Federal Government, that not one jot or 
 tittle of the sovereignty of any State was surrendered or com 
 promised, in any manner, at the formation of the Union. That 
 a State has a right of course to be its own interpreter of the 
 laws of the General Government, and to be the judge in the last 
 resort of their validity. That, whenever a State, in its sovereign 
 capacity, shall be pleased to pronounce that the Congress of the 
 United States have, in regard to any of their enactments, tran 
 scended the authority delegated to them by the Constitution, all 
 such acts must thenceforth, so far at least as concerns the citi 
 zens of such State, be considered as utterly void and ineffectual. 
 Furthermore, it is contended, that a declaration, of the kind 
 above mentioned, is not only binding upon all within the juris- 
 
248 
 
 diction of the disaffected State, but conclusive also, for the time 
 being at least, against all the authorities of the General Govern 
 ment. From this novel and most extravagant doctrine, it results 
 as a consequence, that an act of the highest legislative authority 
 of this nation, whatever may be its scope or object, or however 
 urgent in reference either to the foreign or internal affairs of 
 the whole people may have been the cause of its adoption, 
 must, when thus brought into question, remain as it were in 
 abeyance, at the commandment of a single State. In other 
 words, that the vast and complicated machinery of the National 
 Government shall be made to stand still, until a grand Conven 
 tion of twenty-four independent, contending sovereignties, if so 
 many should be pleased to assemble on the occasion, shall have 
 considered and determined the question of its validity. 
 
 Such, in substance, appears to be the theory of reform which 
 has recently been promulgated, and is still maintained by the 
 constituted authorities of South Carolina ; and your Committee 
 is constrained to believe that it is, with reference to this system, 
 and to a consummation of the very extraordinary course of pro 
 cedure therein contemplated, that the proposition for a Conven 
 tion of the States is now submitted to this Legislature. The 
 Committee conceive that it would be a very useless appropria 
 tion of time, especially as the whole subject matter involved in 
 the late extraordinary proceedings of South Carolina is already 
 entirely familiar to the community, were they to proceed any 
 further, on a course of reasoning, in order to demonstrate the 
 utter fallacy and impracticability of the doctrines here adverted 
 to ; or to dwell longer in contemplating the consequences in 
 which, should they be sustained, they must naturally and neces 
 sarily involve the peace and safety of the Union. Their tend 
 ency, it is conceived, is quite too obvious to require, or even to 
 admit of argument or illustration. They manifestly go to re 
 solve at once our present gloriuus system of National Govern 
 ment into its original elements, and would leave, not for the pre 
 sent generation, but for posterity, the fearful, if not utterly 
 hopeless task, of building some trail and miserable fabric upon 
 its ruins. 
 
 In fine, your Committee are unanimously of the opinion, that, 
 upon any such grounds, or for any such reasons as those which 
 
249 
 
 are set forth in the said Preamble and Resolutions, according 
 to the construction thus given to them, it would be wholly in 
 consistent with the honor and the dignity of this Commonwealth, 
 to accede to the call of a Convention of the States, for the 
 purposes therein specified. 
 
 But, secondly, in case your Committee have been so unfortu 
 nate, in regard to the before mentioned particulars, as to have 
 misinterpreted the import and intent of the communication from 
 the Legislature of South Carolina; if, contrary to the construc 
 tion now assumed, its real intention was to invite the co-opera 
 tion of Massachusetts in the call of a Convention of the States, 
 with a view to some legitimate amendment of the Constitution, 
 in conformity with the existing provisions of the instrument, the 
 Committee are, nevertheless, entirely agreed in the opinion, that 
 there are, in truth and in fact, no such causes existing, as would 
 justify, even for such a purpose, (especially during the present 
 irritable state of feeling among the people of several States of 
 the Union) a resort to a measure so unusual and extraordinary. 
 Unless some one or two discontented States in this Union, 
 should, by reason of their pre-eminence in virtue and patriot 
 ism, be considered as justly entitled to the distinguishing appel 
 lation of "the States of this Union," the Committee cannot as 
 sent to the position which is laid down in the sweeping language 
 of the Preamble to the Resolutions from South Carolina, that 
 there are, in fact, existing serious causes, or any just causes 
 whatever, whether serious or trivial, of discontent among " the 
 States of this Union" ; much less are the Committee prepared to 
 sanction the yet more extravagant assertion, that if discontents 
 of any kind, or to any extent, do, in fact exist, " they have 
 arisen from the exercise, by Congress, of powers not conferred, 
 or contemplated, by the sovereign parties to the Federal Com 
 pact." 
 
 It is indeed true, that within the period of the last two or 
 three years, one of the States of this Union has seen fit to pro 
 claim aloud, throughout the land, her displeasure on account of 
 certain prominent measures of the General Government. 
 
 She has been pleased to assign, as the cause of the discon 
 tent, that the highest legislative authority of the nation had as 
 sumed to itself the exercise of unwarrantable and exorbitant 
 33 
 
250 
 
 power ; and, on this ground, has, at length, placed herself in the 
 attitude of open defiance of the Constitution and the laws of the 
 land. 
 
 It is not less true, however, that \\hatever of sympathy or com 
 miseration may have been expressed or felt, by any, for the 
 errors and delusion of a much beloved, but wayward associate 
 in the political family, not a single other State in this Union is 
 united with her in sentiment, either as to the legal grounds of 
 her complaint, or the propriety of the measures to which she 
 has seen fit to resort for redress. On the contrary, in relation 
 to both the one and the other, the voice of nearly the whole 
 people, in their primary assemblages, in their halls of legisla 
 tion, and every where throughout the land, has been heard, in a 
 tone not of expostulation only, but of severe censure and re 
 proof, to pronounce its decision against her. 
 
 In the opinion of your Committee, a Convention of the States 
 cannot now be necessary to consider the validity of that deci 
 sion, or to add any new provisions to those already existing in 
 the Federal Compact, with the view of preventing a recurrence 
 of similar discontents among the States, in future. 
 
 It is now nearly half a century since the present admirable 
 system of Government first came from the hands of the illustrious 
 statesmen and patriots by whom it was framed. Its theory, con 
 ceived as it would now seem to have been, almost by the power 
 of superhuman intelligence, has been found, in experiment, in 
 its wonderful adaptation to all the various and complicated con 
 cerns of this great and growing nation, not only to have equal- 
 led> but greatly to have transcended, the most sanguine hopes 
 and expectations of the country. 
 
 In peace and in war, throughout all the trials and vicissitudes 
 to which the nations, as well as individuals, in this imperfect 
 state of being are necessarily subjected, its original principles, 
 as they were at first established and understood by the people, 
 have, to this day, remained without essential change or variation 
 unpolluted, undisturbed. Indeed, the members of the Com 
 mittee are solemnly impressed with the conviction, that next to 
 the superintending agency of a wise and beneficent Providence, 
 which seems from the first, to have watched over the destinies of 
 this much favored people, it is to this same system of civil Gov- 
 
251 
 
 ernment, and to the mild, but firm and undeviating manner in 
 which its principles have, for the most part, been maintained 
 and administered, that we are chiefly indebted for the general, 
 nay, almost universal prosperity which is now seen and felt in 
 every part of this wide spread nation. It is this, as they verily 
 believe, which, under the smiles of Heaven, has been the means 
 of elevating these States from their once confused and imbecile 
 condition, to that distinguished station which they now occupy 
 among the proudest and most powerful nations of the world. 
 
 In the Constitution of a Government framed with such wisdom , 
 which has been thus tried and proved, and found to have been 
 attended with such happy results, it surely would not be the part 
 of prudence or good policy to attempt, on any light occasion, 
 or indeed in any case but one of the most imperious and urgent 
 necessity, a fundamental change of any kind. It is the opinion 
 of your Committee, that in the complaints lately put forth by 
 the State of South Carolina, there is nothing, when their real 
 causes are fairly and fully investigated, that can be supposed to 
 amount to the presentment of an exigency of this latter descrip 
 tion. 
 
 Nor do the Committee believe that a revision of the Federal 
 Constitution, by a Convention of the States, would at this time 
 be useful, much less that it can be necessary, as has of late been 
 sometimes alleged, or pretended, with a view to some more 
 clear and exact definition than is to be found in the existing pro 
 visions of that instrument, in relation either to the legitimate 
 boundaries of jurisdiction between the General and the State 
 Governments, or to any of the powers or immunities which these 
 high parties respectively have hitherto been accustomed to claim 
 or enjoy. 
 
 It was not unforeseen by the illustrious framers of the Federal 
 compact, nor by the intelligent people who adopted it, that, in 
 the very nature of things, such "questions of disputed power," 
 (to use the language of the South Carolina resolutions,) would 
 be likely to arise in the course of its operation. They were 
 doubtless well aware also, that it was not in the power of any 
 human wisdom or forecast, or indeed of any thing less than the 
 intelligence which belongs alone to the Omniscient, to devise a 
 system of Government for a nation like this, that should be for- 
 
252 
 
 ever exempt from such doubts and exceptions as the ingenuity 
 or ambition of men might suggest, especially in times of party 
 zeal or excitement. Differences of this kind in political opin 
 ion, and the collisions which sometimes spring from them? 
 should be regarded as the natural, perhaps necessary incidents 
 of all free institutions ; as constituting in fact that portion of 
 alloy which, by the ordination of Providence, seems to have 
 been mingled with all our best comforts and blessings, and 
 without which we could not have been permitted to enjoy the 
 blessing of civil liberty, which is more precious in our estimation 
 than all others. 
 
 But it is believed that the testimony of all history will de 
 monstrate that such difficulties have been of less frequent oc 
 currence, and attended with much less serious consequences in 
 this, than in any other Government partaking in any degree of 
 the republican form, which has existed on the face of the earth. 
 It was, at any rate, precisely with a reference to these natural 
 and necessary consequences of the freedom of all our political 
 institutions, that the grand conservative principle, which is 
 found in the Judiciary department, was deeply implanted in the 
 system ; that a high tribunal was appointed to stand, as it were, 
 by the very tenure of its office, as well as by the peculiarity of 
 its attributes in other respects, separate and distinct from all 
 other departments of the Government. That to this tribunal 
 was confided the great business of interpreting the Constitution 
 and the laws, and of performing the high office of arbiter, in 
 the last resort, of all questions " of disputed power" that might 
 arise in the course of their administration. It is, in the opinion 
 of the Committee, no more than a tribute justly due to the 
 character and conduct of this distinguished tribunal, as well as 
 to the wisdom and forecast of the illustrious statesmen who pro 
 vided for its organization, to pronounce that it has hitherto ful 
 filled most faithfully and effectually, the great purposes of its 
 appointment. 
 
 It must be admitted, indeed, that, in the course of a series of 
 years, during which the system has been in operation, a few iso 
 lated instances of insubordination, not only among considera 
 ble masses of citizens, but extending, even, to the constituted 
 authorities of whole States, have been known to exist, which 
 
253 
 
 seemed, at first, too mighty to be controlled by the mild, and 
 peaceable operation of the principle alluded to; but, happily, 
 for the peace, and honor of the country, the Constitution and 
 the laws have hitherto in all such cases, eventually triumphed. 
 The Committee, here, feel a degree of pride as well as pleasure, 
 from having an opportunity to unite their humble voice with 
 that of a late distinguished Commentator, who had, perhaps, as 
 much to do, as any other mortal, now living or dead, in the 
 original formation and subsequent administration of our present 
 system of government, in the declaration that, " with few excep 
 tions, the course of the Judiciary has, hitherto, been sanctioned 
 by the predominant sense of the nation." 
 
 If, in relation to this particular branch of the subject, any 
 thing further were wanting in confirmation of the opinions 
 which are entertained by every member of the Committee, they 
 would beg leave to invoke to their aid, and indeed to adept as 
 their own, the sentiments that were once expressed by the Au 
 thorities of another leading State of this Union in a case cor 
 responding, essentially, in its character, and in fact almost en 
 tirely analogous, in its circumstances, to that which is now pre 
 sented for consideration. 
 
 The Committee, here, allude to the proceedings of the Legis 
 lature of Virginia, some thirty years ago, when a proposition 
 was submitted to them by the Government of a neighboring 
 State, then the largest, and most influential member of the 
 confederacy, for an amendment of the Constitution of the United 
 States, by providing for " the appointment of an impartial tri 
 bunal to decide disputes between the State, and Federal Judi 
 ciary ;" in other words, a tribunal, in relation to which, the one 
 now established by the Constitution, should become, a mere 
 Subordinate and Dependent. It would be foreign from the 
 purpose of the present inquiry, and serve only to revive the 
 remembrance of scenes, which, for the honor of the country, 
 should rather be permitted to pass silently to oblivion, and, if 
 possible, be obliterated from the history of this government, 
 were the Committee to attempt a detail of the reasons, or rather, 
 pretexts^ which were urged as the grounds of this extraordinary, 
 and, at the time, wholly unprecedented proposal, on the part of 
 the great State that has been alluded to. 
 
254 
 
 It is sufficient for us to know, that it was a case in which the 
 highest Authorities of one of the States of this Union were seen 
 in hostile array, on the very verge of open insurrection, against 
 the Judicial power of the nation ; and which, but for a return 
 ing consciousness of error and delusion, on the one side, and a 
 firm, undeviating perseverance in the execution of its high du 
 ties, on the other, must inevitably have involved the country in 
 all the complicated horrors of civil war. 
 
 But, happily for the nation, the pretensions and the project 
 of the disaffected State received no countenance from the State 
 of Virginia Her response, on the occasion, was precisely such 
 as might reasonably have been anticipated from the intelligence 
 and pure patriotism of such men as are known to have presided, 
 at that day, in the councils of that much distinguished Common 
 wealth. 
 
 " It was. among other things, unanimously resolved by both 
 Branches of their Legislature, that, in their opinion, there was 
 a Tribunal, already provided by the Constitution of the United 
 States, to wit, the Supreme Court, more eminently qualified, from 
 their habits and duties, from the mode of their selection, and 
 from the tenure of their office, to decide the disputes aforesaid, 
 in an enlightened and impartial manner, than any other Tribu 
 nal which could be erected." 
 
 Such, to the very letter, was the magnanimous declaration of 
 Virginia, when, by reason of an unpopular Judicial decision, (in 
 the celebrated Olmstead case of Pennsylvania) she was invited 
 to co-operate in an attempt to break up the existing foundations 
 of the Judiciary Department of our Government. The example 
 thus presented to us, is worthy of all praise, and of imitation ; 
 and it surely is of not the less authority, from the circumstance of 
 being holden up to us, by a member of this Union, which, what 
 ever may at any time have been said, or thought of its political 
 character, in other respects, has, it is believed, never been sus 
 pected of any deficiency of zeal, or devotedness to the cause of 
 State rights, or the protection of its own dignity and sovereignty. 
 
 The Committee will not attempt, by any further commentary 
 of their own, to give to this precedent, additional strength or 
 weight. 
 
255 
 
 In fine, upon a mature, and deliberate consideration of the 
 whole subject submitted to them, the Committee have unani 
 mously, agreed to recommend to this Legislature, the adoption 
 of the following Resolves. 
 
 For the Committee. 
 
 GEORGE BLAKE. 
 
RESOLVES. 
 
 WHEREAS, the Governor of the State of South Carolina did, by 
 his communication, under date of the fifth day of January last 
 past, transmit to His Excellency the Governor of this Common 
 wealth, copies of a certain preamble, and resolutions connected 
 therewith, recently passed by both branches of the Legislature 
 of the said first mentioned State, with a request that the same 
 might be laid before the Legislature of this Commonwealth ; in 
 which said preamble and resolutions, it is set forth that " serious 
 causes of discontent do exist among the States of this Union, 
 from the exercise, by Congress, of powers not conferred or con 
 templated by the sovereign parties to the compact ; and resolv 
 ing, therefore, that it is expedient that a Convention of the 
 States be called, as early as practicable, to consider and deter 
 mine such questions of disputed power as have arisen between 
 the States of this Confederacy and the General Government." 
 
 AND WHEREAS, His Excellency the Governor of this Common 
 wealth hath, in pursuance of the said request, submitted to the 
 consideration of this Legislature, the preamble and resolutions 
 aforesaid : Therefore 
 
 1. Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
 Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in General Court assembled, That 
 the Legislature of this Commonwealth do not recognize the ex 
 istence, at this time, of any serious causes of discontent, among 
 the States generally, of this Union, or in any one of them ; much 
 less, can they admit that, if any such discontents do, in fact, ex 
 ist, they have arisen from the exercise by Congress of powers not 
 conferred or contemplated by the sovereign parties to the com 
 pact, as is asserted in the before mentioned communication from 
 the Legislature of South Carolina. 
 
 2. Resolved, That there is, already existing, under the Con 
 stitution of the United States, a proper and competent tribunal, 
 namely, the Supreme Court of the United States, who are in 
 vested with sufficient power and authority; who are eminently 
 
257 
 
 qualified, and to whom it constitutionally belongs, to consider 
 and determine " the questions of disputed power," and all other 
 matters of controversy which are referred to in the said preamble 
 and resolutions : Therefore 
 
 3. Resolved, That the Legislature of this Commonwealth do 
 not accede to the proposition of calling a Convention of the 
 States for the purposes therein expressed, or for any other pur 
 pose whatsoever. 
 
 4. Resolved, That His Excellency the Governor, be requested 
 to transmit a copy of these resolves, together with the report 
 which accompanies them, to the President of the United States, 
 the Governors of all the States, and to each of the Senators and 
 Representatives of this Commonwealth in Congress. 
 
 IN SENATE, March 16, 1833. 
 Read twice and passed. Sent down for concurrence. 
 
 B. T. PICKMAN, President. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, March 18, 1833. 
 Read twice and passed in concurrence. 
 
 W. B. CALHOUN, Speaker. 
 
 March 18, 1833. 
 Approved. 
 
 LEVI LINCOLN. 
 
 34 
 
of 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, MARCH 18TH, 1833. 
 
 The Joint Select Committee, appointed to consider the Resolu 
 tions of the Legislature of Georgia, proposing a Convention 
 of the People of the United States, for the Amendment, in 
 various respects, of the Constitution, and also so much of the 
 Governor s Special Message as relates thereto, have attended 
 to the duty assigned them, and ask leave to submit the fol 
 lowing 
 
 REPORT : 
 
 The Resolutions of the State of Georgia propose to the other 
 States of the Union the call of a Convention of the people, in 
 conformity with the provisions of the fifth article of the Consti 
 tution, for the purpose of defining and making certain that in 
 strument in regard to certain questions of disputed power, and 
 for the purpose of altering it in other respects, wherein it needs 
 amendment, in the opinion of the Legislature of Georgia. In 
 the preamble to their resolutions, they premise that " through 
 out the United States there exist many controversies, growing 
 out of the conflicting interests which have arisen among the 
 people since the adoption of the Federal Constitution, out of 
 the cases in which Congress claims the right to act under con 
 structive or implied powers, out of the disposition, shown by 
 Congress, too frequently to act under assumed powers, and 
 out of the rights of jurisdiction, either claimed or exercised by 
 the Supreme Court," all of which controversies, they allege 
 have a tendency to produce discontent and disaffection among 
 the citizens of the United States, and ultimately to bring about 
 a dissolution of the Union ; and upon these premises they con 
 clude that experience has " clearly proved" the Constitution to 
 
259 
 
 need amendment in thirteen distinct particulars, which they 
 proceed to set forth specifically, as the basis of their Resolu 
 tions. Your Committee propose briefly to remark upon the 
 several portions of the Preamble to the Resolutions, and in so 
 doing they will have explained the grounds of the Resolves, 
 which they offer to the consideration of the Senate and House 
 of Representatives. 
 
 Your Committee do not pretend to deny, that " controversies" 
 exist in some parts of the Union, " growing out of the conflict 
 ing interests, which have arisen among the people since the 
 adoption of the Federal Constitution." Such controversies, and 
 such sources of controversy, are inseparable from the very ex 
 istence of political society, and belong to the practical operation 
 of every system of government in every country. They are not 
 such as any modifications of the present Constitution could re 
 move, or any prescribed form of fundamental law prevent. Of 
 course, whatever may be the extent, nature, degree, or tendency 
 of controversies of this description, they do not seem to your 
 Committee to afford any argument in favor of the call of a Con 
 vention. 
 
 And whatever controversies may have arisen out of " the 
 cases, in which Congress claims the right to act under construc 
 tive or implied powers," your Committee conceive that still less 
 can such cases be admitted to render the call of a Convention 
 necessary or expedient. Prior to the time when the people of 
 the United States adopted the Constitution, they possessed, 
 either in themselves individually, or in their respective state 
 governments, all the powers of sovereignty. That Constitution 
 consists in part of a specification of powers, whereof the people 
 saw fit to divest themselves or the States, in order to concede 
 them to the government of the United States ; and it is mani 
 fest that, according to the settled principles of constitutional 
 jurisprudence, the Union cannot rightly claim any powers, other 
 than such as are bestowed upon it by the Constitution. What 
 those powers are, and what their extent, are in themselves es 
 sentially questions of construction, that is, of the legal meaning 
 and effect of the terms of the instrument. Whether it shall be 
 construed liberally, or whether it shall be construed strictly, 
 or whether neither liberally nor strictly, if there be any middle 
 
260 
 
 course, still at any rate it must be construed in some way ; 
 and the force of any grant, in respect of the powers conveyed 
 by it either expressly or impliedly, is and must forever continue 
 to be a question of construction. That construction is a process 
 of definition, dependant upon the same rules of law, philology, 
 and common sense, which settle the construction of other in 
 struments ; and if any doubts arise thereon, the Constitution it 
 self provides for the mode by which such doubts are to be re 
 moved, namely, by means of the Supreme Court of the United 
 States. To assemble a Convention for the purpose of making 
 such construction, would not only be contrary to the tenor of 
 the Constitution itself, but would serve to defeat its own object, 
 because every definition or explanation, which a Convention 
 should undertake to give concerning questions which now exist, 
 would of necessity furnish the materials of new questions, just 
 as difficult to decide as the old ones, and just as much requiring 
 the interposition of a Convention. Your Committee are of 
 opinion that the Constitution, as it stands, is a model of clear, 
 exact, intelligible specification and limitation, admirable for the 
 distinctness of its language, remarkable as well for legal pre 
 cision of expression, as for the profound political wisdom which 
 characterizes it ; and they have no hopes that in these respects 
 it could be improved as a whole by the labors of a new Con 
 vention 
 
 Your Committee, with all due respect for the Legislature of 
 Georgia, feel bound to say they are not conscious that Congress 
 has frequently shewn a disposition " to act under assumed pow 
 ers" provided the Legislature of Georgia understand by those 
 words what alone the Committee can understand by them, 
 powers not conferred by the Constitution. Congress acts on 
 the people through the medium of legislation, and it cannot so 
 act without the concurrence of the Executive ; and the rules 
 of conduct which Congress and the Executive conjointly pre 
 scribe in the form of laws, are subject to the revision of the 
 Judiciary, by whom their constitutionality, and of course their 
 validity, is to be judged. Your Committee deem this mode of 
 redress amply sufficient, in the ordinary course of affairs, to 
 protect the people against the actual exercise of usurped powers ; 
 
261 
 
 and they are wholly at a loss to perceive how a Convention 
 could govern and control the disposition of any future Congress. 
 
 The Supreme Court, in the judgment of your Committee, 
 neither claims nor exercises any rights of jurisdiction not vest 
 ed in it by the Constitution. They are persuaded, on the con 
 trary, from careful observation of the judgments of that august 
 tribunal, that it has ever manifested a becoming diffidence of its 
 own powers, a disposition to act strictly within the prescribed 
 boundaries of its constitutional functions, and a conscientious 
 deference for the reserved rights of the States. 
 
 Your Committee are constrained to say thus much in reference 
 to the premises laid down by the Legislature of Georgia, be 
 cause the Committee cannot admit them to be sound, in any 
 view of which they seem to be justly susceptible, as alleged in 
 ducements to the call of a Convention, or even as any genuine 
 or adequate causes of such discontent among the people, as 
 should menace the safety of the Union. And while the Commit 
 tee deny that these general consideratious afford any motives to 
 constitutional action, they equally deny that past experience 5 
 proves the necessity of altering the Constitution in the manner 
 proposed by the State of Georgia. 
 
 The Legislature of Georgia seeks amendment of the Consti 
 tution, 
 
 First, That the powers delegated to the General Government, 
 and the rights reserved to the States or to the people, may be 
 more distinctly defined. 
 
 The Committee have already remarked upon this point, which 
 is purely a matter of judicial construction, not of fundamental 
 legislation by the agency of a Convention. 
 
 Secondly, That the power of coercion by the General Gov 
 ernment over the States, and the right of a State to resist an un 
 constitutional act of Congress, may be determined. 
 
 Your Committee conceive that these points are determined 
 already by the Constitution. The people of the several States 
 have bestowed certain specified powers upon the General Gov 
 ernment, and all the citizens of the Union, whether acting indi 
 vidually as men, or collectively through the intervention of the 
 constituted authorities of a State, are alike bound to yield obedi 
 ence to the General Government within the limits prescribed by 
 
262 
 
 the Constitution. If Congress, or the Executive, overleap those 
 limits, the Judiciary affords the means of immediate redress ; and 
 the people, in the exercise of their functions as electors, can pro 
 vide new depositaries of the legislative and executive power ; and 
 if these remedies fail, and the public abuse and usurpation be of 
 adequate magnitude to warrant recurrence to ultimate means of 
 relief, there remains the right of revolution and of armed resist 
 ance. These principles, sufficiently clear in themselves, have 
 already been acted upon by the Legislature in their decision 
 upon the proceedings in South Carolina, and do not require any 
 further elucidation ; and your Committee will only add that this 
 subject of amendment, like the preceding, is also matter of ju 
 dicial definition, not of constitutional organization. 
 
 Thirdly, That the principle involved in a tariff for the direct 
 protection of domestic industry may be settled. 
 
 Your Committee have only to refer, on this point, to the opin 
 ions heretofore expressed by the Legislature upon the constitu 
 tionality of protective tariff regulations, and to add that this also 
 is a question of definition or construction. 
 
 Fourthly, That a system of federal taxation may be establish 
 ed, which shall be equal in its operation upon the whole people, 
 and in all sections of the country. 
 
 Your Committee, knowing that Congress has power to lay 
 and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, do not perceive 
 any cause, in the history of the country or the nature of the sub 
 ject, for taking away that authority ; and they are not aware of 
 any useful object to be attained by subjecting this part of the 
 Constitution to revision by a Convention. 
 
 { Fifthly, That the jurisdiction and process of the Supreme 
 Court may be clearly and unequivocally settled. 
 
 Your Committee are of opinion that the jurisdiction of the Su 
 preme Court, extending to all cases in law and equity arising 
 under the Constitution, laws, and treaties of the Union, and to 
 various other classes of cases described in the Constitution, is 
 therein defined with comprehensive precision, so far as it can be 
 defined by means of language. Its process is matter of legisla 
 tion, within the powers of Congress, and there is no need of the 
 action of a Convention upon that point. And although an 
 amendment of the Constitution might grant new powers to the 
 
263 
 
 Supreme Court, or abstract from it powers which it now possess 
 es, the Committee do not perceive how its jurisdiction could be 
 any more < clearly aud unequivocally settled by a Convention. 
 
 1 Sixthly, That a tribunal of last resort may be organized to 
 settle disputes between the General Government and the States. 
 
 Your Committee conceive such an object to be entirely im 
 practicable ; and moreover, to be quite incompatible with the 
 principles or the healthful action of the Constitution. The au 
 thority of the United States, under the Constitution, attaches 
 to individuals, not to States ; and a Convention could neither 
 cure nor prevent such disputes, unless it should totally change 
 the whole theory of the Government, and interpose the authority 
 of the States between individuals and the Union. The great 
 distinction between our Constitution and the fundamental sys 
 tem of other federal governments is, that the latter were sove 
 reignties over sovereignties, and that they legislated for political 
 communities, and thus whenever either of the members of those 
 confederacies chose to disobey the commands of their general 
 government, either a civil war or a dissolution of the confederacy 
 ensued ; whereas the power of the United States acts upon pri 
 vate individuals, and thus holds the constitutional, as well as the 
 physical means, to compel the obedience of the citizens of any 
 refractory State. Your Committee regard this as one of the most 
 beautiful and essential features of that admirable charter ; as the 
 great object, in fact, which our forefathers sought to secure in 
 substituting the present Constitution in place of the old articles 
 of confederation, and as among the last of its provisions, which 
 we ought to be willing to abandon or jeopardize. 
 
 Seventhly, That the power of chartering a bank, and of 
 granting incorporations, may be expressly given to or withheld 
 from Congress. 
 
 Your Committee cannot think it of any consequence now to 
 introduce a clause into the Constitution, to the effect of express 
 ly authorizing Congress to establish a bank or other corporation. 
 The power of Congress is incontrovertibly settled in the point 
 of general power, by the repeated action of Congress and of the 
 Executive on the subject, and by adjudications of the Supreme 
 Court. Of course, the power of chartering a bank is to be 
 deemed and taken as a part of the Constitution, just as much 
 
264 
 
 as if it had been expressly specified. No practical object 
 could be answered by a Convention, in respect of this, unless to 
 prohibit the establishment of a bank by Congress, which your 
 Committee cannot recommend, impressed as they are with a 
 strong sense of the utility and importance of a National Bank, 
 to every portion of the Union. 
 
 Eighthly, That the practice of appropriating money for 
 works of internal improvement, may be either sanctioned by an 
 express delegation of power, or restrained by express inhibition. 
 
 If the Constitution were now to be framed, your Committee 
 will not deny that it might be expedient to insert in it an ex 
 plicit provision upon this vexed question. They are aware that 
 grave differences of opinion have obtained among the most dis 
 tinguished statesmen of the country, as to the power of Con 
 gress to make appropriations of money for objects of internal 
 improvement, so called, within the limits of any of the States. 
 Under the power to establish post roads, to regulate commerce, 
 and to raise moneys to provide for the general welfare, Con 
 gress has repeatedly authorized the execution, at the charge of 
 the United States, in part or in whole, of public works of this 
 description ; and whatever questions have been, or may here 
 after be raised, concerning the extent of this power, your Com 
 mittee believe that the opinions and practice of the two Houses 
 of Congress and the Executive, in their discussion and action 
 upon the subject, will ere long have provided a safe construc 
 tion of the Constitution in this respect, as they have done in 
 others, where doubt once existed as to the meaning of that in 
 strument. However this may be, your Committee do not think 
 it is a matter which demands the call of a Convention ; and that 
 if the Constitution needs amendment in that particular, it should 
 be provided by means of Congress, under the provisions in the 
 fifth article of the Constitution. 
 
 Ninthly, That it may be prescribed, what disposition shall 
 be made of the surplus revenue, when such revenue is found to 
 be on hand. 
 
 Tenthly, That the right to, and the mode of disposition of 
 the public lands of the United States, may be settled. 
 
 Your Committee are not aware that any serious constitutional 
 difficulty exists in relation to these two subjects, which they 
 
265 
 
 deem to be mere questions of public policy and expediency, en 
 tirely within the competency of Congress. 
 
 4 Eleventhly, That the election of President and Vice Presi 
 dent may be secured, in all cases, to the people. 
 
 * Twelfthly, That their tenure of office may be limited to one 
 term. 5 
 
 Whatever considerations there may be in favor of an amend 
 ment of the Constitution in these particulars, and your Commit 
 tee admit that the expediency of a change in the second of them 
 rests upon highly plausible grounds, yet the mode of amendment 
 through the agency of Congress, pointed out by the Constitution, 
 seems to them to be fully competent to effect such an amend 
 ment, whenever it shall be the will and desire of a decided ma 
 jority of the people of the United States. 
 
 1 Lastly, that the rights of the Indians may be definitely set 
 tled. 7 
 
 Your Committee believe this to be purely a subject of judi 
 cial construction under the Constitution, laws, and treaties of 
 the United States ; that the Supreme Court is competent to set 
 tle any questions appertaining to it, which do exist, or which 
 may hereafter exist ; and that, of course, it offers no exigency 
 requiring the call of a Convention. 
 
 In fine, the specific objects of amendment proposed by the 
 State of Georgia, are of two kinds : first, things wherein the 
 true intendment of certain clauses of the Constitution may have 
 been deemed questionable, which your Committee regard as the 
 proper subject matter of judicial construction or definition, in 
 the last resort of constitutional, as distinguished from extra con 
 stitutional modes of procedure, and of course as not fitting ob 
 jects of a Convention ; and, secondly, things wherein specific 
 alterations of, or additions to the Constitution may have been 
 deemed expedient, which your Committee regard as belonging 
 to the competency of Congress, and by no means of such vital 
 consequence as to justify the extraordinary step of a Convention 
 of the people of the United States. 
 
 Having thus adverted to the reasons on which the Legislature 
 of Georgia found their proposition for the call of a Convention, 
 and also to the specific objects of amendment which they pro 
 pound for investigation, your Committee have only to add, in 
 35 
 
266 
 
 conclusion, that they conceive the meeting of a Convention of 
 the people, for the purpose of revising the Constitution, in these 
 or any other respects, to be a remedy required only by pressing 
 emergencies of national exigency ; and they apprehend that, 
 under any subsisting state of public feeling, its tendency would 
 be to create new questions of difficulty, and to augment the dif 
 ferences of opinion in regard to old ones, and thus to weaken 
 rather than confirm the power of the Union. The Legislature 
 of Georgia have alleged various subjects of fundamental law as 
 requiring the agency of a Convention, being such as the pecu 
 liar views or position of the State of Georgia have suggested to 
 her Legislature. It would be easy for your Committee to swell 
 the number of subjects equally suitable for the consideration of a 
 Convention with those under discussion, derived from the views 
 and position of this Commonwealth ; and some of the latter class 
 of subjects involve questions of public right, of national expe 
 diency, of constitutional organization, quite as important in 
 themselves, and quite as dear to the convictions of the people 
 of Massachusetts, as any of the former class can possibly be to 
 the people of Georgia. But your Committee are content with 
 the Constitution in the form they have received it from their 
 fathers, regarding it as a monument of comprehension and sa 
 gacity, which the labors of a Convention might perhaps improve 
 in some points, but which they would be more likely to unsettle 
 and overturn, without possessing the capacity or the power to 
 raise upon its ruins another equally noble fabric of political 
 wisdom to supply its place. Whilst entertaining, therefore, all 
 proper respect for the opinions of the Legislature of Georgia, 
 and while solicitous to treat that State with deference as a co 
 equal member of the Union, your Committee, in view of the 
 whole matter, recommend to the Legislature the adoption of the 
 following Resolves. 
 
 For the Committee, 
 
 CALEB CUSHING. 
 
RESOLVES. 
 
 Whereas, the Governor of the State of Georgia did, by his 
 communication under date of the twenty-eighth day of Decem 
 ber last, transmit to His Excellency the Governor of the Com 
 monwealth, copies of a certain Preamble and Resolutions con 
 nected therewith, recently adopted by the Legislature of said 
 State of Georgia, and His Excellency did, by his Special Mes 
 sage of the sixteenth of January last, communicate the same to 
 the Legislature of this Commonwealth : 
 
 And whereas, in said Preamble and Resolutions it is set forth 
 that, for certain reasons therein alleged, the State of Georgia 
 doth make application to the Congress of the United States for 
 the call of a Convention of the People to amend the Constitu 
 tion in sundry particulars, enumerated in said Preamble, and in 
 such others as the People may consider needful : 
 
 And whereas, the specified subjects of amendment are either 
 matters of definition or construction merely, arising on the face 
 of the Constitution, as to which the meaning of the Constitution 
 is already, or may hereafter be, satisfactorily ascertained under 
 the Constitution, and by means provided therein, and which 
 matters do not properly come within the functions of a Conven 
 tion ; or else matters of amendment suitable for the considera 
 tion of Congress, under the Fifth Article of the Constitution, 
 and not of such vital moment as to require the call of a Conven 
 tion : Therefore, 
 
 1. Resolved, That the Legislature of this Commonwealth 
 do not concur in the proposition of the State of Georgia, inviting 
 a Convention of the People of the United States for the purpose 
 of amending the Constitution. 
 
 2. Resolved, That His Excellency the Governor be re 
 quested to transmit a copy of these Resolves, together with the 
 Report which accompanies them, to the President of the United 
 States, to the Governors of all the States, and to each of the 
 Senators and Representatives of this Commonwealth in Con 
 gress. 
 
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, GA. 
 
 MILLEDGEVILLE, JUNE 7, 1833. 
 
 SlR,- 
 
 IN transmitting to you, the Acts of the General Assembly of 
 this State, passed at its last session, I beg leave to correct an 
 error, which occurred through the inadvertence of the press, and 
 a want of proper scrutiny at this Department, in regard to a 
 resolution, transmitted to you on the 28th of December last, and 
 purporting to have been approved on the 22d of said month. 
 The resolution forwarded to you, was rejected by the Legisla 
 ture, and a substitute adopted (which you will find in the print 
 ed laws, pages 49 and 50.) 
 
 The official signatures of the officers of both branches of the 
 General Assembly, and that of the Governor, were improperly 
 placed by the printer, to the resolutions heretofore forwarded 
 to you, and forwarded from this Department without detecting 
 the error. 
 
 I have the honor to be, respectfully, 
 
 Your Obedient Servant, 
 
 WILSON LUMPKIN. 
 
 His Excellency the Governor of Massachusetts. 
 
of 
 
 RESOLVES. 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 WHEREAS, The Tariff Law of the last session of Congress has 
 not satisfied the just expectation of the people of the Southern 
 States : whereas, the recent attempt to provide a remedy for the 
 evils which we suffer from the protective system, by a State 
 Convention, not only will probably be abortive, but is likely, if 
 persisted in, materially to disturb the public harmony, and lessen 
 the moral force of the State : and, whereas, the resolutions 
 adopted by the delegates of a minority of the people, and which 
 are about to be submitted to the whole State for ratification, 
 are in several respects of a most objectionable character, it be 
 comes the duty of those who are the unquestionable representa 
 tives of the people of Georgia, to interpose for the purpose of 
 tranquillizing the public mind, and concentrating the public 
 will, by the recommendation of a course of policy, which, they 
 trust, will obtain the general approbation of the community. 
 Therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That if a Southern Convention be desirable, it is 
 expedient for the State of Georgia, to invite the States of Vir 
 ginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, and 
 Mississippi, to concur with her in electing Delegates to a Con 
 vention, which shall take into consideration the Tariff system of 
 the General Government, and devise and recommend the most 
 effectual and proper mode of obtaining relief from the evils of 
 that system. 
 
 Resolved, That in order to ascertain the sense of the people 
 of Georgia, on this subject, the following plan of a Southern 
 
272 
 
 Convention, be submitted to them, and that their votes on the 
 same be received at the appointed time and places of voting for 
 county officers in the several counties of this State, on the first 
 Monday in January next ; that no person be allowed to vote on 
 this matter, who is not entitled to vote for members of the Gen 
 eral Assembly ; that the vote be expressed by endorsing on the 
 ticket the words " Southern Convention," or " No Southern 
 Convention ;" and that a regular list be kept of the votes so en 
 dorsed, and transmitted to the Executive Department, by the 
 officers presiding at the elections. 
 
 PLAN OF A SOUTHERN CONVENTION. 
 
 ART. 1. The State of Georgia invites the States of Virginia, 
 North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, and Mis 
 sissippi, to concur with her in electing Delegates to a Conven 
 tion, which shall take into consideration the Tariff system of the 
 General Government, and devise and recommend the most ef 
 fectual and proper mode of obtaining relief from the evils of that 
 system. 
 
 ART. 2. She proposes that each invited State, shall send to 
 the Convention, a number of Delegates equal to the number of 
 Senators and Representatives to which such State is entitled in 
 the Congress of the United States. 
 
 ART. 3. The Convention shall not take place, unless (five) 
 States of the six, which it is proposed to invite, assent to the 
 proposal. 
 
 ART. 4. The time and place of assembling the proposed Con 
 vention, shall be arranged and determined by correspondence 
 among those who shall be duly authorized by the States assent 
 ing to this plan. 
 
 ART. 5. The Governor of this State, is authorized and desired 
 to communicate the invitation and proposals contained in the 
 four preceding articles to the Governors of the other States 
 above mentioned, with a request that they be made known to 
 the people of those States respectively. He is also authorized 
 and desired to arrange by correspondence, the time and place 
 of assembling the proposed Convention, conformably to the pro 
 vision of the fourth article. 
 
273 
 
 ART. 6. When the time and place for the meeting of said 
 Convention, are determined, the Governor of this State is au 
 thorized and desired to issue his proclamation, with timely no 
 tice, for an election of eleven delegates by general ticket, to 
 represent the State in said Convention ; the election to be regu 
 lated by the same principles as those which govern the election 
 of members of Congress. It is also desired and expected, that 
 the Legislature of this State will make such provision as may 
 be necessary for carrying more completely and readily into 
 effect, the above plan, if it should be adopted as proposed. 
 
 ART. 7. If the delegates assembled in a Southern Convention, 
 according to the above plan, shall agree on a course of pro 
 ceeding which they recommend to the States represented, 
 the Governor of this State is authorized and desired to issue a 
 proclamation, with timely notice, for an election of delegates to 
 a State Convention, declaring the time and place at which it 
 shall assemble. Such Convention shall consist of delegates 
 from every County, equal in number to that of its members in 
 the House of Representatives of this State, and the elections for 
 said delegates shall be regulated by the same principles, and 
 authenticated by the same forms as elections for members of the 
 General Assembly. To the State Convention thus elected, the 
 recommendations of the Southern Convention shall be submit 
 ted. If the same are approved by the State Convention, they 
 shall then be referred to the people for final ratification, in such 
 manner as may be prescribed by said Convention ; and if they 
 are ratified by the majority of those persons entitled to vote for 
 members of the General Assembly, the State Convention shall 
 proclaim that the said recommendations being regularly adopted, 
 express the will ofthe people of Georgia ; and shall also provide 
 the mode of giving permanent and authentic record to such rat 
 ification. 
 
 Resolved, That if the above plan of a Southern Convention is 
 adopted by the votes of a majority of the citizens of this State, 
 given in the manner therein described, it will be the right and 
 duty of the different functionaries of the State Government, to 
 afford all necessary aid in facilitating its execution. 
 
 Resolved, That we earnestly advise our fellow-citizens, not to 
 36 
 
274 
 
 give their votes on the resolutions of the Convention recently 
 adjourned, as therein proposed. That Convention manifestly 
 consisted of delegates from a minority of the people ; yet they 
 submit their acts for ratification to the whole people, according 
 to a form contrived by themselves, through the agency of per 
 sons appointed by themselves, while they themselves remain 
 final judges of the ratification proposed. To sanction such a 
 procedure, would open a door for the grossest imposition, would 
 establish an alarming precedent for usurping the rights of the 
 majority, and might alternately [ultimately] expose us to all the 
 horrors of discord and anarchy. 
 
 Resolved, That while we would provide a corrective for the 
 possible continuance of those evils, of which we have so much 
 reason to complain, we still hope that the regular operations of 
 the General Government will supercede the necessity of any 
 extraordinary measures on the part of the Southern people, and 
 that we recognize the happiest augury of better things, in the 
 growing certainty of the re-election of that illustrious patriot, 
 Andrew Jackson. 
 
 Resolved, That we abhor the doctrine of Nullification as nei 
 ther a peaceful, nor a constitutional remedy, but, on the con 
 trary, as tending to civil commotion and disunion ; and while 
 we deplore the rash and revolutionary measures, recently adopt 
 ed by a Convention of the people of South Carolina, we deem 
 it a paramount duty to warn our fellow citizens against the dan 
 ger of adopting her mischievous policy. 
 
 Agreed to, November 29, 1832. 
 
 ASBURY HULL, Speaker. 
 Attest, ROBERT W. CARNES, Clerk. 
 
 IN SENATE, concurred in, December 12, 1832. 
 THOMAS STOKES, President. 
 
 Attest, IVERSON L, HARRIS, Secretary. 
 
 Approved, December 14 ? 1832. 
 
 WILSON LUMPKIN, Governor. 
 
RESOLVES 
 
 LEGISLATURE 
 
 OF 
 
 MISSISSIPPI 
 
RESOLVES. 
 
 The Committee to which was referred the communication of the 
 Executive, transmitting to this House a resolution of the Sen 
 ate and House of Representatives of the State of Georgia, 
 "making application to the Congress of the United States, in 
 conformity with the fifth article of the Federal Constitution, 
 for the call of a Convention of the people to amend the Consti 
 tution aforesaid, in the particulars therein enumerated, and in 
 such others as the people of the other States deem needful of 
 amendment", beg leave to 
 
 REPORT: 
 
 That, deeply impressed with the momentous importance of 
 the subject referred to them, they have bestowed on it their 
 most deliberate consideration. They are proud to avow the sin 
 cere and sacred reverence, which they, in common with a vast 
 majority of their fellow citizens entertain for the Federal Con 
 stitution, the great charter of our national liberties, our inde 
 pendence and union. Framed as it was originally, by a Con 
 vention of the people of the United States, and sanctioned after 
 wards by the people of the respective States, in their highest 
 sovereign capacity, we should, it would seem, await the exist 
 ence of the most urgent and palpable necessity of amendment 
 ere we proceed to provide for any important alteration in a sys 
 tem of government presented to us under such imposing circum 
 stances. But when to these circumstances is added the recol 
 lection of the great, the good, the pure and gifted statesmen by 
 whom it was framed, the all embracing spirit of conciliation and 
 patriotism in which it originated, and by which it was perfect 
 ed the signal and glorious triumphs which under it have at 
 tended the eagle of our star-spangled banner on the land and on 
 
278 
 
 the deep the high and wide spread national character which it 
 has enabled us to attain the unexampled rapidity of our march 
 under its fortunate auspices to national glory, power, prosperity 
 and happiness the marked and all pervading influence which 
 it has exerted in liberalizing the forms of government through 
 out the civilized world, by conferring on mankind a knowledge 
 of their rights, and a determination and courage to maintain and 
 defend them ; when to all these glorious results, it is added, 
 that the paternal voice of Him who was first in war, first in 
 peace, and still is first in the hearts of his countrymen, employ 
 ed its latest accents in inculcating a deep and solemn venera 
 tion for this Constitution and the Union ; your Committee 
 would do injustice to their feelings, were they to suppress the 
 avowal that they seem to themselves to be treading upon holy 
 ground, and that nothing short of the most palpable necessity 
 could induce them to recommend the adoption of any measures 
 which, however well designed, might ultimately endanger the 
 existence or mar the symetry and beauty of this most perfect 
 monument of uninspired wisdom. 
 
 Your Committee, however, cannot refrain from expressing, 
 that they believe that a wild and latitudinarian construction has 
 been placed upon the Constitution of the United States, by many 
 in our Government, and which they believe to be well calcu 
 lated, by the exercise of such unlimited construction, to be pro 
 ductive of discontent, sectional injustice, and even oppression 
 itself. Your Committee believe that the Congress of the United 
 States have no right to exercise any powers other than those 
 which are expressly delegated, and those incidental powers 
 which arise under that express grant; and would gladly see 
 those ambiguities which are contained in that instrument, which 
 has been justly styled the " charter of the liberties of the Amer 
 ican people," at the proper time so amended as to set at rest 
 those disputed powers which have agitated our happy Govern 
 ment for a series of years; but the turbulent spirit of the times, 
 and the numberless sectional influences, which under almost 
 every variety of form and shape and intensity, pervade and agi 
 tate the great divisions of our country, would, in the opinion of 
 your Committee, render it imprudent to concur in the application 
 contained in the resolutions of the State of Georgia at the pre- 
 
279 
 
 sent critical period of our national affairs ; while the citizens of 
 the Union are subjected to those adverse influences, it would 
 seem more than madness to expect that calm deliberation that 
 mutual spirit of concession and conciliation, that broad patriot 
 ism in which alone it originated, and which should inform, direct 
 and animate the proceedings of any body of men who may be 
 called together to alter or amend it. Under the Constitution as 
 it exists, we enjoy a freedom of laws, of order, of security and 
 peace, and we enjoy it to an extent hitherto unexampled in the 
 records of the world. Freedom, Americans always will possess. 
 Her image is stamped so deeply upon our hearts, that like the 
 form of Phidias on the shield of his Minerva, it can be obliterated 
 by the annihilation alone of the substance on which it is im 
 pressed. But an unsuccessful attempt to render the Constitu 
 tion more congenial to the wishes of those States which are most 
 anxious for its amendment the angry warmth and excitement 
 which would attend the struggle, and the malignant passions it 
 would engender, might change this peaceful freedom, (which is 
 our pride and boast,) into a freedom of fraternal wars, of blood 
 shed and desolation. 
 
 If a Convention were called for the purpose of defining with 
 more precision those parts of the Constitution which are consid 
 ered indefinite, and prohibiting the exercise of those powers 
 which being considered doubtful, have constituted the ground 
 work of those violent party divisions which distract our country, 
 your Committee believe that it would be productive of results 
 wholly foreign to the wishes of those who are most anxious for 
 the call. A Convention assembled at this time, they have every 
 reason to believe, would affirm these very powers which are so 
 obnoxious to a majority of the citizens of the southern sections 
 of the Union. The constitutionality of a Tariff of protection 
 has been affirmed by eighteen of the twenty-four States ; the 
 larger States all being in favor of the affirmation. Now it 
 should be recollected that the power of the smaller States is 
 greater in Congress than it would be in a Convention of the 
 States, called upon any plan of representation which we could 
 reasonably expect would be adopted ; under the most favorable 
 circumstances the co-ordinate power held by us in the Senate, 
 would be merged in the mass of the popular representation of 
 
280 
 
 the larger States. For a redress of the grievances, therefore 
 which are assigned as the causes for the call, prudence would 
 seem to dictate a reliance on the equity and patriotism of the 
 National Legislature, and more especially a reliance on the pro 
 gressive influence, the intelligence and virtue of the people of 
 the Union. 
 
 In accordance with these suggestions, your Committee would 
 recommend the adoption of the following resolution : 
 
 Be it resolved by the Legislature of the State of Mississippi, That 
 this State does not conceive it expedient to concur in the 
 resolution of the State of Georgia, " making application to the 
 Congress of the United States for the call of a Convention of the 
 people to amend the Federal Constitution in the particulars 
 therein enumerated, and in such others as the people of the 
 other States may deem needful of amendment." 
 
 Be it further resolved, That His Excellency the Governor be re 
 quested to transmit a copy of this Resolution to the Executive 
 of the State of Georgia, and of each of the other States of the 
 Union. 
 
 DAVID PEMBLE, 
 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 
 CHARLES LYNCH, 
 
 President of the Senate. 
 
KT The following Documents were received at too late 
 period, to be inserted in their proper places. 
 
 37 
 
RESOLVES 
 
 LEGISLATURE 
 
 CONNECTICUT. 
 
RESOLVES. 
 
 \ 
 
 At a General Assembly of the State of Connecticut, holden at Hart 
 ford, in said State, on the first Wednesday of May, in the year of 
 our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three. 
 
 Upon the Report of the Joint Committee, to whom had been 
 referred so much of the Message of His Excellency the Govern 
 or, as relates to the several communications from the Executive 
 Departments of the States of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachu 
 setts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, 
 South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, 
 and Mississippi, on the subject of the Tariff Laws, Internal Im 
 provements, and Amendments of the Constitution of the United 
 States : 
 
 Resolved by this Assembly, That the Congress of the United 
 States are authorized by the Constitution, to pass acts for the 
 levying and collecting of duties on imposts, and thereby to raise 
 a revenue sufficient for all the exigencies of the Government; 
 that in forming a Tariff of such duties, it is just and constitutional 
 that the interests of our own manufactures should be regarded, 
 and due encouragement and protection thereby given to them ; 
 that such acts, when approved by the President, are binding on 
 all the States, and on all the people of every State, and that no 
 State has power to nullify, or the right to resist the execution 
 of the same. 
 
 Resolved, That it is the imperious duty of the President of the 
 United States, to see that such laws are carried into execution ; 
 and that in the constitutional discharge of this duty, he is en 
 titled to and ought to receive the aid and support of every citi 
 zen of the Union. 
 
 Resolved, That this Assembly do most fully approve the essen- 
 
286 
 
 tial principles and the determination avowed by the President, 
 in his Proclamation of the 10th of December, 1832, and in his 
 subsequent Message to Congress ; and that this Assembly, and 
 the people of this State, will cordially and faithfully co-operate 
 with him in carrying the same into effect. 
 
 Resolved, That the members of this Assembly cherish a sin 
 cere regard and affection for the citizens of the State of South 
 Carolina, as well as for all their brethren of this great confed 
 erated family ; and that they shall ever remember with gratitude 
 and pride the many and brilliant services rendered by that dis 
 tinguished State, in the struggle for independence. 
 
 Resolved, That much would be hazarded, and nothing valu 
 able could be gained, by an attempt, at the present time, and in 
 the present state of the Union, to amend the Constitution of the 
 United States ; and, therefore, this Assembly do not concur in 
 the proposition of the State of Georgia, inviting a Convention of 
 the people for that purpose. 
 
 Resolved, That the Secretary of this State cause thirty copies 
 of the foregoing Resolutions to be printed ; and that His Excel 
 lency the Governor of this State be requested to transmit one 
 copy thereof to the President of the United States, and a similar 
 copy thereof to the Governor of each State and Territory of the 
 Union. 
 
 A true copy of record, 
 
 Examined and certified by 
 
 THOMAS DAY, Secretary. 
 
RESOLVES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LEGISLATURE 
 
 OF 
 
 MARYLAND. 
 
RESOLVES. 
 
 BY THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES, Feb. 9, 1S33. 
 
 The Joint Committee, to whom was referred the Ordinance and 
 other Documents, transmitted us by the Governor of South 
 Carolina, and that part of our late Governor s Message, relat 
 ing thereto, have given the subject that attention which its 
 serious import demands, and report the following : 
 
 Resolved by the General Assembly of Maryland, That in express 
 ing our opinion upon the Ordinance of Nullification, and the re 
 cent proceedings of South Carolina, it is our duty to declare our 
 opinions firmly on the principles assailed, and to expostulate 
 mildly and affectionately with her. 
 
 Resolved, That we hold these principles to be incontroverti 
 ble, that the Government of the United States was adopted by 
 the people of the different States, and established " in order to 
 form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic 
 tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the gen 
 eral welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and 
 our posterity ;" that it possesses all the powers necessary for the 
 purposes for which it was instituted ; that it is irreconcileable with 
 the objects and purposes for which the Constitution was adopt 
 ed, to suppose that it contains in itself the principles of its own 
 destruction, or has failed to endue the Government, created by 
 it, with the essential power of self-preservation. 
 
 That it is not in the power of any one State to annul an act of 
 the General Government, as void or unconstitutional. 
 
 That the power of deciding controversies among the different 
 States, or between the General Government and a State, is 
 reposed in the Federal Judiciary, and that it is an act of usurpa- 
 38 
 
290 
 
 tion for any State to arrogate to herself jurisdiction in such 
 cases. 
 
 That the Supreme Court is the only tribunal, having conclu 
 sive jurisdiction in cases involving the constitutionality of the 
 acts of the General Government. 
 
 That whenever a State is aggrieved by the Constitutional acts 
 of the General Government, the fifth article of the Constitution 
 prescribes the remedy, declaring that " the Congress, whenever 
 two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose 
 amendments to this Constitution, or on the application of the 
 Legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, shall call a Con 
 vention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall 
 be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, 
 when ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the several 
 States, or by Conventions, in three-fourths thereof, as the one 
 or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by Congress." 
 
 That the right to annul a law of the General Government, as 
 sumed by one State, is " incompatible with the existence of the 
 Union, contradicted expressly by the letter of the Constitution, 
 unauthorized by its spirit, inconsistent with every principle on 
 which it was founded, and destructive of the great object for 
 which it was formed." 
 
 That our fellow citizens of South Carolina, who remain faith 
 ful to the Constitution and laws of the United States, are enti 
 tled to the protection of the General Government, both for their 
 property and their persons. 
 
 That if any State, regardless of the constitutional remedies 
 which are afforded for every grievance and oppression, should 
 attempt to withdraw from the Union, it is the right and duty of 
 the General Government, to protect itself, and the other States, 
 from the fatal consequences of any such attempt. 
 
 Further Resolved, That the Ordinance of Nullification of 
 South Carolina, is calculated to mislead her citizens from the 
 true character of the Federal Government, and the just alle 
 giance, which they owe to that Government. 
 
 Resolved, That this State is ardently attached to the Union 
 that it does not desire any additional powers to be conferred on 
 the General Government, but wishes every delegated power to 
 be exerted that has a tendency to strengthen the bonds that 
 
291 
 
 unite us, and to fortify the hope that the Union will be per 
 petual. 
 
 Resolved, That this State does not recognize the power in any 
 State, to nullify a law of Congress, nor to secede from the Un 
 ion, and that it will sustain the General Government in the ex 
 ercise of every constitutional means to preserve unimpaired the 
 integrity of the United States. 
 
 Resolved, That our mutual interests and general welfare impel 
 us to guard with care, the integrity of the Constitution, and to 
 appeal in the most solemn and affectionate manner to the other 
 States, and particularly to South Carolina, to reciprocate with 
 this State, its well founded attachment to the Union, and to op 
 pose, with becoming firmness, every infraction of those great 
 and fundamental principles of the Constitution, which form the 
 only basis on which our happy institutions can with safety re 
 pose. 
 
 Resolved, That we deeply deplore the excitement which has 
 prompted our sister State of South Carolina to the attitude of 
 defiance, which she now exhibits ; that however extravagant her 
 irritation may be deemed, or impatient her proceedings, we will 
 not renounce the hope that a calmer feeling will yet enable her 
 to see the dreadful consequences of repelling the laws of the 
 Union. That, conspicuous and persevering as her valor was in 
 achieving the great results which gave birth to our Union, she 
 will yet remember the glory of her early toils, and will offer up, 
 in the sanctuary of the Union, her Ordinance and her conse 
 quent laws, a patriotic sacrifice to the cause of American liberty 
 and union. 
 
 Resolved, That the Tariff Laws of 1828, and of 1832, are 
 within the Legitimate exercise of the constitutional powers of 
 Congress, but we will acquiesce with pleasure, in any modifica 
 tion of those laws, which the wisdom of Congress may devise 
 for allaying the excitement on that subject, in the Southern por 
 tion of our country, which shall reduce the amount of revenue 
 to the necessary expenditures of the Government, and at the 
 same time sufficiently guard those great interests which have 
 grown up under the system of protection. 
 
 Resolved, That the following words from Washington s Fare 
 well Address, should at all times, but particularly at the present 
 
292 
 
 alarming crisis, be impressed upon the heart of every American : 
 " The unity of Government, which constitutes you one people, 
 is also now dear to you, it is justly so, for it is a main pillar of 
 the edifice of your real independence ; the support of your 
 tranquillity at home, your peace abroad ; of your safety, of your 
 prosperity, of that very liberty which you so highly prize." 
 
 " It is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate 
 the immense value of your National Union to your collective 
 and individual happiness, that you should cherish a cordial, ha 
 bitual and immoveable attachment to it ; accustoming yourselves 
 to think and speak of it as the palladium of your political safety 
 and prosperity, watching for its preservation with jealous anx 
 iety, discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion 
 that it can, in any event be abandoned, and indignantly frown 
 ing upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any por 
 tion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties 
 which now link together the various parts." 
 
 Resolved, That the Governor be requested to transmit a copy 
 of the above Resolutions to the President of the United States, 
 to the Executives of the several States, and to each of our Sen 
 ators and Representatives in Congress. 
 
 By order, 
 
 G. G. BREWER, Clerk. 
 
 BY THE SENATE, Feb. 26, 1833. 
 Read and assented to. 
 
 JOS. H. NICHOLSON, Clerk. 
 
JOURNAL 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CONVENTION 
 
 THE PEOPLE 
 
 OF 
 
 SOUTH CAROLINA, 
 
 WHICH 
 
 ASSEMBLED AT COLUMBIA, ON THE 19TH NOVEMBER, 1832, 
 AND AGAIN ON THE 11TH MARCH, 1833. 
 
JOURNAL 
 
 MONDAY, November 19, 1832. 
 
 PURSUANT to an Act of the Legislature of the State of South 
 Carolina, entitled " An Act to provide for the calling of a Con 
 vention of the People of this State," passed on the 26th of Oc 
 tober, 1832, the Delegates of the several Election Districts of 
 this State, assembled in the Hall of Representatives, in the 
 Town of Columbia, on this day at twelve o clock. 
 
 On motion of Gen. J. B. EARLE, the Hon. STEPHEN D. MIL 
 LER, of Claremont, was called to the Chair, and Mr. A. BURT, of 
 Abbeville, appointed Secretary. 
 
 The credentials of the following individuals were then ex 
 hibited, and their names enrolled as Members of the Conven 
 tion. 
 
 From Greenville. 
 B. F. Perry, Thomas P. Brockman, Silas R. Whitten. 
 
 From Spartenburg. 
 John S. Rowland, J. S. Richardson, J. B. O Neal, James Crook. 
 
 From Laurens. 
 
 Archibald Young, William Arnold, John S. James, A. Fuller, 
 
 Robert Long. 
 
 From Mbeville. 
 
 George M Duffie, John Lipscomb, John Logan, A. Bowie, Sam 
 uel L. Watt, A. Burt. 
 
 From York. 
 
 Benjamin Chambers, I. A. Campbell, James A. Black, James 
 Moore, John L. Miller. 
 
296 
 
 From Maryborough. 
 Benjamin Rogers, Nicholas Ware. 
 
 From Union. 
 
 J. S. Sims, Thomas Ray, A. Lancaster, John Littlejohn, George 
 Douglas. 
 
 From Kershaw. 
 Everard Cureton, Chapman Levy, John Chesnut, C. J. Shannon. 
 
 From Chesterfield. 
 P. Phillips, James R. Ervin, Alfred M. Lowry. 
 
 From Darlington. 
 William H. Cannon, S. B. Wilkins, Robert Ervin. 
 
 From Marion. 
 A. L. Gregg, Thomas Harllee, William Evans. 
 
 From Williamsburg. 
 T. D. Singleton, Sen., William Waties, P. G. Gourdin. 
 
 From Clarendon. 
 John P. Richardson, Richard J. Manning, N. R. Burgess. 
 
 From Claremont. 
 
 Stephen D. Miller, John B. Miller, James G. Spann, Stephen 
 
 Lacoste. 
 
 From All Saints. 
 Peter Vaught. 
 
 From Prince George, Winyaw. 
 Philip Tidyman, Allard H. Belin. 
 
 From Saint Peter s. 
 J. Hamilton, Jr., A. J. Lawton, John S. Maner. 
 
 From Saint Luke s. 
 A. Huguenin, T. E. Screven, James Mongin Smith. 
 
297 
 
 From Saint Helena. 
 R. W. Barnwell, Charles G. Capers. 
 
 From Saint James, Goose Creek. 
 Isaac Bradwell, Jr., G. H. Smith. 
 
 From Saint Thomas and Saint Dennis. 
 Francis D. Quash, John L. Nowell. 
 
 From Saint John s, Berkley. 
 Peter Gailliard, Jr., William Porcher. 
 
 From Saint John s, Cotteton. 
 William M. Murray. 
 
 From Chester. 
 
 R. G. Mills, John Douglas, Thomas B. Woodward, Thomas G. 
 Blewett, William Stringfellow. 
 
 From Fairfield. 
 
 William Harper, D. H. Means, Edward G. Palmer, John B. 
 McCall, William Smith. 
 
 From Richland. 
 
 Pierce M. Butler, William C. Clifton, Sterling C. Williamson, 
 Sen., James Adams, John G. Brown. 
 
 From Saint Philip s and Saint Michael s. 
 
 James Hamilton Sen., Richard B. Baker, Sen., Robert J. 
 Turnbull, S. L. Simons, John Magrath, Charles Parker, Barnard 
 E. Bee, Elias Vanderhorst, Peter J. Shand, Nathaniel Heyward, 
 Robert Y. Hayne, C. J. Colcock, John Ball, John L. Wilson, 
 James Lynah, C. C. Pinckney, Philip Cohen. 
 
 From Christ Church. 
 Jacob Bond POn, James Anderson. 
 
 From Saint James\ Santee. 
 
 Samuel Cordes. 
 39 
 
298 
 
 From Saint Stephen s. 
 W. Dubose, Theodore L. Gourdin. 
 
 From Saint Matthew s. 
 R. P. McCord, T. J. Goodwyn. 
 
 From Saint Andrew s. 
 Benjamin Adams, John Rivers. 
 
 From Saint Paul s. 
 F. Y. Legare, Thomas W. Boone. 
 
 From Saint Bartholomew s. 
 W. C. Pinckney, F. H. Elmore, Isham Walker. 
 
 From Prince William s. 
 Wm. Williams, Thomas H. Colcock, J. B. Ulmer. 
 
 From Orange. 
 Edmund J. Felder, Donald Rowe. 
 
 From Barnwell. 
 Jennings O Bannon, Stephen Smith, L. M. Ayer, J. G. Brown. 
 
 From Lexington. 
 West Caughman, Jacob H. King, Edwin J. Scott. 
 
 From Edgefield. 
 
 James Spann, John Key, John Bauskett, Abner Whatley, John 
 S. Jeter, R. G. Mays, F. H. Wardlaw. 
 
 From Pcndleton. 
 
 R. Anderson, Thomas Harrison, J. B. Earle, Thomas Pinck 
 ney, J. T. Whitefield, Francis Burt, Jr., F. W. Symmes, Bailey 
 Barton. 
 
 From Newberry. 
 
 Job Johnston, George W. Glenn, John Counts, John K. Griffin, 
 
 John Hatton. 
 
 From Lancaster. 
 Samuel R. Gibson. 
 
299 
 
 On motion of Judge Harper, the Convention now proceeded 
 to the election of a President. Colonels Pinckney, of Pendle- 
 ton, and Butler, of Richland, and Mr. Black, of York, having 
 been appointed a Committee to count the votes, reported that 
 His Excellency James Hamilton, Jr., Governor and Commander 
 in Chief in and over the State, has been duly elected President 
 of the Convention. 
 
 On motion of Judge Harper, a Committee was appointed to 
 inform Governor Hamilton of his election, and to conduct him 
 to the chair. The Committee consisted of the Hon. Robert Y. 
 Hayne, the Hon. George McDuffie, arid the Hon. R. W. Barn- 
 well. The President, in a short address, returned his grateful 
 acknowledgments for the honor conferred, and entered upon the 
 duties of his station. 
 
 Col. Butler now moved that the Convention should go into 
 the election of a Clerk, which being agreed to, Judge Colcock 
 nominated Mr. Isaac W. Hayne. Messrs. Elmore, Cohen, and 
 Barton, were appointed a Committee to count the votes. 
 
 While the Committee had retired, Judge Harper moved that 
 the Messenger and Door Keeper of the House of Representatives, 
 should be appointed Messenger and Door Keeper of the Con 
 vention, which was agreed to ; and on motion of the Hon. John 
 L. Wilson, Mr. A. S. Johnston was appointed Printer. 
 
 Col. Elmore, on the part of the Committee appointed to 
 count the votes for Clerk, now reported Isaac W. Hayne, Esq., 
 duly elected Clerk of the Convention. 
 
 On motion of Col. I On, a Committee was appointed to draft 
 and report rules for the regulation of the Convention during its 
 further session. The Committee consisted of Col. I On, Col. 
 Thomas Pinckney, and the Hon. J. B. O Neal. 
 
 On motion of Judge Colcock, it was ordered that Clergymen 
 
 should be invited to open the proceedings of each day with 
 prayer. 
 
 Judge Colcock, then introduced the following Resolution : 
 " Resolved, That the Act to provide for the calling of a Con 
 vention of the People of this State, be referred to a Select Com 
 mittee, to consist of twenty-one members, and to be nominated 
 by the President, with instructions to consider and report there 
 on, and especially as to the measures proper to be adopted by 
 
300 
 
 this Convention, in reference to the violations of the Constitu 
 tion of the United States, in the enactment by Congress, on di 
 vers occasions, of laws laying duties and imposts for the purpose 
 of encouraging and protecting domestic manufactures, and for 
 other unwarrantable purposes. " 
 
 This Resolution having been considered and adopted, Gen. 
 Hayne moved that the Convention stand adjourned until 10 
 o clock to-morrow, in order that time might be allowed the Pre 
 sident for the selection of the Committee, which being agreed 
 to, the Convention adjourned accordingly. 
 
 ISAAC W. HAYNE, 
 
 Clerk of the Convention. 
 
 TUESDAY, November 20, 1832. 
 
 The Convention met according to adjournment. After a pray 
 er from the Rev. Mr. Ray, the Journal of the proceedings of the 
 day previous was read. The following gentlemen then appeared 
 and enrolled their names as members of the Convention : Henry 
 Middleton, from Greenville, Minor Clinton, from Lancaster, M. 
 Jacobs, from St. Helena. 
 
 Col. I On, on the part of the Committee to draft Rules for the 
 regulation of the Convention, then made the following Report, 
 to wit : 
 
 RULES FOR THE CONVENTION. 
 
 The Committee appointed to draft Rules for the government of 
 the Convention in its deliberations, beg leave to submit the 
 following : 
 
 1. The President and one hundred and twelve members shall 
 be a quorum to transact business. 
 
 2. If any member shall break the Convention, or absent him 
 self without leave, he shall be sent for at his own expense, and 
 be subject to the censure of the Convention. 
 
301 
 
 3. No member shall speak more than twice to the same point^ 
 without leave of the Convention. 
 
 4. Each member, when speaking, shall address himself to the 
 chair, standing, and uncovered, at his place. 
 
 5. If two members rise to speak nearly at the same time, the 
 President shall decide which was first up. 
 
 6. Every member, when speaking, shall adhere to the point 
 before the Convention, and shall not be interrupted unless he 
 departs from it, when he may be called to order. 
 
 7. When a question of order arises, it shall be determined by 
 the President in the first instance, but any member may appeal 
 from his determination, to the Convention. 
 
 8. When a motion is made and seconded, it shall, if required 
 by a member, be reduced to writing, and delivered in at the 
 table. 
 
 9. When a question is put by the President, and the Conven 
 tion divides, the Clerk shall, at the request of any seven members 
 present, take down and enter on the Journals, the names of all 
 those members who vote for and against the question, and have 
 them published and printed in any Gazette of the State. 
 
 10. When the President desires to be heard, the members 
 shall take their seats, and keep order whilst he is speaking. 
 
 11. When a motion is made for adjournment, and seconded, 
 no question shall be debated until the Convention have decided 
 on that motion. 
 
 J. B. PON, 
 
 Chairman of the Committee. 
 
 The Report having been adopted, Col. FOn moved that two 
 hundred and fifty copies should be printed for the use of the 
 members, which was agreed to. 
 
 Joseph L. Stephens and Alfred Huger appeared, and enrolled 
 their names as Delegates from St. John s, Colleton, and Spar- 
 tanburg. 
 
 The President, under the Resolution of the day previous, now 
 appointed the following gentlemen to constitute the Select 
 Committee of twenty-one, to consider and report upon the Act 
 
302 
 
 of the Legislature, entitled " An Act to provide for the calling 
 of a Convention of the People of this State," to wit : 
 
 Hon. Charles J. Colcock, 
 
 Gen. J. B. Earle, Hon. Robert Y. Hayne, 
 Hon. J. B. O Neal, Hon. S. D. Miller, 
 
 Col. W. C. Pinckney, Hon. Geo. McDuffie, 
 
 Chancellor Johnston, R. J. Turnbull, Esq., 
 
 Hon. J. K. Griffin, Hon. R. W. Barnwell, 
 
 Benjamin Rogers, Esq., J. R. Ervin, Esq., 
 
 Col. J. Bond I On, Col. P. M. Butler, 
 
 T. D. Singleton, Esq., Col. John Bauskett, 
 
 James A. Black, Esq., Hon. R. J. Manning, 
 
 Hon. William Harper, Hon. Henry Middleton. 
 
 J. A. Keith, of Prince George, Winyaw, appeared, and enroll 
 ed his name. 
 
 On motion of Judge Colcock. the Convention then adjourned 
 until one o clock to-morrow. 
 
 ISAAC W. HAYNE, 
 
 Cleric of the Convention. 
 
 WEDNESDAY, November 21, 1832. 
 
 The Convention met according to adjournment, and the pro 
 ceedings were opened with a prayer from the Rev. Mr. Ray. 
 
 The roll being called, the following gentlemen answered to 
 their names, viz : B. Adams, James Adams, Ayer, J. Anderson, 
 Robert Anderson, Arnold, Baker, Ball, Bee, Boone, Barnwell, 
 Bradwell, Blewett, Butler, J. G. Brown, Richlcmd, J. G. Brown, 
 Barnwell, Bauskett, A. Burt, Francis Burt, Jr., Barton, Brockman, 
 Bowie, Burgess, Belin, Cohen, Cordes, Thomas H. Colcock, 
 Capers, Clifton, Caughman, Counts, Crooke, Chambers, Camp 
 bell, Cureton, Chesnut, Cannon, Clinton, Dubose, Dawson, John 
 Douglas, George Douglas, Elmore, Earle, James R. Ervin, Rob 
 ert Ervin, William Evans, Felder, Fuller, T. L. Gourdin, P. G. 
 
303 
 
 Gourdin, Goodwyn, Gailliard, Griffin, Glenn, Gibson, J. Hamil 
 ton, Sen., Heyward, Harper, Hatton, Harllee, Huguenin, Alfred 
 Huger, 1 On, Jeter, Johnston, James, Jacobs, Keith, Key, Levy, 
 Lowry, Lacoste, Lynah, Legare, Lawton, Long, Lipscomb, Lo 
 gan, Littlejohn, Lancaster, Magrath, Manning, Maner, Murray, 
 Mills, Means, Moore, John L. Miller, Stephen D. Miller, John 
 B. Miller, McCord, Middleton, Nowell, O Neale, O Bannon, P. 
 Phillips, Parker, Porcher, Palmer, Perry, C. C. Pinckney, 
 Thomas Pinckney, Quash, John P. Richardson, Rivers, Rowe, 
 Rowland, Rogers, Ray, James G. Spann, James Spann, Simons, 
 Shand, James M. Smith, G. H. Smith, William Smith, Stephen 
 Smith, Stringfellow, Scott, Symmes, Sims, Shannon, Singleton, 
 Stevens, Screven, Turnbull, Tyler, Tidyman, Ulmer, Vaught, 
 Vanderhorst, Wilson, Walker, Williams, Woodward, Williamson, 
 Wardlaw, Whatley, Whitefield, Whitten, Watt, Waties, Wilkins, 
 Ware, Warren, Young. 
 
 The Journal of the day previous having been read, this was 
 announced by the President as the proper time for presenting 
 Reports from Committees. 
 
 Gen. J. B. Earle, of the Select Committee, to which was re 
 ferred the consideration of the Act of the Legislature, providing 
 for the call of a Convention, in the absence of the Chairman, 
 stated, on the part of the Committee, that they had not found it 
 practicable to prepare a Report for to-day, and moved that fur 
 ther time should be allowed them ; which was agreed to. 
 
 Mr. A. M. Lowry, from Chesterfield, then introduced the fol 
 lowing Resolution, viz : 
 
 " Resolved, That the tenth section of the first article of the 
 Constitution of this State, be altered and made to read as fol 
 lows : 
 
 " Senators and Members of the House of Representatives, 
 shall be chosen on the second Monday in October next, and on 
 the same days in every year thereafter, in such manner, and at 
 such time as are herein directed. And shall meet on the fourth 
 Monday in November, annually, at Columbia, (which shall re 
 main the seat of Government until otherwise determined by the 
 concurrence of two-thirds of both branches of the whole Repre 
 sentation,) unless the casualties of war, or contagious disorders 
 should render it unsafe to meet there ; in either of which cases, 
 
304 
 
 the Governor or Commander in Chief for the time being, may, 
 by Proclamation, appoint a more secure and convenient place 
 of meeting." 
 
 The question of consideration being put by the President, the 
 Convention refused to consider this Resolution. 
 
 Benjamin A. Markley, from St. Philip s and St. Michael s, and 
 J, Walter Philips, from All Saints, appeared and enrolled their 
 names as members of the Convention. The Convention then 
 adjourned until to-morrow at one o clock. 
 
 ISAAC W. HAYNE, 
 
 Clerk of the Convention. 
 
 THURSDAY, November, 22, 1832. 
 
 The Convention met according to adjournment, and the pro 
 ceedings were opened with a prayer by the Rev. Mr. Ware. 
 
 The roll being called, the following gentlemen answered to 
 their names, viz : B. Adams, James Adams, Ayer, J. Anderson, 
 Robert Anderson, Arnold, Baker, Ball, Bee, Boone, Barnwell, 
 Bradwell, Blewett, Butler, J. G. Brown, Richland, J. G. Brown, 
 Barnwell) Bauskett, A. Burt, Francis Burt, Barton, Brockman, 
 Bowie, Black, Burgess, Belin, Cohen, Cordes, Thomas H. Col- 
 cock, C. J. Colcock, Capers, Clifton, Caughman, Counts, 
 Crooke, Chambers, Campbell, Cureton, Chesnut, Cannon, Clin 
 ton, Dubose, Dawson, John Douglas, Geo. Douglas, Elmore, 
 Earle, James R. Ervin, Robert Ervin, Wm. Evans, Felder, Ful 
 ler, T. L. Gourdin, P. G. Gourdin, Goodwyn, Gailliard, Griffin, 
 Glenn, Gibson, Gregg, James Hamilton, Sen., Hayne, Heyward, 
 Harper, Harrison, Hatton, Harllee, Huguenin, Alfred Huger, 
 I On, Jeter, Johnston, James, Jacobs, Keith, Key, King, Levy, 
 Lowry, Lacoste, Legare, Lawton, Long, Lipscomb, Logan, Lit- 
 tlejohn, Lancaster, Magrath, Markley, Manning, Marier, Murray, 
 Mills, McCall, Means, Mays, Moore, J. L. Miller, S. D. Miller, 
 John B. Miller, McCord, Nowell, O Neale, O Bannon, P. Phil- 
 
305 
 
 lips, J. W. Phillips, Parker, Porcher, Palmer, Perry, C. C. Pinck- 
 ney, W. C. Pinckney, Thomas Pinckney, Quash, J. P. Richard 
 son, J. S. Richardson, Rivers, Rowe, Rowland, Rogers, Ray, J. 
 G. Spann, James Spann, Simons, Shand, J. M. Smith, G. H. 
 Smith, Wm. Smith, Stephen Smith, Stringfellow, Scott, Symmes, 
 Sims, Shannon, Singleton, Stevens, Screven, Turnbull, Tyler, 
 Tidyman, Ulmer, Vaught, Vanderhorst, Wilson, Walker, Wil 
 liams, Woodward, Whitefield, Whitten, Watt, Waties, Wilkins, 
 Ware, Whatley, Young. 
 
 The Journal of the day previous having been read, Samuel 
 Warren, from St. James, Santee, and D. E. Huger, from King 
 ston, appeared and enrolled their names as members of the Con 
 vention. 
 
 Judge Colcock, from the Select Committee of twenty-one, in 
 formed the Convention that the Committee was ready to report, 
 and moved that the reading of the Report should be dispensed 
 with, and that it should lie on the table, and be ordered to be 
 printed. Judge O Neal moved to amend this motion, so as to 
 make this Report the order of the day for Saturday. To this 
 Judge Colcock objected, and obtained leave to withdraw his 
 motion, upon which Judge O Neal withdrew his amendment. 
 Judge Colcock then called to his assistance Gen. Hayne, one of 
 the Committee, by whom the Report was read to the Conven 
 tion. An Ordinance, accompanying the Report, was then read 
 by the Chairman. 
 
 At the motion of Col. Barnwell, the Report and Ordinance 
 were ordered to lie on the table, be printed, and made the order 
 of the day for to-morrow. 
 
 Mr. Wilson moved to amend this motion, by specifying the 
 number of copies to be printed, and proposed five thousand, 
 which Col. Pinckney, of St. Bartholomew s, moved to amend, by 
 inserting ten thousand instead of five ; but on the suggestion of 
 Judge Harper, that it would be best to defer the printing of a 
 larger number of copies than were needed for the use of the 
 Convention, until the Report should be finally adopted, the 
 amendments were withdrawn. 
 
 The following Resolution was then introduced by the Hon. 
 Henry Middleton, a Delegate from Greenville, to wit : 
 
 ; < Whereas, the Sovereignty of the State of South Carolina, re- 
 40 
 
306 
 
 sides in the aggregate body of freemen, inhabiting the territory; 
 and, consequently, all just legislation can be alone founded upon 
 the collective will of a majority of that body. And, whereas, the 
 supreme will of this body of freemen can only be collected 
 either by an actual vote of the majority taken in primary assem 
 blies, or by the election of Delegates, chosen in numbers, pro 
 portionate to the number of free white men, in each District 
 and Parish of the State, so as to constitute an equal and ade 
 quate representation of the people thereof. And, whereas, the 
 Convention now actually here assembled, under the recom 
 mendation of the Legislature, is apportioned on a compound 
 ratio of population and of property, which may be, and probably 
 is, an equitable apportionment for the purposes of taxation and 
 municipal regulations; but is by no means adequate or com 
 petent, to the exercise of the highest attributes of sovereignty, 
 by reason of the want of a full and equal representation of the 
 people, a defect which cannot be remedied by any enactment 
 of the Legislature. And, whereas, any act amounting to an ex 
 ercise of sovereignty, on the part of the portion of the people, 
 here convened at this time, might be considered as a manifest 
 and palpable usurpation of power, possessed alone by the whole 
 people ; therefore, 
 
 "Resolved, That this Convention, deeming itself incompetent, 
 for the reasons above assigned, to wield the sovereign authority 
 of the people it unequally represents, doth remand to the 
 Legislature, the high matters referred, by the Act of the 25th 
 October last, with a recommendation to the said Legislature, 
 that they reconsider, at their next stated meeting, the whole 
 question ; and if, according to the constitutional provision, two- 
 thirds of both branches shall agree so to do, then, and in that 
 case to recommit the said subject matter to a Convention, 
 wherein the representation of the people shall be full and com 
 plete, and which will be thereby competent to determine such 
 questions of sovereign right, as they may see fit to consider as 
 affecting the interest of the State of South Carolina, her dignity 
 and honor." 
 
 The Hon. George M Duffie moved the question of considera 
 tion. Judge Huger requested the withdrawal of the motion, 
 that the Resolution might be freely discussed j but the question 
 
307 
 
 being insisted on, and put by the President, the Convention re 
 fused to consider the Resolution. 
 
 Col. Anderson, of Pendleton, submitted to the Convention a 
 Memorial from sundry citizens of Pendleton District, praying 
 that the Constitution might be so amended as to make two Elec 
 tion Districts of the two Judicial Districts into which Pendleton 
 is divided. The question of consideration being moved by 
 Judge Harper, the Convention refused to consider the Memo 
 rial. 
 
 On motion of Gen. Hayne, it was then ordered that the Se 
 lect Committee of twenty-one have leave to sit again, and the 
 Convention adjourned until twelve o clock to-morrow. 
 
 ISAAC W. HAYNE, 
 
 Clerk of the Convention. 
 
 FRIDAY, November 23, 1832. 
 
 The Convention met according to adjournment; and after a 
 prayer from the Rev. Mr. Goulding, the roll was called, and the 
 following gentlemen answered to their names, viz : B. Adarns, 
 James Adams, Ayer, James Anderson, R. Anderson, Arnold, Ba 
 ker, Ball, Bee, Boone, Bradwell, Blewett, Butler, J. G. Brown, 
 Richland, J. G. Brown, Barnwell, Bauskett, A. Burt, Francis 
 Burt, Jr., Barton, Brockman, Bowie, Black, Burgess, Cohen, 
 Cordes, T. H. Colcock, C. J. Colcock, Capers, Clifton, Caugh- 
 man, Counts, Crooke, Chambers, Campbell, Cureton, Chesnut, 
 Cannon, Clinton, Dubose, Dawson, John Douglas, Geo. Doug 
 las, Elmore, Earle, J. R. Ervin, Robert Ervin, Wm. Evans, 
 Felder, Fuller, T. L. Gourdin, P. G. Gourdin, Goodwyn, Gail- 
 liard, Griffin, Glenn, Gibson, Gregg, J. Hamilton, Sen., Hayne, 
 Heyward, Harper, Harrison, Hatton, Harllee, Huguenin, Alfred 
 Huger, POn, Jeter, Johnston, James, Jacobs, Keith, Key, King, 
 Levy, Lowry, Lacoste, Legare, J^awton, Long, Lipscomb, Lo 
 gan, Littlejohn, Lancaster, Magrath, Manning, Maner, Murray, 
 Mills, McCall, Means, Mays, Moore, J. L. Miller, S. D. Miller, 
 
308 
 
 John B. Miller, McCord, Nowell, O Neale, O Bannon, P. Phil- 
 lips, J. W. Phillips, Parker, Porcher, Palmer, Perry, C. C. 
 Pinckney, Wm. C. Pinckney, Thomas Pinckney, Quash, J. P. 
 Richardson, J. S. Richardson, Rivers, Rowe, Rowland, Rogers? 
 Ray, J. G. Spann, James Spann, Simons, Shand, J. M. Smith, 
 G. H. Smith, Wm. Smith, Stephen Smith, Stringfellow, Scott, 
 Symmes, Sims, Shannon, Singleton, Stevens, Screven, Turnbull, 
 Tyler, Tidyman, Ulmer, Vanderhorst, Wilson Walker, Williams, 
 Woodward, Williamson, Wardlaw, Whatley, Whitten, Watt, 
 Waties, Wilkins, Ware, Warren, Young. 
 
 The Journal of the previous day having been read, the Hon. 
 R. W. Barnwell, offered the following Resolution, which was 
 agreed to, viz : 
 
 11 Resolved , That the President of the Senate, and Speaker of 
 the House of Representatives, be invited to take seats upon the 
 floor in the Chamber in which the Convention is now assem 
 bled." 
 
 Judge Colcock, from the Committee of twenty-one, made a 
 further Report to the Convention, consisting of an Address to 
 the People of the State, which having been read by Robert J. 
 Turnbull, Esq., on motion of Judge Colcock, it was ordered to 
 lie on the table and to be printed. 
 
 Mr. Samuel R. Gibson, a Delegate from Lancaster, presented 
 a Memorial from a portion of the citizens of that District, 
 praying an alteration of the Constitution as to the basis of rep 
 resentation in the State Legislature. 
 
 Mr. S. D. Miller moved that the Memorial be laid on the 
 table. 
 
 Mr. McDuffie moved the question of consideration. 
 The President deciding the first motion to be first in order, 
 the question was taken, and the Memorial ordered to be laid on 
 the table. 
 
 The Hon. J. L. Wilson then introduced the following Reso 
 lution, viz : 
 
 " Whereas, the Convention of the People of the State of South 
 Carolina, having learned with deep and unfeigned regret, the 
 death of Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, the last surviving signer 
 of the Declaration of Independence, and lately the only living 
 
309 
 
 link that connected us with that important event as a testimony 
 of respect to the memory of the deceased, 
 
 " Resolved, That the members of this Convention wear crape 
 on the left arm, for the space of thirty days." 
 
 This Resolution having been adopted by the unanimous vote 
 of the Convention, it was ordered to be so entered on the Jour 
 nal of the proceedings. 
 
 The Ordinance, which was made the order of the day, was 
 now taken up for consideration. The Ordinance having been 
 read by the Clerk, Col. Wilson moved that it should be read 
 again, clause by clause ; but at the suggestion of Judge Col- 
 cock, that further time for consideration was desirable, the mo 
 tion was withdrawn. 
 
 Judge Colcock then moved that the consideration of the Or 
 dinance should be made the order of the day for to-morrow, and 
 that the Convention should stand adjourned until 11 o clock on 
 that day, which being agreed to, the Convention adjourned ac 
 cordingly. 
 
 ISAAC W. HAYNE, 
 
 Clerk of the Convention. 
 
 SATURDAY, November 24, 1832. 
 
 The Convention met according to adjournment, and the pro 
 ceedings were opened with a prayer by the Rev. Mr. Freeman. 
 
 A Parchment Roll was then exhibited, on which, at the Pre 
 sident s request, the members enrolled their names, with the 
 respective Election Districts which had delegated them, which 
 was ordered to be deposited with the Records of the Conven 
 tion. The following gentlemen were found to be present : 
 
 From Greenville. 
 
 B. F. Perry, Thomas P. Brockman, Silas R. Whitten, Henry 
 
 Middleton. 
 
310 
 
 From Spartanburg. 
 
 John S. Rowland, J. S. Richardson, J. B. O Neal, James Crooke, 
 Alfred Huger, J. P. Evans. 
 
 From Laurens. 
 
 Archibald Young, William Arnold, John S. James, A. Fuller, 
 
 Robert Long. 
 
 Fro:n Abbeville. 
 
 George M Duffie, John Lipscomb, John Logan, A. Bowie, Sam 
 uel L. Watt, A. Burt. 
 
 From York. 
 
 Benjamin Chambers, I. A. Campbell, James A. Black, James 
 Moore, John L. Miller. 
 
 From Marlborough. 
 Benjamin Rogers, Nicholas Ware. 
 
 From Union. 
 
 J. S. Sims, Thomas Ray, A. Lancaster, John Littlejohn, George 
 
 Douglas. 
 
 From Kershaw. 
 Everard Cureton, Chapman Levy, John Chesnut, C, J. Shannon. 
 
 From Chesterfield. 
 P. Phillips, James R. Ervin, Alfred M. Lowry. 
 
 From Darlington. 
 William H. Cannon, S. B. Wilkins, Robert Ervin. 
 
 From Marion. 
 A. L. Gregg, Thomas Harllee, William Evans. 
 
 From Williamsburg. 
 T. D. Singleton, Sr., William Waties, P. G. Gourdin. 
 
 From Clarendon. 
 John P. Richardson, Richard J. Manning, W. R. Burgess. 
 
311 
 
 From Claremont. 
 
 Stephen D. Miller, John B. Miller, James G. Spann, Stephen 
 
 Lacoste. 
 
 From Jill Saints. 
 Peter Vaught, J. Walter Phillips. 
 
 From Prince George, Winyaw. 
 Philip Tidyman, Allard H. Belin, J. A. Keith. 
 
 From Saint Peter s. 
 J. Hamilton, Jr., A. J. Lawton, John S. Maner. 
 
 From Saint Luke s. 
 A. Huguenin, T. E. Screven, James Mongin Smith. 
 
 From Saint Helena. 
 R. W. Barnwell, Charles G. Capers, M. Jacobs. 
 
 From Saint James, Goose Creek. 
 Isaac Bradwell, Jr., G. H. Smith. 
 
 From Saint Thomas and Saint Dennis. 
 Francis D. Quash, John L. Nowell. 
 
 From Saint John s, Berkley. 
 Peter Gailliard, Jr., William Porcher, J. H. Dawson. 
 
 From Saint John s, Collet on. 
 William M. Murray, Joseph L. Stevens. 
 
 From Chester. 
 
 R. G. Mills, John Douglas, Thomas B. Woodward, Thomas G. 
 Blcwett, William Stringfellow. 
 
 From Fairfield. 
 
 William Harper, D. H. Means, Edward G. Palmer, John B, 
 McCall, William Smith, 
 
312 
 
 From Richland. 
 
 Pierce M. Butler, William C. Clifton, Sterling C. Williamson, 
 Senr., James Adams, John G. Brown. 
 
 From Saint Philip s and Saint Michael s. 
 
 James Hamilton Senr., Richard B. Baker, Senr., Robert J. 
 Turnbull, S. L. Simons, John Magrath, Charles Parker, Barnard 
 E. Bee, Elias Vanderhorst, Peter J. Shand, Nathaniel Heyward, 
 Robert Y. Hayne, C. J. Colcock, John Ball, John L. Wilson, 
 James Lynah, C. C. Pinckney, Philip Cohen, B. A. Markley. 
 
 From Christ Church. 
 Jacob Bond I On, James Anderson. 
 
 From Saint James s, Santee. 
 Samuel Cordes, Samuel Warren. 
 
 From Saint Stephen s. 
 W. Dubose, Theodore L. Gourdin. 
 
 From Saint Matthew s. 
 R. P. McCord, T. J. Goodwyn. 
 
 From Saint Andrew s. 
 Benjamin Adams, John Rivers. 
 
 From Saint Paul s. 
 F. Y. Legare, Thomas W. Boone. 
 
 From Saint Bartholomew s. 
 W. C. Pinckney, F. H. Elmore, Isham Walker. 
 
 From Prince William s. 
 Wm. Williams, Thomas H. Colcock, J. B. Ulmer. 
 
 From Orange. 
 Edmund J. Felder, Donald Rowe, Elisha Tyler. 
 
 From Barnwell. 
 Jennings O Bannon, Stephen Smith, L. M. Ayer, J. G. Brown. 
 
313 
 
 From Leocington. 
 West Caughman, Jacob H. King, Edwin J. Scott. 
 
 From Edgefield. 
 
 James Spann, John Key, John Bauskett, Abner Whatley, John 
 S. Jeter, R. G. Mays, F. H. Wardlaw. 
 
 From Pendleton. 
 
 R. Anderson, Thomas Harrison, J. B. Earle, Thomas Pinck- 
 ney, J. T. Whitefield, Francis Burt, Jr., F. W. Symmes, Bailey 
 Barton. 
 
 From Newberry. 
 
 Job Johnston, George W. Glenn, John Counts, John K. Griffin, 
 
 John Hatton. 
 
 From Lancaster. 
 Samuel R. Gibson, Miner Clinton. 
 
 From Kingston. 
 D. E. Huger. 
 
 The Journal of the day previous having been read, on motion 
 of Chancellor Johnston, a correction of the Journal was ordered, 
 and made accordingly. 
 
 Judge Colcock, on the part of the Select Committee of twen 
 ty-one, announced that the Committee were ready with a fur 
 ther Report, consisting of an Address to the People of the 
 United States. This Address having been read by the Hon. 
 George McDuffie, was, on motion of Mr. Turnbull, adopted by 
 the Convention. 
 
 The Ordinance which had been made the special order of the 
 day, was now taken up for consideration. Having been read by 
 the Clerk, Judge Colcock moved so to amend it as to exempt 
 the members of the Legislature from the oath required of the 
 civil and military officers of the State, which amendment was 
 adopted. 
 
 Mr. Turnbull moved to amend the title of the Ordinance, by 
 41 
 
314 
 
 striking out the words " provide for arresting the operation of," 
 and substituting the word " Nullify," so that when amended it 
 should read, " An Ordinance to Nullify certain Acts of the Con 
 gress," &,c. This amendment was likewise adopted. 
 
 The question was then taken on the adoption of the Ordi 
 nance thus amended. Seven members having risen for the 
 Ayes and Noes, they were taken accordingly, and found to be 
 as follows : 
 
 AYES B. Adams, James Adams, Ayer, James Anderson, Rob 
 ert Anderson, Arnold, Baker, Ball, Bee, Boone, Barnwell, Brad- 
 well, Blewett, Butler, J. G. Brown, John G. Brown, Bauskett, 
 A. Burt, F. Burt, Barton, Bowie, Black, Belin, Cohen, Cordes, 
 T. H. Colcock, C. J. Colcock, Capers, Clifton, Caughman, 
 Counts, Chambers, Campbell, Dubose, Dawson, J. Douglas, G. 
 Douglas, Elmore, Earle, W. Evans, Felder, Fuller, T. L. Gour- 
 din, P. G. Gourdin, Goodwyn, Gailliard, Griffin, Glenn, Gregg, 
 J. Hamilton, Sen., Heyward, Hayne, Harper, Harrison, Hatton, 
 Harllee, Huguenin, I On, Jeter, Johnston, James, Jacobs, Keith, 
 Key, King, Lacoste, Legare, Lawton, Long, Lipscomb, Logan, 
 Littlejohn, Lancaster, Magrath, Markley, Maner, Murray, Mills, 
 McCall, Means, Mays, McDuffie, Moore, J. L. Miller, S. D. Mil 
 ler, J. B. Miller, McCord, Nowell, O Bannon, J. W. Phillips, 
 Parker, Porcher, Palmer, C. C. Pinckney, W. C. Pinckney, T. 
 Pinckney, Q,uash, Rivers, Rowe, Rogers, Ray, J. G. Spann, J. 
 Spann, Simons, Shand, J. M. Smith, W. Smith, S. Smith, G. H. 
 Smith, Stringfellow, Scott, Symmes, Sims, Singleton, Stevens, 
 Screven, Turnbull, Tyler, Tidyman, Ulmer, Vaught, Vander- 
 horst, Wilson, Walker, Williams, Woodward, ( Williamson, Ward- 
 law, Whatley, Whitefield, Watt, Ware, Waties, Warren, and 
 Young. 
 
 His Excellency James Hamilton, Jr., President of the Con 
 vention, claimed his privilege of voting as a Delegate from St. 
 Peter s, and gave it in the affirmative, making, in all, one hun 
 dred and thirty-six Ayes. 
 
 NOES Brockman, Burgess, Crooke, Cureton, Chestnut, Can 
 non, Clinton, J. R. Ervin, R. Ervin, J. P. Evans, Gibson, Alfred 
 Huger, D. E. Huger, Levy, Lowry, Manning, Middleton, 
 O Neale, P. Phillips, Perry, John P. Richardson, J. S. Richard- 
 
315 
 
 son, Rowland, Shannon, Whitten, and Wilkins. Making, in all, 
 twenty-six Noes. 
 
 One member absent from sickness five not yet enrolled. 
 
 The Ordinance was consequently adopted, by a majority of 
 the members present of 109, and a majority of 103 of the whole 
 number of Delegates elected by the people. 
 
 On motion of Mr. M Duffie, the Report accompanying the 
 Ordinance was taken up for consideration, and the reading be 
 ing dispensed with, was adopted by the Convention. 
 
 Mr. M Duffie then moved the consideration of the Address to 
 the People of this State, reported by the Select Committee of 
 twenty-one, which being agreed to, and the reading being dis 
 pensed with, the Address was adopted by the Convention. 
 
 On motion of Chancellor Johnston, a reconsideration of the 
 Address was granted. 
 
 Mr. Turnbull then moved to amend the Address, by striking 
 out in the 19th paragraph, the words " with a full confidence 
 that other divisions of the Confederacy will nobly follow and 
 sustain us." He explained, that the State wished to be under 
 stood, notwithstanding her hopes that she would be sustained by 
 other members of the Confederacy, as relying not on them, but 
 on herself alone. The amendment was agreed to without oppo 
 sition, and the Address so amended, adopted by the Convention. 
 
 Col. W. C. Pinckney, of St. Bartholomew s, introduced the 
 following Resolution, which was concurred in by the Conven 
 tion, to wit : 
 
 " Resolved, That twenty thousand copies of the Report, the 
 Addresses, and the Ordinance, (as adopted) be printed ; and 
 that for each of the members of the Convention, thirty copies in 
 separate sheets, shall be immediately printed that ten thousand 
 copies, with the Ordinance annexed to the Report, in pamphlet 
 form, be separately printed for distribution ; and that the re 
 maining five thousand be bound up with the proceedings of the 
 Convention, the whole of which shall be published under the 
 direction of a Committee to be appointed by the President, for 
 that purpose ; that the documents thus ordered to be printed, 
 be distributed under the direction of the President. And it 
 shall be the duty of the Clerk, under the direction of the Com 
 mittee, to assist in superintending the printing, and to make 
 
316 
 
 such distribution as the President shall direct. That he carry 
 on the necessary correspondence, and cause a record of all the 
 proceedings of the Convention to be made, and deposited in the 
 Secretary of State s Office, in Columbia; and to perform such 
 other duties in reference to the business of the Convention, as 
 may be prescribed by the President ; and that during his con 
 tinuance in office, he shall receive the same compensation as 
 the Clerk of the House of Representatives." 
 
 Judge Harper, of Fairfield, and Cols. Brown and Clifton, of 
 Richland, were appointed a Committee under this Resolution. 
 
 On motion of the Hon. John Lynde Wilson, a Committee was 
 appointed to engross the Ordinance as adopted, and to superin 
 tend its signature, by such members as might wish to affix their 
 names to it. 
 
 Messrs. Wilson and C. C. Pinckney, were appointed the Com 
 mittee. 
 
 Col. Wilson then moved a recess until 5 o clock, P. M., that 
 the Engrossing Committee might have time to perform that ser 
 vice. The motion was carried, and the Convention adjourned 
 accordingly. 
 
 ISAAC W. HAYNE, 
 
 Clerk of the Convention. 
 
 SATURDAY, November 24 5 o clock, P. M. 
 
 The Convention met according to adjournment. The Jour 
 nal of the morning s proceedings having been read, Mr. Wilson, 
 on the part of the Engrossing Committee, made the following 
 Report to wit : 
 
 " The Engrossing Committee, to whom was confided the care 
 of the Ordinance of this Convention, for engrossing and enrol 
 ment, have performed that duty, and caused the great Seal of 
 the State to be attached thereto. 
 
 "Your Committee have so engrossed the Ordinance, as to 
 
317 
 
 admit the signatures of all the members of the Convention, a 
 ratification observed by those who proclaimed our Independ 
 ence. Your Committee suggest the propriety of submitting to 
 the Patriots of 76, yet abiding with us, and laboring in one 
 common cause, for the continuance of our liberties, the first 
 lines for their signatures." 
 
 JOHN L. WILSON, Chairman. 
 
 This Report was was unanimously adopted. 
 
 The Report of the Select Committee accompanying the Ordi 
 nance, as adopted by the Convention, and the Ordinance, as 
 finally ratified, are as follows, to wit : 
 
 [For the Report and Ordinance, see pages 1 and 28.] 
 
 Of the signatures to the Ordinance, the seven first, are ac 
 cording to the Resolution, the signatures of those Delegates who 
 bore arms in the war of the Revolution. The signatures of the 
 other Delegates approving, were taken alphabetically, with the 
 exception of R. Barnwell Smith, Esq., who, though prevented 
 by sickness from taking his seat in the Convention, was, by a 
 Resolution of the Convention, permitted to sign the Ordinance, 
 and record his approval of the proceedings. 
 
 The Address to the People of the State, read by Robert J. 
 Turnbull, Esq., as adopted by the Convention, is as follows, to 
 wit: 
 
 [For the Address, see p. 37.] 
 
 The Address to the People of the United States, as read by 
 the Hon. George McDuffie, and adopted by the Convention, is 
 as follows, to wit : 
 
 [For the Address, see page 59.] 
 
 The Report and Ordinance, with the two Addresses, as given 
 above, having been adopted by the Convention, the Convention 
 then, on motion of Dr. Tidyman, went into a Committee of the 
 whole, Col. POn being called to the Chair. Dr. Tidyman offer 
 ed the following Resolution : 
 
318 
 
 " Resolved, That the thanks of the members of this Conven 
 tion be given to the President, for the very able, dignified and 
 impartial manner with which he has presided over their delib 
 erations, and for the zeal and fidelity with which he has dis- 
 discharged the duties of his office." 
 
 The Resolution having been unanimously adopted, the Com 
 mittee rose, and reported it to the Convention, as so adopted. 
 
 Gen. Hayne then offered the following Resolution, which was 
 adopted by the Convention, to wit : 
 
 " Resolved, That copies of the Ordinance just adopted by this 
 Convention, with the Report thereon, and the Addresses to the 
 People of the several States, and of this State, be transmitted, 
 by the Governor, to the President of the United States, to be, 
 by him, submitted to Congress ; and also to the Governors of 
 the several States, for the information of their respective Legis 
 latures." 
 
 Judge Harper offered the following Resolution, to wit: 
 
 " Resolved, That when this Convention adjourns, it shall ad 
 journ to meet at this place, at such time as the President shall 
 appoint, who is authorized, if in his opinion the public exigen 
 cies shall require, by notice under his hand, duly published, to 
 assemble the Convention at any time before the 12th of Novem 
 ber next ; and that he appoint a Committee, a majority of 
 whom, or the survivors or survivor of such majority, in case of 
 the death or disqualification of the President, shall have like 
 authority to assemble the Convention, and appoint a time for its 
 meeting." 
 
 This Resolution was adopted, and the Hon. William Harper, 
 of Fairfield, the Hon. Robert Y. Hayne, of Charleston, and 
 Messrs. Benjamin Rodgers, of Marlborough, Thomas Harrison, 
 of Pendleton, and John S. Maner, of Saint Peter s, were appoint 
 ed the Committee. 
 
 On motion of Chancellor Johnston, the following Resolution 
 was adopted, to wit : 
 
 " Resolved, That the President be authorized to draw his war 
 rant or warrants on the Treasury, for the contingent expenses of 
 this Convention." 
 
319 
 
 Mr. Turnbull moved the following, which was likewise adopt 
 ed, to wit : 
 
 " Resolved, That the President of this Convention be request 
 ed to transmit to the Legislature, a copy of the Ordinance 
 just passed by this Convention, together with copies also of 
 the Report of the Committee of twenty-one, and of the Ad 
 dresses to the People of this State, and the People of the United 
 States." 
 
 Chancellor Johnston offered the following Resolution, which 
 was concurred in by the Convention, to wit : 
 
 11 Resolved, That any Delegate shall be at liberty hereafter to 
 sign the Ordinance adopted by the Convention, and record his 
 approbation of the proceedings thereof." 
 
 The Hon. Robert W. Barnwell then moved the following, to 
 wit : 
 
 Whereas, It is the duty of a people at all times to acknowl 
 edge their dependence upon God, and more especially to com 
 mit themselves to his keeping, when they have adopted measures 
 of deep import to their future welfare and security." 
 
 "Be it resolved, That we, the Delegates of South Carolina, 
 assembled in Convention, do recommend to our fellow citizens 
 of the State, to observe Thursday, the 31st day of January, 1833, 
 as a day of solemn fasting, humiliation and prayer, imploring 
 the Almighty to bestow his blessing upon the proceedings of 
 this body, that they may eventuate in the promotion of his glory, 
 and in restoring and perpetuating the liberty and prosperty of 
 our native State." 
 
 This Resolution was unanimously adopted, and ordered to be 
 so entered on the Journal of the Convention. 
 
 The President then rose and asked, " Has any member any 
 further proposal to bring before this Convention ?" 
 
 None being offered, the President held up the Ordinance, and 
 said, " I do announce that this Ordinance has been adopted and 
 ratified by the good people of the State of South Carolina, as 
 sembled in their highest sovereign capacity." 
 
 The President then addressed the Convention, in a short 
 
320 
 
 speech. In concluding it, he requested the Rev. Mr. Ware to 
 ask the Divine blessing upon the proceedings of the Assembly. 
 
 After prayer by that reverend gentleman, Col. I On moved an 
 adjournment. 
 
 The motion was carried. Whereupon the President pro 
 nounced the Convention adjourned, until it should be again as 
 sembled according to the provisions of Judge Harper s Resolu 
 tion. 
 
 ISAAC WILLIAM HAYNE, 
 
 Clerk of the Convention. 
 
SECOND SESSION. 
 
 MONDAY, March 11, 1833* 
 
 PURSUANT to a Proclamation of the President of the Conven 
 tion, issued on the 13th day of February, one thousand eight 
 hundred and thirty-three, the Convention of the people of South 
 Carolina re-assembled in the Hall of the House of Representa 
 tives, in the Town of Columbia, on this day, at meridian. 
 
 The proceedings were opened by a prayer from the Rev. Mr. 
 Ware ; after which the roll was called, and the following mem 
 bers answered to their names, viz : James Adams, Ayer, J. An 
 derson, Robert Anderson, Arnold, Baker, Ball, Bee, Boone, 
 Blewett, Butler, J. G. Brown, Richland, J. G. Brown, Barnwell, 
 Bauskett, F. Burt, Black, Belin, Cohen, Cordes, Thos. H. Col- 
 cock, C. J. Colcock, Capers, Clifton, Caughman, Counts, 
 Crooke, Chambers, Campbell, Cureton, Chesnut, Clinton, Du- 
 bose, Dawson, John Douglas, George Douglas, Elmore, Earle, 
 J. R. Ervin, William Evans, J. P. Evans, Felder, T. L. Gourdin, 
 P. G. Gourdin, Goodwyn, Gailliard, Griffin, Glenn, Gibson, 
 Gregg, Hayne, Heyward, Harper, Harrison, Hatton, Harllee, 
 Huguenin, I On, Jeter, Johnston, James, Keith, Key, King, 
 Levy, Lowry, Lacoste, Legare, Lawton, Long, Logan, Little- 
 John, Lancaster, Magrath, Maner, Murray, Mills, McCall, Means, 
 Mays, McDuffie, Moore, J. L. Miller, S. D. Miller, John B. Mil 
 ler, McCord, Nowell, O Neale, O Bannon, P. Phillips, J. W. 
 Phillips, Porcher, Palmer, Perry, C. C. Pinckney, William C. 
 Pinokney, Thomas Pinckney, Quash, Rowland, Rivers, Rowe, 
 Rogers, Ray, J. G. Spann, James Spann, Simons, Shand, J. M. 
 Smith, G. H. Smith, Wm. Smith, Stephen Smith, Stringfellow, 
 42 
 
322 
 
 Scott, Symmes, Sims, Shannon, Singleton, Stevens, Turnbull, 
 Tyler, Tidyman, Ulmer, Wilson, Walker, Williams, Woodward, 
 Whitten, Watt, Waties, Wilkins, Ware, Warren, Williamson, 
 Wardlaw, Whatley, Young. 
 
 The President then addressed the Convention, explaining to 
 them the objects for which they had been convoked. In con 
 cluding, he announced, that as he had been chosen to preside 
 over this body, as Governor of the State, and as another now 
 filled that station, he would, after submitting to the Convention 
 the documents which had induced him to call them together at 
 this time, resign his office into their hands. The following doc 
 uments were then read by the Clerk, to wit : 
 
 Letter from the Governor of the State, to the President of the 
 
 Convention. 
 
 EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, ) 
 COLUMBIA, March 11, 1833. ) 
 
 To JAMES HAMILTON, JUN. ESQ., 
 
 President of the Convention of the People of South Carolina. 
 
 Sm, I herewith transmit you a letter which I have received 
 from the Hon. Benjamin Watkins Leigh, Commissioner from the 
 State of Virginia, which, together with the correspondence in 
 relation to Mr. Leigh s Mission, and the Resolutions of Virginia, 
 of which he is the bearer, you are requested to lay before the 
 Assembly over which you preside. 
 
 I am very respectfully, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 ROBERT Y. HAYNE. 
 
323 
 
 COLUMBIA, March llth, 1833. 
 SIR, 
 
 Having, at our first interview, presented you the Resolutions 
 of the General Assembly of Virginia, of the 26th January last, 
 on the subject of Federal Relations, I have now to request your 
 Excellency to lay these Resolutions before the Convention of 
 the People of South Carolina, which, at my instance, has been 
 re-assembled for the purpose of considering them. 
 
 The General Assembly of Virginia has expressed, in its own 
 language, its sentiments concerning the unhappy controversy 
 between the State of South Carolina and the Federal Govern 
 ment, and its motives, its views and object, in making this inter 
 cession. In these respects, therefore, the Commissioner it has 
 thought proper to depute to South Carolina, can have nothing to 
 add, and nothing even to explain. The duty presented to him 
 is simple and precise. He is instructed to communicate the 
 Preamble and Resolutions to the proper authorities of this 
 State, and " to give them such direction as in his judgment may 
 be best calculated to promote the objects which the Legislature 
 of Virginia has in view;" and this part of his duty he has al 
 ready, by the prompt and cordial compliance of those authori 
 ties, had the happiness to accomplish, to the entire satisfaction 
 (as he has reason to believe) of the Legislature of Virginia. 
 And he is further instructed and " authorized to express to the 
 public authorities and people of this, our sister State, the sincere 
 good will of the Legislature, and people of Virginia, towards 
 their sister State, and their anxious solicitude that the kind and 
 respectful representations they have addressed to her, may lead 
 to an accommodation of the differences between this State and 
 the General Government." 
 
 Virginia is animated with an ardent and devoted attachment 
 to the Union of the States, and to the rights of the several States 
 that compose the Union ; and if similarity of situation and of 
 interests naturally induce her to sympathize, with peculiar sen 
 sibility, in whatever affects the prosperity and happiness of 
 South Carolina, and the other Southern States, she knows how 
 
324 
 
 to reconcile this sentiment with her affection and duty towards 
 each and every other State, severally, and towards the United 
 States. She is most solicitous to maintain and preserve our 
 present institutions, which, though they partake of imperfection, 
 from which no human institutions can ever be exempt, and not 
 withstanding some instances of maladministration or error, to 
 which all governments are liable, are yet, as she confidently be 
 lieves, the happiest frame of polity that is now or ever has been 
 enjoyed by any people ; to maintain and preserve the whole? 
 and every part of these institutions, in full vigor and purity ; to 
 uphold the Union, and the States ; to maintain the Federal 
 Government in all its just powers, administered, according to 
 the pure principles of the Constitution, without the least depa*rt- 
 ure from the limitations prescribed by the compact, fairly un 
 derstood, and the State Governments, in all their rights and au 
 thority, as absolutely necessary to the good government and hap 
 piness of their respective citizens. Consolidation and disunion 
 are alike abhorrent from her affections and her judgment the 
 one involving, at the least, a forfeiture of the manifold advan 
 tages and blessings so long and so generally felt and acknowl 
 edged to have been derived from the Union ; and the other hav 
 ing an apparent, perhaps inevitable, tendency to military des 
 potism. And she is apprehensive, for reasons too obvious to 
 need particular mention, that in case any differences between 
 the Federal Government and the States, shall ever be brought 
 to the arbitrament of force, the result, let it be what it may, 
 must effect such a change in our existing institutions as cannot 
 but be evil, since it would be a change from those forms of gov 
 ernment, which we have experienced to be good, and under 
 which we have certainly been, in the main, free, prosperous, 
 contented and happy. Therefore, in the present controversy, 
 between the Federal Government and the State of South Caro 
 lina, she deprecates any resort to force by either, and is san 
 guine in the hope, that, with proper moderation and forbearance 
 on both sides, this controversy may be adjusted (as all our con 
 troversies hitherto have been) by the influence of truth, reason 
 and justice. 
 
 Virginia, remembering the history of South Carolina, her ser 
 vices in war and in peace, and her contributions of virtue and 
 
325 
 
 intelligence to the common councils of the Union ; and knowing 
 well the generosity, the magnanimity, and the loyalty of her 
 character, entertained the most perfect confidence, that these 
 sentiments, so cherished by herself, would find a response in the 
 heart and understanding of every citizen of this State. And 
 that confidence induced her intercession on the present occa 
 sion. She has not presumed to dictate, or even to advise. She 
 has addressed her entreaty to the Congress of the United States, 
 to redress the grievance of which South Carolina complains. 
 And she has spoken to South Carolina also, as one sovereign 
 State, as one State of this Union, ought to speak to another. 
 She has earnestly, affectionately, and respectfully requested and 
 entreated South Carolina, " to rescind or suspend her late Ordi 
 nance, and to await the result of a combined and strenuous ef 
 fort of the friends of Union and Peace, to effect an adjustment 
 and conciliation of all public differences now unhappily exist 
 ing." She well hoped, that this State "would listen willingly 
 and respectfully to her voice ;" for she knew and felt that South 
 Carolina could not descend from the dignity, and would nowise 
 compromit the rights of her sovereignty, by yielding to the in 
 tercession of a sister State. 
 
 If, therefore, no other considerations could have been pre 
 sented to the Convention of the people of South Carolina if 
 no other motives for compliance could have been suggested, 
 than the intercession of Virginia, offered in the temper and 
 manner it has been, and the interests we all have in the Union, 
 the common attachment we feel for our tried republican institu 
 tions, the aversion from civil discord and commotion, and the 
 wise and just dread of changes of which no sagacity can foresee 
 the consequences, it might have been hoped and expected, 
 that the Convention would rescind, or at least suspend for a 
 time, its late Ordinance. 
 
 But, in truth, the Convention comes now to a consideration 
 of this subject, under a state of circumstances, not anticipated 
 by Virginia when she interposed her good offices to promote a 
 peaceable adjustment of the controversy between this State and 
 the Federal Government. There has been made that " com 
 bined and strenuous effort of the friends of peace and union, to 
 effect an adjustment and conciliation" of this controversy the 
 
326 
 
 result of which South Carolina was requested and expected to 
 await and that effort, it is hoped, will prove successful. The 
 recent Act of Congress, " to modify the Act of the 14th July, 
 1832, and all other Acts imposing duties on imports," is such a 
 modification of the Tariff Laws as (I trust) will leave little 
 room for hesitation on the part of the Convention of the People 
 of South Carolina, as to the wisdom and propriety of rescinding 
 its Ordinance. 
 
 Forbearing, therefore, to enter at large into the many and 
 forcible considerations of justice and policy, which, independ 
 ently of this measure of Congress, might, I humbly conceive, 
 have sufficed to induce the Convention to suspend, if not to re 
 scind the Ordinance. I shall rest in the hope, that the wisdom of 
 the Convention will adopt, at once, the course which the dignity 
 and patriotism of South Carolina, her attachment to the Union, 
 so constantly expressed, and manifested by her deeds, her duty 
 to herself and towards her sister States, and (1 hope I may add. 
 without presumption,) her respect for the intercession of Vir 
 ginia, shall dictate to be proper ; and that that course will lead 
 to a renewal of perfect harmony. 
 
 Sensible as I am, how little any effort of mine has or could 
 have contributed to the result I now anticipate, I shall be well 
 content with the honor of having been the bearer of the" Resolu 
 tions of Virginia, and of a favorable answer to them happy in 
 being the humblest instrument of such a work. 
 
 I have the honor to be, 
 
 With profound respect, 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 B. W. LEIGH. 
 
 To His Excellency ROBERT Y. HAYNE, 
 Governor of South Carolina. 
 
327 
 
 [II.] 
 
 Letter from the Governor of Virginia, to the Governor of South 
 
 Carolina. 
 
 VIRGINIA. 
 
 EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, ) 
 January 26, 1833. ) 
 
 To His Excellency ROBERT Y. HAYNE : 
 
 SIR, This will be delivered to you by the Hon. Benjamin 
 Watkins Leigh, a distinguished citizen of Virginia, who has 
 been elected by the General Assembly, a Commissioner of this 
 State, to the State of South Carolina, in conformity to a Pre 
 amble and Resolutions on the subject of Federal Relations, this 
 day adopted by the General Assembly of Virginia. Mr. Leigh 
 will make known to you any further views, that may be enter 
 tained, on the subject of the Preamble and Resolutions. 
 
 I have the honor to be, 
 
 With high consideration and respect, 
 
 Your Excellency s most obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN FLOYD. 
 
 [III.] 
 
 Certified Copy of the Preamble and Resolutions adopted by the Vir 
 ginia Legislature, and transmitted, through their Commissioner, to 
 the constituted Authorities of this State. 
 
 VIRGINIA, TO WIT: 
 
 I, JOHN FLOYD, Governor of the State aforesaid, do hereby 
 certify and make known unto all whom it may concern, that 
 George W. Munford, whose name is subscribed to the certificate 
 to two documents hereunto annexed, marked A and B, is as he 
 
328 
 
 there styles himself, Clerk of the House of Delegates, and 
 Keeper of the Rolls of Virginia, duly appointed and qualified 
 according to law ; and to all his official acts as such, full faith, 
 credit and authority are had and ought to be given. 
 
 In testimony whereof, I have subscribed my name, and caused 
 the great seal of the State to be affixed hereunto. 
 
 Done at the City of Richmond, the twenty-sixth 
 [ L. S. ] day of January, in the year of our Lord, one thousand 
 eight hundred and thirty-three, and of the Common 
 wealth the fifty-seventh. 
 
 JOHN FLOYD. 
 [By the Governor.] 
 
 WM. H. RICHARDSON, Secretary 
 
 of the Commonwealth, and Keeper of the Seal. 
 
 WHEREAS, The General Assembly of Virginia, actuated by a 
 desire to preserve the peace and harmony of our common coun 
 try, relying upon the sense of justice of each and every State 
 in the Union, as a sufficient pledge that their Representatives in 
 Congress will so modify the Acts laying duties and imposts on 
 the importation of foreign commodities, commonly called the 
 Tariff Acts, that they will no longer furnish cause of complaint 
 to the people of any particular State ; believing, accordingly, 
 that the People of South Carolina are mistaken, in supposing 
 that Congress will yield them no relief from the pressure of those 
 Acts, especially as the auspicious approach of the extinguish 
 ment of the Public Debt, affords a just ground for the indulgence 
 of a contrary expectation ; and confident that they are too 
 strongly attached to the Union of the States, to resort to any 
 proceedings which might dissolve or endanger it, whilst they 
 have any fair hope of obtaining their object, by more regular 
 and peaceful measures ; persuaded, also, that they will listen 
 willingly and respectfully to the voice of Virginia, earnestly and 
 affectionately requesting and entreating them to rescind or sus- 
 
329 
 
 pend their late Ordinance, and await the result of a combined 
 and strenuous effort of the friends of Union and Peace, to effect 
 an adjustment and reconciliation of all public differences now 
 unhappily existing ; regarding, moreover, an appeal to force, on 
 the part of the General Government, or on the part of the Gov 
 ernment of South Carolina, as a measure which nothing but ex 
 treme necessity could justify or excuse in either; but appre 
 hensive, at the same time, that if the present state of things is 
 allowed to continue, acts of violence will occur, which may lead 
 to consequences that all would deplore cannot but deem it a 
 solemn duty to interpose, and mediate between the high con 
 tending parties, by the declaration of their opinions and wishes, 
 which they trust that they both will consider and respect : 
 Therefore, 
 
 Resolved, by the General Assembly, in the name and on behalf of 
 the people of Virginia, That the competent Authorities of South 
 Carolina be, and they are, hereby, earnestly and respectfully 
 requested and entreated to rescind the Ordinance of the late 
 Convention of that State, entitled " An Ordinance to Nullify 
 certain Acts of the Congress of the United States, purporting to 
 be laws, laying duties and imposts on the importation of foreign 
 commodities;" or, at least to suspend its operation until the 
 close of the first session of the next Congress. 
 
 Resolved, That the Congress of the United States be, and 
 they are, hereby, earnestly and respectfully requested and en 
 treated, so to modify the Acts laying duties and imposts on the 
 importation of foreign commodities, commonly called the Tariff 
 Acts, as to effect a gradual but speedy reduction of the result 
 ing Revenue of the General Government, to the standard of the 
 necessary and proper expenditures for the support thereof. 
 
 Resolved, That the people of Virginia expect, and, in the 
 opinion of the General Assembly, the people of the other States 
 have a right to expect, that the General Government and the 
 Government of South Carolina, and all persons acting under the 
 authority of either, will carefully abstain from any and all acts, 
 whatever, which may be calculated to disturb the tranquillity of 
 the country, or endanger the existence of the Union. 
 43 
 
330 
 
 And, whereas, considering the opinions which have been ad 
 vanced and maintained by the Convention of South Carolina, in 
 its late Ordinance and Addresses, on the one hand, and by the 
 President of the United States, in his Proclamation, bearing 
 date the tenth day of December, one thousand eight hundred 
 and thirty-two, on the other, the General Assembly deem it due 
 to themselves, and the people whom they represent, to declare 
 and make known their own views in relation to some of the im 
 portant and interesting questions which these papers present : 
 Therefore, 
 
 Resolved, by the General Assembly, That they continue to re 
 gard the doctrines of State Sovereignty and State Rights, as set 
 forth in the Resolutions of 1798, and sustained by the Report 
 thereon, of 1799, as a true interpretation of the Constitution of 
 the United States, and of the powers therein given to the Gen 
 eral Government ; but that they do not consider them as sanc 
 tioning the proceedings of South Carolina, indicated in her said 
 Ordinance ; nor as countenancing all the principles assumed by 
 the President in his said Proclamation, many of which are in 
 direct conflict with them. 
 
 Resolved, That this House will, by joint vote with the Senate, 
 proceed, on this day, to elect a Commissioner, whose duty it 
 shall be to proceed immediately to South Carolina, and commu 
 nicate the foregoing Preamble and Resolutions to the Governor 
 of that State, with a request that they be communicated to the 
 Legislature of that State, or any Convention of its citizens, or 
 give them such other direction as, in his judgment, may be best 
 calculated to promote the objects which this Commonwealth has 
 in view ; and that the said Commissioner be authorized to ex 
 press to the public authorities and people of our sister State, in 
 such manner as he may deem most expedient, our sincere good 
 will to our sister State, and our anxious solicitude that the kind 
 and respectful recommendations we have addressed to her may 
 lead to an accommodation of all the differences between that 
 State and the General Government. 
 
 Resolved, That the Governor of the Commonwealth be, and he 
 is, hereby, requested to communicate the foregoing Preamble 
 and Resolutions to the President of the United States, to the 
 
331 
 
 Governors of the other States, and to our Senators and Repre 
 sentatives in Congress. 
 
 Agreed to by the House, the t .venty-sixth day of January, one 
 thousand eight hundred and thirty-three. 
 
 GEORGE W. MUNFORD, 
 
 Clerk of the House of Delegates, and 
 
 Keeper of the Rolls of Virginia. 
 
 B. 
 
 IN THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES, Jan. 26, 1833. 
 
 The House of Delegates have, this day, by joint vote with the 
 Senate, elected Benjamin Watkins Leigh, Esq., a Commissioner 
 of this State to the State of South Carolina, in conformity to a 
 Preamble and Resolutions upon the subject of Fedural Rela 
 tions, also adopted to-day. 
 
 GEGRGE W. MUNFORD, 
 
 Clerk of the House of Delegates, and 
 
 Keeper of the Rolls of Virginia. 
 
 [IV.] 
 
 Correspondence between the Commissioner of Virginia, and the Con 
 stituted Authorities of this State. 
 
 LETTER No. 1. 
 
 CHARLESTON, February 5, 1833. 
 SIR, 
 
 When I had the honor, yesterday, of laying before your Ex 
 cellency, the Resolutions of the General Assembly of Virginia, 
 
332 
 
 of the 26th January last, and called your attention particularly 
 to the Resolution of the General Assembly, in the name and on 
 behalf of the people of Virginia, that the competent authorities 
 of South Carolina be, and are hereby earnestly and respectfully 
 requested and entreated to rescind the Ordinance of the State 
 Convention of that State, entitled " An Ordinance to Nullify 
 certain Acts of the Congress of the United States, purporting to 
 be laws, laying duties and imposts on the importation of foreign 
 commodities ;" or, at least, to suspend its operation until the 
 close of the first session of the next Congress, you informed me, 
 that the only authority competent to comply with that request, 
 or even to consider it, is the Convention of the people of South 
 Carolina, which made the Ordinance, and the power of re-as 
 sembling the Convention is vested in the President of that body. 
 I have now, therefore, to request your Excellency to commu 
 nicate the Resolutions of the General Assembly of Virginia, and 
 this letter also, to the President of the Convention ; confidently 
 hoping that that officer will not refuse or hesitate to re-assemble 
 the Convention, in order that the Resolutions of the General 
 Assembly may be submitted to it, and that the Convention may 
 consider, whether, and how far the earnest and respectful re 
 quest and entreaty of the General Assembly shall and ought to 
 be complied with. 
 
 I have the honor to be, &c. &c., 
 
 B. W. LEIGH. 
 
 To His Excellency ROBERT Y. HAYNE, ) 
 Governor of South Carolina. } 
 
 LETTER No. 2. 
 
 EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 
 CHARLESTON 
 
 PARTMENT, ) 
 
 , Feb. 6, 1833. $ 
 
 SIR,- 
 
 I have had the honor to receive your letter of the 5th instant, 
 and in compliance with the request therein contained, commu- 
 
333 
 
 nicated its contents, together with the Resolutions of the Legis 
 lature of Virginia, of which you are the bearer, to Gen. James 
 Hamilton, Jun., the President of the Convention. I have now 
 the pleasure of inclosing you his answer, by which you will per 
 ceive, that in compliance with the request conveyed through 
 you, he will promptly re-assemble the Convention, to whom the 
 Resolutions adopted by the Legislature of Virginia, will be sub 
 mitted, and by whom they will doubtless receive the most 
 friendly and respectful consideration. In giving you this infor 
 mation, it is due to the interest manifested by Virginia, in the 
 existing controversy between South Carolina and the Federal 
 Government, to state that as soon as it came to be understood 
 that the Legislature of Virginia had taken up the subject in a 
 spirit of friendly interposition, and that a bill for the modifica 
 tion of the Tariff was actually before Congress, it was determin 
 ed, by the common consent of our fellow-citizens, that no case 
 should be made under our Ordinance until after the adjourn 
 ment of the present Congress. The propriety of a still further 
 suspension, can, of course, only be determined by the Conven 
 tion itself. With regard to the solicitude expressed by the Leg 
 islature of Virginia, that there should be " no appeal to force," 
 on " the part of either the General Government, or the Govern 
 ment of South Carolina, in the controversy now unhappily ex 
 isting between them," and that " the General Government and 
 the Government of South Carolina, and all persons acting under 
 the authority of either, should carefully abstain from any and all 
 acts, whatever, which may be calculated to disturb the tranquil 
 lity of the country, or endanger the existence of the Union ;" it 
 is proper that I should distinctly and emphatically state, that no 
 design now exists, or ever has existed, on the part of the Gov 
 ernment of South Carolina, or any portion of the people, to 
 " appeal to force," unless that measure should be rendered in 
 dispensable in repelling unlawful violence. 
 
 I beg leave to assure you, and through you, the people of 
 Virginia, and our other sister States, that no acts have been 
 done, or are contemplated by South Carolina, her constituted 
 authorities, or citizens, in reference to the present crisis, but 
 such as are deemed measures of precaution. Her preparations 
 are altogether defensive in their character ; and notwithstand- 
 
334 
 
 ing the concentration of large naval and military forces in this 
 harbor, and the adoption of other measures on the part of the 
 General Government, which may be considered as of a charac 
 ter threatening the peace and endangering the tranquillity and 
 safety of the State, we shall continue to exercise the utmost 
 possible forbearance, acting strictly on the defensive, firmly re 
 solved to commit no act of violence, but prepared, as far as our 
 means may extend, to resist aggression. Nothing, you may be 
 assured, would give me, personally, and the people of South 
 Carolina, more satisfaction than that the existing controversy 
 should be happily adjusted, on just and liberal terms ; and I 
 beg you to be assured, that nothing can be further from our de 
 sire, than to disturb the tranquillity of the country, or endanger 
 the existence of the Union. 
 
 Accept, Sir, for yourself, 
 
 The assurance of the high consideration 
 Of yours, respectfully and truly, 
 
 ROBERT Y. HAYNE. 
 To the Hon. B. W. LEIGH. 
 
 LETTER No. 3. 
 
 CHARLESTON, February 6, 1833. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 I do myself the honor of acknowledging the receipt of your 
 letter of the 5th, enclosing a copy of a communication you have 
 received from Benjamin Watkins Leigh, Esq., Commissioner 
 from the State of Virginia, covering certain Resolutions passed 
 by the Legislature of that State, which that gentlemen has been 
 deputed to convey to the Executive of this State. 
 
 In reply to the reference which you have made to me, as Pres 
 ident of the Convention of the People of South Carolina, conse- 
 
335 
 
 quent on the application on the part of that gentleman, for 
 the meeting of that body, I beg leave to communicate to him, 
 through your Excellency, that, appreciating very highly, the 
 kind disposition, and the patriotic solicitude, which have induced 
 the highly respectable Commonwealth which he represents, to 
 interpose her friendly and mediatorial offices in the unhappy 
 controversy subsisting between the Federal Government and the 
 State of South Carolina, I should do great injustice to those dis 
 positions on her part, and, I am quite sure, to the feelings of 
 the people of South Carolina, if I did not promptly comply with 
 his wishes in reference to the proposed call. 
 
 You are, therefore, authorized to say to Mr. Leigh, that the 
 Convention will be assembled with as much despatch as may be 
 compatible with the public convenience, and with a due regard 
 to those circumstances which best promise a full consideration 
 and final decision, on the proposition of which he is the bearer. 
 
 1 have the honor to remain, 
 
 With distinguished consideration and esteem, 
 Your Excellency s obedient servant, 
 
 JAMES HAMILTON, JR., 
 
 President of the Convention of the People of South Carolina. 
 
 To His Excellency ROBERT Y. HAYNE. 
 
 Messrs. Geo. Sistrunk, from St. George s, R. Barnwell Smith, 
 from St. Bartholomew s, Robert W. Gill, from Lancaster, Ben 
 jamin Gause, from Kingston, and James C. Coggeshall, from 
 Prince George, Winyaw, now appeared for the first time, exhib 
 ited their credentials, enrolled their names, and took their seats 
 as members of the Convention. 
 
 The Convention then proceeded to the election of a Presi 
 dent. Messrs. Butler, Burt, and Quash, were appointed a Com- 
 mitttee to count the votes, and make known the result. The 
 Committee reported His Excellency Robert Y. Hayne, Governor 
 and Commander in Chief in and over the State, duly elected 
 President of the Convention. 
 
336 
 
 Chancellor Johnston and Col. Thomas Pinckney, were ap 
 pointed a Committee to wait on the President elect, inform him 
 of his election, and conduct him to the chair ; which, having 
 been done, Governor Hayne, after a short address, entered upon 
 the duties of his station. 
 
 On motion of General Hamilton, the following Resolutions 
 were adopted unanimously, to wit : 
 
 Resolved, That a Committee of three be appointed to wait on 
 Benjamin Watkins Leigh, Esq., Commissioner of the Common 
 wealth of Virginia, and invite him to a seat within the bar of 
 this Convention." 
 
 " Resolved, That this Convention will receive Mr. Leigh, 
 standing and uncovered." 
 
 The Committee consisted of Gen. Earle, Col. I On, and Mr. 
 Heyward. 
 
 On motion of the Hon. C. J. Colcock, it was 
 
 " Resolved, That a Committee of twenty-one be appointed to 
 take into consideration the communication of the Hon. Benja 
 min W. Leigh, Commissioner from the State of Virginia, and all 
 other matters connected with the subject, and the course which 
 should be pursued by the Convention, at the present important 
 crisis of our political affairs." 
 
 The following gentlemen were named by the President, to 
 constitute the Committee, viz : 
 
 Hon. C. J. Colcock, 
 
 Gen. J. B. Earle, R. J. Turnbull, Esq., 
 
 Hon. William Harper, B. Rogers, Esq., 
 
 Hon. J. B. O Neal, Hon. R. W. Barnwell, 
 
 Col. Wm. C. Pinckney, Col. J. R. Ervin, 
 
 Hon. S. D. Miller, Col. J. Bond FOn, 
 
 Chancellor Job Johnston, T. D. Singleton, Esq., 
 
 Hon. G. McDuffie, Col. P. M. Butler, 
 
 Hon. R. J. Manning, Jas. A. Black, Esq., 
 
 Hon. J. K. Griffin, Col. John Bauskett, 
 
 On motion of Judge Harper, it was ordered, that the corres 
 pondence between Mr. Leigh and Governor Hayne, should be 
 printed for the use of the Convention ; likewise the Acts of the 
 
337 
 
 late Congress, connected with the controversy between this 
 State and the Federal Government. 
 
 On motion of Col. POn, the members of Congress, and of the 
 State Legislature, who might be present, were invited to a seat 
 within the bar of the Convention. 
 
 On motion of Gen. Hamilton, the Convention now adjourned 
 until to-morrow at one o clock, P. M. 
 
 ISAAC W. HAYNE, 
 
 Clerk of the Convention. 
 
 TUESDAY, March 12, 1833. 
 
 The Convention met according to adjournment, at one o clock, 
 P. M., and the proceedings were opened by a prayer from the 
 Rev. Mr. Ray. 
 
 The roll having been called, the President suggested that as 
 this formality was an unnecessary consumption of the time of 
 the Convention, and as there was no rule requiring its observ 
 ance, it would, if no objections were made, be dispensed with 
 for the future. 
 
 Messrs. John Lipscomb, of Abbeville, and J. T. Whitefield, 
 of Pendleton, appeared and took their seats. 
 
 The President then announced the names of Gen. James 
 Hamilton, Jun., and Samuel B. Wilkins, Esq. as completing the 
 Select Committee of twenty-one ; these names being substituted 
 for those of his Excellency R. Y. Hayne, now President of the 
 Convention, and of the Hon. Henry Middleton, absent, who, 
 with the gentlemen named yesterday, constituted the select Com 
 mittee of the Convention, at its late session. 
 
 Judge Colcock, on the part of the Committee, stated that 
 they were unable to report to-day, and obtained leave to sit 
 again. 
 
 On motion of Gen. Hamilton, the following Resolution was 
 adopted, to wit : 
 44 
 
338 
 
 "Resolved, That a Committee of Accounts, to consist of three 
 members, be raised, for the purpose of examining and reporting 
 on the Accounts of this Convention, and what balance may 
 stand to its credit in the Treasury, and what further sum may be 
 necessary for defraying the expenses of its present session." 
 
 Messrs. Simons, Bauskett, and Chesnut, were appointed the 
 Committee. 
 
 Mr. Turnbull moved that, until otherwise ordered, the Con 
 vention should adjourn from day to day to meet at twelve 
 o clock, meridian, which being agreed to, he moved that the 
 Convention do now adjourn ; which being likewise concurred 
 in, the Convention adjourned accordingly. 
 
 ISAAC W. HAYNE, 
 
 Clerk of the Convention. 
 
 WEDNESDAY, March 13, 1S33. 
 
 The Convention met pursuant to adjournment, at meridian to 
 day. The proceedings were opened by a prayer from the Rev. 
 Mr. Wafford, and the Journal of yesterday read. 
 
 Messrs. A. Bowie and A. Burt, of Abbeville, M. Jacobs, of St. 
 Helena, and Peter Vaught, of All Saints, appeared and took 
 their seats. 
 
 The Hon. C. J. Colcock, from the Select Committee of twen 
 ty-one, reported to the Convention an Ordinance and an ac 
 companying Report, on the subject of the Act of the late Con 
 gress of the United States, entitled " An Act to modify the Act 
 of the 14th July, 1832, and all other Acts imposing duties on 
 imports." 
 
 On motion of Mr. Wilson, these were ordered to be printed; 
 and, on motion of Judge Colcock, made the order of the day 
 for to-morrow. 
 
 Mr. Wilson, after a few explanatory remarks, introduced the 
 following Resolution, to wit : 
 
 " Resolved, That a Committee be appointed to wait on our 
 
339 
 
 Senators and Representatives lately in Congress, and now in the 
 Town of Columbia, requesting them to give us genuine infor 
 mation relative to the late proceedings of the Federal Govern 
 ment towards South Carolina, in consequence of the Ordinance 
 of Nullification, passed by the people of this State, in Conven 
 tion in November last; and that the Committee report what 
 arrangements may be made as to the manner and time of giving 
 the information desired." 
 
 On motion of Judge Colcock, this Resolution was ordered to 
 lie on the table. After a short interval, Mr. Wilson moved to 
 take it up for immediate consideration. Cen. Hamilton moved 
 to postpone it until to-morrow. After some slight debate, the 
 vote was taken on the question of postponement, and the motion 
 failed Ayes, 66 Noes, 69. The Resolution was then adopt 
 ed, and Mr. Wilson, Gen. Hamilton, and Chancellor Johnston, 
 were appointed the Committee. 
 
 Mr. Wilson then introduced the following Resolutions, to wit : 
 
 " Whereas, A Convention of the People of the State has been 
 called, to place the State of South Carolina upon its Sovereign 
 ty, and to consider of, and do such acts as may, in the opinion 
 of this Convention, serve more effectually to perpetuate the 
 same ; and, whereas, protection and allegiance are reciprocal 
 duties, and a fundamental principle of all Governments ; be it, 
 therefore," 
 
 " Resolved, That it is expedient and proper, that the Consti 
 tution of this State, be so altered and amended, as to require 
 every Elector, who may claim to exercise the elective franchise, 
 in addition to the oath of qualification now prescribed, to take 
 an oath of allegiance to the State of South Carolina; and upon 
 the refusal of any Elector to take such oath, the Managers of 
 Elections shall not be permitted to receive his vote." 
 
 " Resolved, That it is expedient and proper, that all officers 
 hereafter to be elected to any office of honor, profit or trust, 
 civil or military, be required to take an oath of paramount alle 
 giance to the State of South Carolina." 
 
 These Resolutions having been laid before the Convention, 
 by the President, Mr. Turnbull stated that the Committee of 
 twenty-one, already had the subjects to which they related, un 
 der consideration ; whereupon Mr. Wilson moved that they 
 
340 
 
 should be referred to that Committee, which was agreed to. 
 Gen. Hamilton then moved that the gentleman who offered 
 these Resolutions, should be added to the Committee, which 
 being agreed to, the Hon. John L. Wilson was added to the 
 Select Committee of twenty-one. 
 
 Gen. Earle then moved to adjourn, but withdrew the motion, 
 in order that an earlier hour than the regular time of meeting 
 might be fixed on for that purpose. On motion of Col. Elmore, 
 it was ordered that when the Convention adjourned, it should 
 adjourn to meet at 11 o clock, A. M, to-morrow. Gen. Earle 
 renewed his motion for immediate adjournment, which having 
 been carried, the Convention adjourned accordingly. 
 
 ISAAC W. HAYNE, 
 
 Clerk of the Convention, 
 
 THURSDAY, March 14, 1833. 
 
 The Convention met to-day at 11 o clock, A. M., pursuant to 
 adjournment. The proceedings were opened with a prayer by 
 the Rev. Mr. Keeney, and the Journal of yesterday read. 
 
 Judge Colcock, on the part of the Select Committee of twen 
 ty-one, stated that they were not prepared to make a further 
 report to-day, and obtained leave to sit again. 
 
 The following Report was then presented by Mr. Wilson, to 
 wit : 
 
 " The Committee appointed to wait upon our late Members and 
 Senators in Congress from this State, now in Columbia, re 
 questing them to give such genuine information as they may 
 possess, in relation to the Acts of the Federal Government, 
 growing out of the late Ordinance of Nullification, by the 
 People of this State, in Convention, in November last, have 
 performed the duty assigned them, and beg leave respect 
 fully to 
 
 REPORT : 
 
 " That the gentlemen lately composing our Delegation in 
 
341 
 
 Congress, now in Columbia, deem it unnecessary, as a body, to 
 give any exposition of the Acts of Congress referred to, but that 
 the views of those who are members of this Convention, on the 
 subject, will be submitted to the Convention." 
 
 " J. L. WILSON, Chairman." 
 
 The Report was, at the motion of Mr. Wilson, ordered to lie 
 on the table. 
 
 The Convention then proceeded to the consideration of the 
 Ordinance, which had been made the order of the day. 
 
 Judge Colcock moved that the Ordinance should be amended, 
 by striking out, in the Preamble, the words, " as amounts, sub 
 stantially, to an ultimate reduction of the duties to the Revenue 
 standard, and that no higher duties shall be laid, than may be 
 necessary to defray the economical expenditures of the Govern 
 ment," and inserting the following, to wit : " as will ultimately 
 reduce them to the Revenue standard, and provides that no 
 more Revenue shall be raised than may be necessary to defray 
 the economical expenses of the Government." This amendment 
 was adopted. 
 
 Mr. Wilson moved the following amendments, which were 
 likewise adopted, to wit : that after the word " Ordinance," 
 should be inserted, " adopted by this Convention, on the 24th 
 day of November, 1832," after the word "passed," to insert 
 " by the General Assembly of this State," and again, after the 
 word " passed," occurring the second time, the same words, to 
 wit : " by the General Assembly of this State." 
 
 After some discussion upon the question of the adoption of 
 the Ordinance, thus amended, in which the Hon. Stephen D. 
 Miller, the Hon. R. W. Barnwell, R. Barnwell Smith, Esq., 
 Gen. Hamilton, and Col. F. H. Elmore, took part, Gen. Hamil 
 ton moved to re-commit the Report and Ordinance to the Com 
 mittee of twenty-one. Chancellor Johnston moved that the 
 question should be separately taken on the Report and Ordi 
 nance. The President stated that, as the Report was not prop 
 erly before the Convention, the question would be solely on the 
 re-commitment of the Ordinance. Gen. Hamilton then with 
 drew his motion. After some further discussion, as to the adop 
 tion of the Ordinance, Mr. Bowie moved that its further con- 
 
342 
 
 sideration should be postponed until to-morrow. The vote by 
 acclamation leaving the President in doubt, a division was call 
 ed for, and the Ayes were found to be 57 the Noes, 83. The 
 motion was consequently lost. Mr. Butler then moved to ad 
 journ, which was also lost. On motion, a recess of t\vo hours 
 was taken by the Convention. 
 
 Four o clock, P. M. 
 
 The Convention re-assembled. Mr. J. Walter Phillips moved 
 that the Preamble to the Ordinance should be stricken out. 
 This elicited a debate, in which Mr. Wilson, Mr. Phillips, Gen. 
 Hamilton, and Mr. Whitefield, bore a part, when the question 
 being taken, the motion was lost. Judge Colcock then moved 
 that the further consideration of the Ordinance should be post 
 poned, and that it should be made the order of the day for to 
 morrow, which was agreed to. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Butler, the Report was then taken up, and 
 ordered to be re-committed to the Committee of twenty-one. 
 The Convention then adjourned until 10 o clock to-morrow. 
 
 ISAAC W. HAYNE, 
 
 Clerk of the Convention. 
 
 FRIDAY, March 15, 1833. 
 
 The Convention met to-day at 10 o clock, pursuant to adjourn 
 ment. After a prayer from the Rev. Mr. English, the Journal of 
 yesterday was read. 
 
 The following Resolution was submitted by Mr. Wilson, to 
 wit : 
 
 " Resolved, That the Librarian receive dollars, for his 
 
 attendance at the Legislative Library, during the last and pres 
 ent session of the Convention ; and the President of the Con 
 vention be authorized to draw his warrant for the same." 
 
343 
 
 On motion of Mr. Wilson, the blank was filled with the word 
 " sixty," and the Resolution adopted. 
 
 Judge Colcock presented a Resolution, fixing Monday next, 
 as the time for the adjournment of the present session of the 
 Convention, which was, on motion of Mr. Spann, laid on the 
 table. 
 
 Judge Colcock presented the Report, which was yesterday 
 re-committed to the Committee of twenty-one. 
 
 Judge Harper, on the part of the same Committee, made a 
 further report, consisting of a Report and Ordinance in relation 
 to the Act of the late Congress, entitled " an Act further to pro 
 vide for the collection of duties on imports." 
 
 Gen. Hamilton, on the part of the same Committee, made a 
 third Report, on the subject of the mediation of Virginia. 
 
 On motion of Judge Colcock, the two last Reports were or 
 dered to be printed, and made the order of the day for to 
 morrow. 
 
 The following Resolution was then introduced by Gen. Ham 
 ilton, to wit : 
 
 " Resolved, That whilst this Convention, as an offering to the 
 peace and harmony of this Union, in a just regard to the inter 
 position of the highly patriotic Commonwealth of Virginia, and 
 with a proper deference to the united vote of the whole South 
 ern States, in favour of the recent accommodation of the Tariff, 
 has made the late modification of the Tariff, approved by Act of 
 Congress, of the 2d March, 1833, the basis of the repeal of her 
 Ordinance of the 24th November, 1832 yet this Convention 
 owes it to itself, to the people they represent, and the posterity 
 of that people, to declare that they do not, by reason of said re 
 peal, acquiesce in the principle of the substantive power exist 
 ing on the part of Congress, to protect domestic manufactures : 
 and hence, on the final adjustment, in 1842, of the reductions, 
 under the Act of 2d March, 1833, or at any previous period, 
 should odious discriminations be instituted for the purpose of 
 continuing in force the protective principle, South Carolina will 
 feel herself free to resist such a violation of what she conceives 
 to be the good faith of the Act of the 2nd March, 1833, by the 
 interposition of her sovereignty, or in any other mode she may 
 deem proper." 
 
344 
 
 This resolution was also ordered to be printed, and made the 
 special order of the day for tomorrow. R. Barnwell Smith, Esq. 
 moved to append to it the following resolution, which was or 
 dered accordingly, to wit : 
 
 " Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Convention, that the 
 military preparations heretofore begun by the State, should be 
 continued, and that effectual measures should be adopted and 
 completed, for putting the State in a firm attitude of defence." 
 
 The Ordinance, which was made the order of the day, was 
 then taken up for consideration. 
 
 On motion of Chancellor Johnston, it was agreed to re-con 
 sider the question as to the adoption of the Preamble to the 
 Ordinance. Mr. J. Walter Phillips moved to strike it out. This 
 was opposed by Mr. Turnbull, advocated by Mr. Phillips and 
 Judge Richardson, and opposed by Mr. McDuffie, in reply. 
 
 Mr. Turnbull then moved to amend the Preamble, by substi 
 tuting the words, " provided for," for the word " made," which 
 was agreed to. The Ayes and Noes were then taken on strik 
 ing out the Preamble, and were as follows : 
 
 AYES Messrs. Brockman, Crooke, Chesnut, Cannon, Clinton, 
 R. Ervin, J. P. Evans, Gibson, Cause, Gill, James, Lancaster, 
 McCord, O Neale, P. Phillips, J. W. Phillips, Perry, J. S. Rich 
 ardson, Sistrunk, Whitten, Wilkins. 21. 
 
 NOES Robert Y. Hayne, President, B. Adams, J. Adams, 
 Ayer, J. Anderson, R. Anderson, Arnold, Baker, Ball, Bee, 
 Boone, Barnwell, Brad well, Blewett, Butler, John G. Brown, J. 
 G. Brown, Bauskett, A. Burt, F. Burt, Barton, Bowie, Black, 
 Belin, Cohen, Cordes, T. H. Colcock, C. J. Colcock, Capers, 
 Clifton, Caughman, Counts, Chambers, Campbell, Cureton, 
 Coggeshall, Dubose, Dawson, J. Douglas, G. Douglas, Elmore, 
 Earle, J. R. Ervin, W. Evans, Felder, Fuller, T. L. Gourdin, 
 P. G. Gourdin, Goodwyn, Gailliard, Griffin, Glenn, Gregg, J. 
 Hamilton, Jr., Heyward, Harper, Harrison, Hatton, Harllee, 
 Huguenin, 1 On, Jeter, Johnston, Jacobs, Key, Keith, King, 
 Levy, Lowry, Lacoste, Legare, Lawton, Long, Lipscomb, Lo 
 gan, Littlejohn, Magrath, Maner, Murray, Mills, McCall, Means, 
 Mays, McDuffie, Moore, J. L. Miller, S. D. Miller, J. B. Miller, 
 Nowell, O Bannon, Parker, Porcher, Palmer, C. C. Pinckney, 
 
345 
 
 W. C. Pinckney, T. Pinckney, Quash, Rivers, Rowe, Rogers, 
 Ray, J. G. Spann, J. Spann, Simons, Shand, J. M. Smith, G. 
 H. Smith, W. Smith, S. Smith, R. B. Smith, Stringfellow, Scott, 
 Symmes, Sims, Shannon, Singleton, Stevens, Turnbull, Tyler, 
 Tidyman, Ulmer, Vaught, Vanderhorst, Wilson, Walker, Wil 
 liams, Woodward, Williamson, Wardlaw, Whatley, Whitefield, 
 Watt, Waties, Ware, Warren, Young. 136. 
 
 The question was then put as to the adoption of the Ordi 
 nance, and the Ayes and Noes being taken, were as follows : 
 
 AYES Robert Y. Hayne, President, B. Adams, J. Adams, 
 Ayer, J, Anderson, R. Anderson, Arnold, Baker, Ball, Bee, 
 Boone, Barnwell, Bradwell, Blewett, Butler, John G. Brown, 
 J. G. Brown, Bauskett, A. Burt, F. Burt, Barton, Brockman, 
 Bowie, Black, Belin, Cohen, Cordes, T. H. Colcock, C. J. Col- 
 cock, Capers, Clifton, Caughman, Counts, Crooke, Chambers, 
 Campbell, Cureton, Chesnut, Cannon, Clinton, Coggeshall, Du- 
 bose, Dawson, J. Douglas, G. Douglas, Elmore, Earle, J. R. 
 Ervin,R. Ervin, W. Evans, J. P. Evans, Fuller, T. L. Gourdin, 
 P. G. Gourdin, Gailliard, Griffin, Glenn, Gibson, Gregg, Gause, 
 Gill, J. Hamilton, Jr., Heyward, Harper, Harrison, Hatton, 
 Harllee, Huguenin, POn, Jeter, Johnston, James, Jacobs, Keith, 
 Key, King, Levy, Lowry, Lacoste, Legare, Lawton, Long, Lips- 
 comb, Logan, Littlejohn, Lancaster, Magrath, Maner, Murray, 
 Mills, McCall, Means, Mays, McDuffie, Moore, J. L. Miller, S. 
 D. Miller, J. B. Miller, Nowell, O Neale, O Bannon, P. Phillips, 
 Parker, Porcher, Palmer, Perry, C. C. Pinckney, W. C. Pinck 
 ney, T. Pinckney, Quash, J. S. Richardson, Rivers, Rowe, 
 Rogers, Ray, J. G. Spann, J. Spann, Simons, Shand, S. Smith, 
 J. M. Smith, G. H. Smith, W. Smith, R. B. Smith, Stringfellow, 
 Scott, Symmes, Sims, Shannon, Singleton, Stevens, Sistrunk, 
 Turnbull, Tyler, Tidyman, Ulmer, Vaught, Vanderhorst, Wilson, 
 Walker, Williams, Woodward, Williamson, Wardlaw, Whatley, 
 Whitefield, Whitten, Watt, Waties, Wilkins, Ware, Warren, 
 Young. 153. 
 
 NOES Felder, Goodwyn, McCord, J. W. Phillips. 4. 
 Absent 11. 
 
 Messrs. Whitten, Perry, Lipscomb, and J. R. Ervin, obtained 
 45 
 
346 
 
 leave to be absent from the Convention, during the remainder 
 of the session. 
 
 A motion was now made to adjourn, but having been lost, the 
 Report accompanying the Ordinance just adopted, was taken up 
 for consideration. The Report was read by the President, and 
 the question put as to agreeing to the amendment reported by 
 the Committee, recommending to strike out the words " and 
 triumph," from the phrase " cause for congratulation and tri 
 umph," which passed in the affirmative. 
 
 A verbal amendment was moved by Col. Bauskett, and 
 agreed to. 
 
 Mr. R. Barnwell Smith moved to lay the Report on the table, 
 but withdrew the motion to give an opportunity for discussion. 
 In this, the Hon. S. D. Miller, Judge Colcock, Mr. Smith, and 
 Gen. Hamilton, took part. The question was then put, on the 
 motion to lay the Report on the table, and the motion lost. 
 The vote being taken on the adoption of the Report, it was 
 adopted by the Convention. 
 
 It was then moved by Gen. Hamilton, to take up for consid 
 eration the Resolution fixing the time of adjournment. This 
 elicited some debate, when Mr. Miller moved to adjourn until 
 to-morrow, at ten o clock, which having been agreed to, the 
 Convention adjourned accordingly. 
 
 ISAAC W. HAYNE, 
 
 Clerk of the Convention. 
 
 SATURDAY, March 16, 1833. 
 
 The Convention met at ten o clock, A. M., pursuant to ad 
 journment. The proceedings were opened with a prayer by the 
 Rev. Mr. Jackson, and the Journal of yesterday read. The 
 following Report was presented by the Hon. J. L. Wilson, to 
 wit : 
 
 " The Engrossing Committee, to which was referred the Or 
 dinance passed yesterday, in Convention, for rescinding the 
 
347 
 
 Ordinance of Nullification, adopted on the 24th of November 
 last, beg leave to report the same as engrossed, and suggest the 
 propriety of the same order of signature as was observed in the 
 Ordinance of Nullification. 
 
 JOHN L. WILSON, Chairman: 1 
 
 On motion of Mr. Miller, it was ordered that the ratification 
 should be according to the usual parliamentary form, viz : by 
 the signatures, merely, of the President and Clerk. The Ordi 
 nance as engrossed, after having been read by the Chair, was 
 so ratified, in the presence of the Convention. 
 
 A recess was then taken until twelve o clock, M. 
 
 The Ordinance as ratified, and the accompanying Report, as 
 adopted by the Convention, are as follows, to wit : 
 
 REPORT. 
 
 The Committee, to whom was referred the communication of 
 the Hon. B. W. Leigh, Commissioner from the State of Vir 
 ginia, and all other matters connected with the subject, and 
 the course which should be pursued by the Convention, at 
 the present important crisis of our political affairs, beg leave to 
 
 REPORT: 
 
 (IN PART,) 
 
 That they have had under consideration, the Act passed at 
 the late session of Congress, to modify the "Act of the 14th 
 July, 1832, and all other Acts imposing duties upon imports ;" 
 and have duly deliberated on the course which it becomes the 
 people of South Carolina to pursue at this interesting crisis in 
 her political affairs. It is now upwards of ten years since the 
 people and constituted authorities of this State, took ground 
 against the Protecting System, as " unconstitutional, oppressive 
 and unjust," and solemnly declared, in language which was then 
 cordially responded to by the other Southern States, that it 
 never could be submitted to " as the settled policy of the coun- 
 
348 
 
 try." After remonstrating for years against this system in vain, 
 and making every possible effort to produce a redress of the 
 grievance, by invoking the protection of the Constitution, and 
 by appealing to the justice of our brethren, we saw, during the 
 session of Congress which ended in July last, a modification 
 effected, avowedly as the final adjustment of the Tariff, to take 
 effect after the complete extinguishment of the Public Debt, by 
 which the Protecting System could only be considered as riveted 
 upon the country forever. Believing that under these circum 
 stances, there was no hope of any further reduction of the du 
 ties, from the ordinary action of the Federal Government, and 
 convinced, that under the operation of this system, the labor 
 and capital of the plantation States must be forever tributary to 
 the manufacturing States, and that we should in effect, be re 
 duced to a condition of colonial vassalage, South Carolina felt 
 herself constrained, by a just regard for her own rights and in 
 terests, by her love of liberty and her devotion to the Constitu 
 tion, to interpose in her sovereign capacity, for the purpose of 
 arresting the progress of the evil, and maintaining, within her 
 own limits, the authorities, rights and liberties, appertaining to 
 her as a sovereign State. Ardently attached to the union of 
 the States, the people of South Carolina were still more devoted 
 to the rights of the States, without which the Union itself would 
 cease to be a blessing ; and well convinced that the regulation 
 of the whole labor and capital of this vast Confederacy by a 
 great central Government, must lead inevitably to the total 
 destruction of our free institutions, they did not hesitate to throw 
 themselves fearlessly into the breach, to arrest the torrent of 
 usurpation which was sweeping before it all that was truly val 
 uable in our political system. 
 
 The effect of this interposition, if it has not equalled our 
 wishes, has been beyond what existing circumstances would 
 have authorized us to expect. The spectacle of a single State, 
 unaided and alone, standing up ior her rights, influenced by 
 no other motive than a sincere desire to maintain the public 
 liberty, and bring about a salutary reform in the administration 
 of the Government, has roused the attention of the whole coun 
 try, and has caused many to pause and reflect, who have here 
 tofore seemed madly bent on the consummation of a scheme of 
 
349 
 
 policy absolutely fatal to the liberty of the people, and the pros 
 perity of a large portion of the Union. Though reviled and 
 slandered by those whose pecuniary or political interests stood 
 in the way of a satisfactory adjustment of the controversy de 
 serted by many to whom she had a right to look for succor and 
 support, and threatened with violence from abroad, and convul 
 sions within, South Carolina, conscious of the rectitude of her 
 intentions, and the justice of her cause, has stood unmoved ; 
 firmly resolved to maintain her liberties, or perish in the con 
 flict. The result has been a beneficial modification of the Ta 
 riff of 1832, even before the time appointed for that Act to go 
 into effect, and within a few months after its enactment; ac 
 companied by a provision for a gradual reduction of the duties 
 to the revenue standard. Though the reduction provided for 
 by the Bill which has just passed, is, neither in its amount, nor 
 the time when it is to go into effect, such as the South had a 
 right to require, yet such an approach has been made towards 
 the true principles on which the duties on imports ought to be 
 adjusted under our system, that the people of South Carolina 
 are willing so far to yield to the measure, as to agree that their 
 Ordinance shall henceforth be considered as having no force or 
 effect. Unequal and oppressive as the system of raising revenue 
 by duties upon imports, must be upon the agricultural States, 
 which furnish more than two thirds of the domestic exports of 
 the United States, yet South Carolina always has been, and sti 1 ! 
 is willing to make large sacrifices to the peace and harmony of 
 the Union. Though she believes that the Protecting System is 
 founded in the assumption of powers not granted by the Con 
 stitution of the Federal Government, yet she has never insisted 
 on such an immediate reduction of the duties as should involve 
 the manufacturers in ruin. That a reduction to the lowest 
 amount necessary to supply the wants of the Government, might 
 be safely effected in four or five years, cannot, in our estima 
 tion, admit of a reasonable doubt; still, in a great struggle for 
 principles, South Carolina would disdain to cavil about a small 
 amount of duties, and a few years more or less in effecting the 
 adjustment, provided only she can secure substantial justice, 
 and obtain a distinct recognition of the principles for which she 
 has so long contended. Among the provisions of the new Bill, 
 
350 
 
 which recommend it to our acceptance, are the establishment 
 of a system of ad valorem duties, and the entire abandonment 
 of the specific duties, and the minimums ; tyrannical provisions, 
 by which duties rated nominally at 25 per cent, were, in many 
 cases, raised to upwards of 100 per cent ; and by which the 
 coarse and cheap articles, used by the poor, were taxed much 
 higher than the expensive articles used by the rich ; a regula 
 tion against which we have constantly protested in the most 
 earnest terms, as unjust and odious. The reduction before the 
 expiration of the present year, of one tenth part of the excess 
 of the duties over 20 per cent., on all articles " exceeding 20 
 per cent, on the value thereof," (embracing the entire mass of 
 the protected articles,) and a gradual reduction thereafter, on 
 such articles, down to 20 per cent., (the duties upon which, un 
 der the Tariff of 1832, range from 30 to upwards of 100 per 
 cent., and average upwards of 50 per cent.,) are great and man 
 ifest ameliorations of the system, to the benefits of which we 
 cannot be insensible. But great as must be the advantages of 
 these reductions, they are small in comparison with the distinct 
 recognition, in the new Bill, of two great principles which we 
 deem of inestimable value that the duties shall be eventually 
 brought down to the revenue standard, even if it should be found 
 necessary to reduce the duties on the protected articles below 
 20 per cent., and that no more money shall be raised than shall 
 be necessary to an economical administration of the Govern 
 ment. 
 
 These provisions embody great principles in reference to this 
 subject, for which South Carolina has long and earnestly con 
 tended ; and if the pledge therein contained shall be fulfilled in 
 good faith, they must in their operation, arrest the abuses which 
 have grown out of the unauthorized appropriations of the public 
 money. We should consider the reduction of the revenue to 
 the amonnt " necessary to the economical administration of the 
 government," as one of the happiest reforms which could possi 
 bly take place in the practical operation of our system ; as it 
 would arrest the progress of corruption, limit the exercise of 
 Executive patronage and power, restore the independence of the 
 States, and put an end to all these questions of disputed power, 
 against which we have constantly protested. It is this aspect 
 
351 
 
 of the question which has reconciled us to the provisions of the 
 new Bill, (certainly not free from objections) which provide for 
 the introduction of linens, silks, worsted, and a number of other 
 articles, free of duty. The reduction of revenue which will 
 thereby be effected, and the beneficial influence of a free trade, 
 in several of these articles which are almost exclusively pur 
 chased by the agricultural staples of the Southern States, and 
 which will furnish an advantageous exchange for these produc 
 tions, to the amount of several millions of dollars annually, are 
 considerations not to be overlooked. Nor can we be insensible 
 to the benefit to be derived from the united efforts of the whole 
 South, aided by other States having interests identified with our 
 own, in bringing about the late adjustment of the Tariff; prom 
 ising, we trust, for the future, that union of sentiment, and con 
 cert in action, which are necessary to secure the rights and 
 interests of the Southern States. On the whole, in whatever 
 aspect the question is contemplated, your Committee find, in 
 the late modification of the Tariff, cause for congratulation. If 
 we have not yet succeeded in the complete establishment of the 
 great principles of free trade and constitutional liberty, such 
 progress has been made towards the accomplishment of the for 
 mer, as must serve to re-kindle our hopes, and to excite us to 
 fresh exertions in the glorious work of reform in which we are 
 engaged. Influenced by these views, the Committee is satisfied 
 that it would not comport with the liberal feelings of the people 
 of South Carolina, nor be consistent with the sincere desire by 
 which they have always been animated, not only to live in har 
 mony with their brethren, but to preserve the Union of the 
 States, could they hesitate under existing circumstances, in 
 recommending that the Ordinance of Nullification, and the acts 
 of the Legislature consequent thereon, be henceforth held and 
 deemed of no force and effect. And they recommend the fol 
 lowing Ordinance. 
 
352 
 
 AN ORDINANCE. 
 
 Whereas, the Congress of the United States, by an Act re 
 cently passed, has provided for such a reduction and modifica 
 tion of the duties upon foreign imports, as will ultimately reduce 
 them to the Revenue Standard and provides that no more Rev 
 enue shall be raised than may be necessary to defray the eco 
 nomical expenses of the Government. 
 
 It is, therefore, Ordained and Declared, That the Ordinance 
 adopted by this Convention on the 24th day of November last, 
 entitled " An Ordinance to Nullify certain acts of the Congress 
 of the United States, purporting to be laws, laying duties on the 
 importation of foreign commodities," and all acts passed by the 
 General Assembly of this State, in pursuance thereof, be hence- 
 forlh deemed and held to have no force or effect : Provided, 
 That the Act entitled "An Act further to alter and amend the 
 Militia laws of this State," passed by the General Assembly of 
 this State on the 20th day of December, 1832, shall remain in 
 force, until it shall be repealed or modified by the Legislature. 
 
 Done at Columbia, the fifteenth day of March, in the year of 
 our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, and in 
 the fifty-seventh year of the Sovereignty and Independence of 
 the United States of America. 
 
 ROBERT Y. HAYNE, Del- ) 
 
 egate from the Parishes of \ President of the Convention. 
 St. Philip and St. Michael, ) 
 
 ISAAC W. HAYNE, Clerk. 
 
353 
 
 Twelve o clock, M. 
 
 The Convention re-assembled. Mr. S. L. Simons, from the 
 Committee on Accounts, presented the following Report, to wit : 
 
 " The Committee on Accounts, to whom was referred a Resolu 
 tion, instructing them to examine and Report on the Accounts 
 of this Convention, and what balance may stand to its credit 
 in the Treasury, and what further sum may be necessary for 
 defraying the expenses of its present session, beg leave to 
 
 REPORT: 
 
 " That they have carefully examined all the accounts which 
 were contracted under the orders of the Convention, together 
 with the pay roll of its Members and Officers, and find them cor 
 rect in every particular. Of the sum often thousand dollars ap 
 propriated by the Legislature for the use of the Convention, eight 
 thousand, three hundred and eighty-five dollars 53-100, have 
 been disbursed ; and a balance of one thousand six hundred and 
 fourteen dollars 47-100, remain to its credit in the Treasury. 
 Taking the expenditures of the former as a guide for the wants 
 of the present session, your Committee would respectfully re 
 commend the adoption of the following resolution : 
 
 " Resolved, That the President of this Convention be author 
 ized to issue his warrants on the Treasury, to the amount of ten 
 thousand dollars, for the purpose of defraying the expenses of 
 the present session, if so much be necessary. 
 
 S. L. SIMONS, Chairman." 
 
 This Resolution was adopted by the Convention. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Spann, a Resolution was passed, inviting to 
 a seat within the bar of the Convention, the Hon. Dixon H. Lewis, 
 a Representative in Congress from the State of Alabama, now in 
 Columbia. 
 
 The Report and Ordinance on the Force Bill, which had been 
 
 made the order of the day, were then taken up. The Ordinance 
 
 was announced by the President to be first in order. The Hon. 
 
 R. W. Barnwell moved to strike out so much of the Ordinance as 
 
 46 
 
354 
 
 relates to the requisition of an oath of allegiance. The follow 
 ing motions to amend having precedence, were first put and 
 adopted, to wit : that the words " or appointed," should be add 
 ed after the word " elected ;" the word " such" be inserted after 
 the word " any," in the first line of the last paragraph, and the 
 words " heretofore elected, or hereafter to be elected," be strick 
 en out. 
 
 Mr. BarnwelPs motion being now again before the Conven 
 tion, on motion, it was ordered, that when the question should 
 be taken, it should be by Ayes and Noes. A discussion arose, 
 in which Judge O Neale, Judge Harper, Mr. Turnbull, and Mr. 
 P. Phillips, took part. Mr. Wilson proposed to amend the Ordi 
 nance, by striking out, after the words " We further ordain," and 
 inserting the following, to wit : " That no person, who shall be 
 hereafter elected or appointed, or who has heretofore been elect 
 ed, but who has not yet taken the oaths of office required at the 
 time of his election or appointment, to any office, civil or mili 
 tary, within this State, (members of the Legislature excepted) 
 shall enter on the execution of such office, or be in any respect 
 competent to discharge the duties thereof, until he shall have 
 taken, in addition to the oaths of office now required, at the 
 same time and in the same manner, that such oaths are required 
 to be taken, the following oath of allegiance. 
 
 " I declare myself a citizen of the Free and Sovereign State 
 of South Carolina; I declare that my allegiance is due to the 
 said State, and hereby renounce and abjure all other allegiance, 
 incompatible therewith ; and I will be true and faithful to the 
 said State, so long as I continue a citizen thereof: So help me 
 God. 
 
 "And it is farther Ordained, That if any officer heretofore 
 elected, shall refuse or neglect to take the aforesaid oath, within 
 the time that other oaths of office are required by law to be 
 taken, such office shall be considered as vacant, and the Governor 
 of the State shall proceed (except in the instance of Judges of 
 the State) to fill such vacancy by appointing an officer, to serve 
 until another officer shall be elected and qualified." 
 
 This amendment was ordered to be printed. The Convention 
 then took a recess of two hours. 
 
355 
 
 Six o clock, P. M. 
 
 The Convention re-assembled. Mr. Barnwell moved to lay 
 the Ordinance upon the table, and to take up the Report and 
 Resolutions relating to the Virginia Mediation, which was 
 agreed to. Mr. Perry moved that the question should be taken 
 separately on the Report and Resolutions, which was likewise 
 agreed to. The Resolutions, being first in order, were consid 
 ered and unanimously adopted, and were ordered to be so enter 
 ed on the Journals. The Report was then taken up and adopted 
 by the Convention. 
 
 The Report and Resolutions, as adopted, are as follows : 
 
 REPORT, 
 
 ON THE MEDIATION OF VIRGINIA 
 
 The Committee to whom were referred the Resolutions of the 
 General Assembly of Virginia, and the communication of Mr. 
 Leigh to the Governor of the State of South Carolina, beg 
 leave to 
 
 REPORT: 
 
 That, although circumstances have supervened, since the in 
 stitution of this Commission on the part of the highly respected 
 Commonwealth from which it proceeds, which have enabled this 
 Convention to accomplish the object, which her Assembly so 
 anxiously and patriotically had in view, we are nevertheless sen 
 sible of the friendly dispositions and sympathy, which induced 
 the interposition of her good offices, at a moment when South 
 Carolina, denounced by the Executive of the Federal Govern 
 ment, and threatened with the extremity of its vengeance, stood 
 absolutely alone in the contest she was waging for the rights of 
 the States and the Constitutional liberties of the Country. 
 
 To this interference and these friendly dispositions, South 
 Carolina desires to respond, as a sister, sovereign, and independ- 
 
356 
 
 ent Commonwealth, in a tone of candor, confidence and affec 
 tion. Appreciating thus sensibly, both the motives and objects 
 which influenced the General Assembly of Virginia, to despatch 
 at a moment so interesting, her Commissioner to this State, 
 whose mission, even if the recent modification of the Tariff had 
 not been adopted, would have challenged her high respect and 
 profound consideration, she cannot permit the occasion thus of 
 fered, to pass, without making a few declarations which she re 
 gards as due to herself and the public liberty of the Country. 
 
 In the first place, South Carolina desires to stand acquitted, 
 and believes, on a calm and dispassionate reflection by her 
 co-States, she must stand acquitted, of the charge of having act 
 ed with any undue precipitation, in the controversy hitherto 
 pending with the General Government. For ten years she peti 
 tioned, protested and remonstrated, against that system of unjust 
 and unconstitutional Legislation, which had equally received 
 the reprobation of Virginia, before she resorted to her veto, to 
 forbid its enforcement within her limits. In exercising this fac 
 ulty of her sovereignty, she believed she rested on those doc 
 trines which, in 1798 and 1799, had conferred on Virginia and 
 her distinguished statesmen a renown so unfading. She now 
 refers to this subject in no invidious spirit of controversy : but 
 when Virginia asserted, in those memorable Resolutions of her 
 General Assembly, " that she viewed the powers of the Federal 
 Government as resulting from the compact to which the States 
 are parties ; as limited by the plain sense and intention of the in 
 strument constituting that compact; as no further valid than 
 they are authorized by the grants enumerated in that compact ; 
 and that, in case of a deliberate, palpable and dangerous exercise 
 of other powers, not granted by the said compact, the States, 
 who are parties thereto^ have the right, and are in duty bound, 
 to interpose for arresting the progress of the evil, and for main 
 taining within their respective limits the authorities, rights and 
 liberties, appertaining to them" we conceived she had done 
 nothing more or less, than announce the remedy which South 
 Carolina has resorted to, through her State interposition. It is 
 moreover asserted, in the Report explanatory of those Resolu 
 tions, that this right is a Constitutional, and not a Revolutionary 
 right ; and by the whole context of the powerful argument em- 
 
357 
 
 braced in that Report, the right itself stands forth as separate 
 and independent of the ordinary remedies of procuring a redress 
 for the ordinary abuses of the Federative Government. 
 
 When, therefore, the General Assembly of Virginia, in the 
 recent Resolutions, borne by her Commissioner, which your 
 Committee are now considering, declares " that she does not 
 regard the Resolutions of 1798, and 99, as sanctioning the pro 
 ceedings of South Carolina, as indicated in the Ordinance of her 
 Convention," with all proper deference, South Carolina must, 
 nevertheless, adhere, with an honest and abiding confidence, to 
 her own construction. It is within the providence of God that 
 great truths should be independent of the human agents that 
 promulgate them. Once announced, they become the subjects 
 and property of reason, to all men and in all time to come. Nor 
 will South Carolina feel less confidence in the conservative char 
 acter of her remedy, which she believes to be in perfect harmo 
 ny with a true exposition of the doctrines of the Resolutions of 
 1798, by the recent testimony afforded of its efficacy, in a pacific 
 accommodation of the late controversy with the Federal Gov 
 ernment, although that Government has attempted to destroy 
 the authority and efficiency of this remedy, by the contemporary 
 passage of an act, perpetrating a worse and more aggravated 
 outrage on the Constitution, which has again demanded the in 
 terposition of this Convention. 
 
 With this brief justification of the principles of South Caro 
 lina, your Committee take leave of the subject ; assuring the 
 ancient and distinguished Commonwealth, whose mission has 
 been borne, by her Commissioner, with an ability, temper, and 
 affection, entirely corresponding with her own dispositions, that 
 in the struggles for liberty and right which we apprehend from 
 the antagonist principles, now fearfully at work, between those 
 who support a limited and economical system of Government, 
 and those who favor a consolidated and extravagant one, which 
 the States in a minority are destined to wage, she will find, in 
 South Carolina, a faithful and devoted ally, in accomplishing 
 the great work of Freedom and Union. If she cannot say. with 
 Virginia, that consolidation and disunion are equivalent evHs, 
 because she believes, with their own Jefferson, that consolida 
 tion is the greatest of all political curses to which our Federa- 
 
358 
 
 tive form of Government can have any possible tendency ; she, 
 nevertheless, affirms, and challenges the production of any 
 event in her history to disprove the declaration, that she is devo 
 ted to the union of these States, on the very terms and condi 
 tions of that compact out of which the Union had its origin ; and 
 for these principles she is prepared to peril, at all times and un 
 der all circumstances, the lives and fortunes of her people. 
 
 Your Committee conclude, by recommending the adoption of 
 the following Resolutions : 
 
 Resolved, unanimously, That the President of this Convention 
 do communicate to the Governor of Virginia, with a copy of this 
 Report and these Resolutions, our distinguished sense of the 
 patriotic and friendly motives which actuated her General As 
 sembly, in tendering her mediation, in the late controversy be 
 tween the General Government and the State of South Caroli 
 na ; with the assurance that her friendly councils will at all 
 times command our respectful consideration. 
 
 Resolved^ unanimously, That the President of this Convention 
 likewise convey to the Governor of Virginia, our high apprecia 
 tion of the able and conciliatory manner in which Mr. Leigh has 
 conducted his mission, during which he has afforded the most 
 gratifying satisfaction to all parties, in sustaining, towards us, 
 the kind and fraternal relations of his own State. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Barnwell, the Convention then adjourned 
 until Monday at 10 o clock. 
 
 ISAAC W. HAYNE, 
 
 Clerk of the Convention. 
 
 MONDAY, March 18, 1833. 
 
 The Convention met, pursuant to adjournment, at 10 o clock, 
 A. M. The proceedings were opened by a prayer from the Rev. 
 Mr. Tradewell, and the Journal of yesterday read. The amend 
 ments of Mr. Wilson, as to that part of the Ordinance relating 
 
to the oath of allegiance, were then taken up for consideration, 
 and supported in a speech, by the mover. After which, on mo 
 tion of Mr. Barnwell, a recess was taken until 4 o clock, P. M. 
 
 Four o clock, P. M. 
 
 The Convention re-assembled, and Mr. Wilson s amendments 
 were again taken up. On his motion the Ayes and Noes were 
 taken, and found to be as follows : 
 
 AYES R. Anderson, Arnold, Boone, Bradwell, J. G. Brown, 
 F. Burt, Barton, Black, Cordes, Felder, P. G. Gourdin, Good- 
 wyn, Gailliard,Hatton, King, Long, Lancaster, McCord, W. C. 
 Pinckney, Rowe, J. G. Spann, J. Spann, W. Smith, Scott, Sin 
 gleton, Ulmer, Wilson, Walker, Williams, Whitefield. 30. 
 
 JVoEs Robert Y. Hayne, President, B. Adams, J. Adams, 
 Ayer, J. Anderson, Baker, Ball, Bee, Barnwell, Blewett, Butler, 
 John G. Brown, Bauskett, A. Burt, Brockman, Bowie, Belin, 
 Cohen, T. H. Colcock, C. J. Colcock, Capers, Clifton, Caugh- 
 man, Counts, Crooke, Chambers, Campbell, Cureton, Chesnut, 
 Cannon, Clinton, Coggeshall, Dubose, Dawson, J. Douglas, G. 
 Douglas, Elmore, Earle, R. Ervin, W. Evans, J. P. Evans, & Fuller, 
 T. L. Gourdin, Griffin, Glenn, Gibson, Gregg, Cause, Gill, 
 J. Hamilton, Jr., Heyward, Harrison, Harllee, Huguenin, 1 On, 
 Jeter, Johnston, James, Jacobs, Keith, Key, Levy, Lowry, La- 
 coste, Lawton, Logan, Littlejohn, Magrath, Maner, Murray, Mills, 
 McCall, Means, Mays, McDuffie, Moore, J. L. Miller, S. D. Mil 
 ler, J. B. Miller, Nowell, O Neale, O Bannon, P. Phillips, J. W. 
 Phillips, Parker, Porcher, Palmer, Perry, T. Pinckney, C. C. 
 Pinckney, Rivers, Rogers, Ray, Simons, Shand, J. M. Smith, G. 
 H. Smith, S. Smith, R. B. Smith, Stringfellow, Symmes, Sims, 
 Shannon, Stevens, Sistrunk, Turnbull, Tyler, Tidyman, Vaught, 
 Woodward, Williamson, Wardlaw, Whatley, Watt, Waties, Wil- 
 kins, Ware, Warren, Young. 118. 
 
 Chancellor Johnston then moved to strike out that part of the 
 Ordinance, as reported, relating to the requisition of an oath of 
 allegiance, and to insert the following, to wit : 
 
 " We do further Ordain and Declare, That the allegiance of 
 the citizens of this State, while they continue such, is due to the 
 
360 
 
 said State ; and that obedience only, and not allegiance, is due 
 by them to any other power or authority, to whom a control over 
 them has been, or may be delegated by the State : and the 
 General Assembly of the said State is hereby empowered, from 
 time to time, when they may deem it proper, to provide for the 
 administration to the citizens and officers of the State, or such 
 of the said officers as they may think fit, of suitable oaths or af 
 firmations, binding them to the observance of such allegiance, 
 and abjuring all other allegiance ; and, also, to define what shall 
 amount to a violation of their allegiance, and to provide the pro 
 per punishment for such violation." 
 
 Judge Colcock proposed the following amendment to that 
 amendment : 
 
 " Resolved, That it is expedient to refer the subject of an 
 oath of allegiance, to the Legislature, with a recommendation 
 that a Bill be introduced to make it a Constitutional provision, in 
 the mode pointed out by that instrument ; which would afford 
 the people an opportunity of expressing their opinions on the 
 subject." 
 
 The vote having been taken on this, it was rejected. 
 
 The question then recurring on Chancellor Johnston s amend 
 ment, the Ayes and Noes were called for, and found to be as 
 follows, to wit : 
 
 AYES Robert Y. Hayne, President, B. Adams, Ayer, J. An 
 derson, Baker, Ball, Bee, Boone, Barnwell, Blewett, John G. 
 Brown, Bauskett, A. Burt, Bowie, Belin, Cohen, Cordes, T. H. 
 Colcock, C. J. Colcock, Capers, Caughman, Counts, Chambers, 
 Campbell, Coggeshall, Dubose, Dawson, J. Douglas, G. Douglas, 
 Elmore, Earle, Fuller, Griffin, Glenn, J. Hamilton, Jr., Heyward, 
 Harrison, Hatton, Harllee, Huguenin, I On, Jeter, Johnston, Ja 
 cobs, Keith, Legare, Lawton, Long, Logan, Littlejohn, Magrath, 
 Maner, Murray, Mills, McCall, Means, Mays, McDuffie, Moore, 
 J. L. Miller, Nowell, O Bannon, Parker. Porcher, Palmer, C. C. 
 Pinckney, T. Pinckney, Quash, Rivers, Rogers, Ray, J. G. Spann, 
 Simons, Shand, J. M. Smith, G. H. Smith, W. Smith, R. B. 
 Smith, Stringfellow, Sims, Stevens, Turnbull, Tyler, Ulmer, 
 Vaught, Vanderhorst, Williams, Wardlaw, Whatley, Watt, 
 Young 90. 
 
361 
 
 NOES J. Adams, R. Anderson, Arnold, Bradwell, Butler, J. 
 G. Brown, F. Burt, Barton, Brockman, Black, Clifton, Crooke, 
 Cureton, Chesnut, Cannon, Clinton, R. Ervin, W. Evans, J. P. 
 Evans, Felder, T. L. Gourdin, P. G. Gourdin, Goodwyn, Gail- 
 liard, Gibson, Gregg, Gause, Gill, James, Key, King, Levy, 
 Lowry, Lacoste, Lancaster, S. D. Miller, J. B. Miller, McCord, 
 O Neale, P. Phillips,!. W. Phillips, Perry, W. C.Pinckney,Rowe, 
 J. Spann, W. Smith, Scott, Symmes, Shannon, Singleton, Sis- 
 trunk, Tidyman, Wilson, Walker, Woodward, Williamson, 
 Whitefield, Waties, Wilkins, Ware, Warren. 60. 
 
 The amendment was consequently adopted. 
 
 The Hon. S. D. Miller moved to strike out all that part of the 
 Ordinance, after the words " the enforcement thereof," including 
 Chancellor Johnston s amendment. The Ayes and Noes were 
 again called for, and were as follows, to wit : 
 
 AYES J. Adams, R. Anderson, Arnold, Baker, Bee, Boone, 
 Bradwell, Blewett, John G. Brown, F. Burt, Barton, Brockman, 
 T. H. Colcock, C. J. Colcock, Clifton, Counts, Crooke, Cureton, 
 Chesnut, Cannon, Clinton, J. Douglas, Earle, R. Ervin, J. P. 
 Evans, Felder, Fuller, T. L. Gourdin, P. G. Gourdin, Gailliard, 
 Griffin, Gibson, Gause, Gill, Harrison, Jeter, Johnston, James, 
 Keith, Levy, Lowry, Lacoste, Lawton, Littlejohn, Lancaster, 
 Means, J. L. Miller, S. D. Miller, J. B. Miller, Nowell, O Neale, 
 P. Phillips, Palmer, Perry, Rowe, Ray, J. G. Spann, J. Spann, 
 W. Smith, Stringfellow, Shannon, Singleton, Sistrunk, Tyler, 
 Tidyman, Ulmer, Wilson, Walker, Wardlaw, Whatley, Wilkins, 
 Ware, Warren. 73. 
 
 NOES Robert Y. Hayne, President, B. Adams, Ayer, J. An 
 derson, Ball, Barnwell, Butler, J. G. Brown, Bauskett, A. Burt, 
 Bowie, Black, Belin, Cohen, Cordes, Capers, Caughman, Cham 
 bers, Cambell, Coggeshall, Dubose, Dawson, G. Douglas, El- 
 more, W. Evans, Goodwyn, Glenn, Gregg, J. Hamilton, Jr., 
 Heyward, Hatton, Harllee, Huguenin, FOn, Jacobs, Key, King, 
 Legare, Long, Logan, Magrath, Maner, Murray, Mills, McCall, 
 Mays, McDuffie, Moore, McCord, O Bannon, J. W. Phillips, 
 Parker, Porcher, C. C. Pinckney, W. C. Pinckney,T. Pinckney, 
 Quash, Rivers, Rogers, Simons, Shand, J. M. Smith, G. H. 
 Smith, S. Smith, R. B. Smith, Scott, Symmes, Sims, Stevens, 
 47 
 
362 
 
 Turnbull, Vaught, Vanderhorst, Williams, Woodward, William 
 son, Whitefield, Watt, Waties, Young. 70. 
 
 The Ayes and Noes were now called for, upon the question of 
 the adoption of the Ordinance as amended, and being taken, 
 were found to be as follows, to wit : 
 
 AYES Robert Y. Hayne, President, B. Adams, J. Adams, 
 Ayer, J. Anderson, R. Anderson, Arnold, Baker, Ball, Bee, 
 Boone, Barnwell, Bradwell, Blewett, Butler, John G. Brown, J. 
 G. Brown, Bauskett, A. Burt, F. Burt, Barton, Bowie, Black, 
 Belin, Cohen, Cordes, T. H. Colcock, C. J. Colcock, Capers, 
 Clifton, Caughman, Counts, Chambers, Campbell, Coggeshall, 
 Dubose, Dawson, J. Douglas, G. Douglas, Elmore, Earle, W. 
 Evans, Felder, Fuller, T. L. Gourdin, P. G. Gourdin, Goodwyn, 
 Gailliard, Griffin, Glenn, Gregg, J. Hamilton, Jr., Heyward, 
 Harrison, Hatton, Harllee, Huguenin, I On, Jeter, Johnston, 
 James, Jacobs, Keith, Key, King, Lacoste, Legare, Lawton, 
 Long, Logan, Littlejohn, Lancaster, Magrath, Maner, Murray, 
 Mills, McCall, Means, Mays, McDuffie, Moore, J. L. Miller, S. 
 D. Miller, J. B. Miller, McCord, Nowell, O Bannon, J. W.Phil 
 lips, Parker, Porcher, Palmer, C. C. Pinckney, W. C. Pinckney, 
 T. Pinckney, Quash, Rivers, Rowe, Rogers, Ray, J. G. Spann, 
 J. Spann, Simons, Shand, J. M. Smith, G. H. Smith, W. Smith, 
 S. Smith, R. B. Smith, Stringfellow, Scott, Symmes, Sims, Sin 
 gleton, Stevens, Turnbull, Tyler, Tidyman,Ulmer, Vaught, Van 
 derhorst, Walker, Williams, Woodward, Williamson, Wardlaw, 
 Whatley, Whitefield, Watt, Waties, Ware, Warren, Young. 
 132. 
 
 NOES Brockman, Crooke, Cureton, Chesnut, Cannon, Clin 
 ton, R. Ervin, J. P. Evans, Cause, Gill, Levy, Lowry, O Neale, 
 P. Phillips, Perry, Shannon, Sistrunk, Wilson, Wilkins. 19. 
 
 The following letter from Judge Richardson, was then read ; 
 to wit : 
 
 "March 18, 1833. 
 " GENTLEMEN : 
 
 " According to my individual understanding of the end and 
 object of the high trust confided to me, by the People, who 
 
363 
 
 made me a Delegate to the State Convention of South Caroli 
 na, they have been virtually fulfilled, by the present adjustment 
 of the Tariff, our proceedings thereupon, and the answer to the 
 Virginia Commission. I beg leave, therefore, with deep regard 
 for the confidence which has been reposed, to resign my seat. 
 
 With the highest consideration and 
 
 respect, your obedient servant, 
 
 J. S. RICHARDSON. 
 
 To the President and Members of the General Convention of 
 the State of South Carolina." 
 
 This letter was ordered to lie on the table. 
 
 The Report accompanying the Ordinance just adopted, was 
 read, and on motion of Mr. Edwin J. Scott, amended, by striking 
 out from the sentence preceding the last, the words after the 
 word " State." The Report as amended was then adopted by 
 the Convention. 
 
 It was moved to take up the Resolutions introduced on Thurs 
 day last by Gen. Hamilton and R. Barnwell Smith, Esq., but the 
 vote being taken, it was agreed not to consider them. 
 
 The Hon. J. L. Wilson, from the Engrossing Committee, re 
 ported the Ordinance nullifying the Force Bill, as engrossed. It 
 was then ratified, in the presence of the Convention, by the 
 signatures of the President and Clerk. 
 
 The Report and Ordinance, as adopted by the Convention, 
 are as follows, to wit : 
 
 REPORT. 
 
 The Committee, to whom was referred the Act of the Congress 
 of the United States, entitled " An Act further to provide for 
 the collection of duties on imports," beg leave to 
 
 REPORT: 
 
 That they have, so far as time would allow, considered the 
 Act with such attention as the importance of the matters con- 
 
364 
 
 tained in it would seem to require. At the present moment, 
 when a question, which has long divided and perplexed the 
 country, has been adjusted, on terms calculated to quiet agita 
 tion and restore harmony, it would have been matter of peculiar 
 gratification, to be able to indulge, without restraint, the feelings 
 which such adjustment was calculated to excite. But your Com 
 mittee regret to say, that at the moment of returning peace, the 
 most serious and alarming cause of dissatisfaction has been af 
 forded by the Act under consideration. Your Committee do 
 most solemnly believe that the principles sought to be establish 
 ed by the Act, are calculated, when carried into practice, to 
 destroy our Constitutional frame of Government, to subvert the 
 public liberty, and to bring about the utter ruin and debasement 
 of the Southern States of this Confederacy. 
 
 The general purpose of the whole Act, though not expressed 
 in the terms of it, is perfectly well known to have been to coun 
 teract and render inefficacious an Act of this State, adopted in 
 her sovereign capacity, for the protection of her reserved rights. 
 Believing, as we most fully do, that the power attempted to be 
 exercised by the State, is among the reserved powers of the 
 States, and that it may be exercised consistently with the Con 
 stitution of the United States, an opinion formed by the good 
 people of this State, upon the fullest and most careful consider 
 ation, and expressed through their Delegates in Convention, 
 your Committee must on that ground alone, have been convinced 
 that the purpose of counteracting that Act, and the means by 
 which it is sought to be counteracted, are unauthorized by the 
 Constitution. We think that this will become more apparent by 
 attending to the leading provisions of the Act of Congress. 
 
 The Act gives the President of the United States, for a limit 
 ed time, an almost unlimited power of control over the com 
 merce of the whole United States ; though certainly the power 
 was only contemplated to be exercised against that of South 
 Carolina. 
 
 It exempts property in the hands of the officer of the Reve 
 nue, alleged to be detained for enforcing the payment of duties, 
 from liability to the process of the State Courts. 
 
 It exempts a class of persons residing within the State offi 
 cers of the United States, and persons employed by them, or 
 
365 
 
 acting under their direction, or any other person, professing to 
 act in execution of the Revenue Laws from all responsibility 
 to the State laws or State tribunals, for any crime or wrong, 
 when it is alleged that the act was done in execution of the 
 Revenue Laws or under color thereof. 
 
 It gives to the same class of persons, the right to seek redress 
 for any alleged injury whatever, either to person or property, 
 however foreign to the proper subjects of the jurisdiction, in the 
 Courts of the United States; provided the injury be received in 
 consequence of any act done in execution of the Revenue Laws. 
 
 It directly supposes all the Courts of the State to be inferior 
 and subordinate to those of the United States, and provides for 
 rendering them so, by directing to them the writ of certiorari 
 superseding their jurisdiction. 
 
 It affects to limit and control the jurisdiction of the Courts of 
 the State ; providing for the removal of causes from their cogni 
 zance ; declaring their judgments void, and providing for the 
 discharge of persons confined under their process. 
 
 It tyrannically provides for rendering persons liable to punish 
 ment for acts done by them in execution of the laws of the State 
 and the process of its Courts, to which they are bound to yield 
 obedience, and which they are compelled, under the highest 
 sanctions, to enforce. 
 
 It not only provides for the punishment of persons thus acting, 
 by the civil tribunals, but authorizes the employment of military 
 force, under color of executing the laws of the United States, to 
 resist the execution of the laws of the State ; superseding, with 
 the quick execution of the sword, the slower process of Courts. 
 
 The Act authorizes the confinement of persons in unusual 
 places which can only mean on board ships in which persons 
 from the most remote parts of the State may be confined. 
 
 The Committee believe that all these positions are distinctly 
 sustained by the Act in question. By the Constitution of the 
 United States, the power to regulate commerce, is given to 
 Congress. It is an important portion of the Legislative power, 
 and, as Legislative power, is incapable of delegation. Congress 
 has, however, in effect, delegated to the President the power to 
 abolish, at his discretion, any port of the United States, or inter 
 rupt or destroy its commerce. This may easily be effected. 
 
366 
 
 under the authority to remove the Custom-house to any port or 
 harbor within the Collection District, by fixing it at inconven 
 ient or inaccessible places. To say nothing of the unusual and 
 tremendous character of this power, which New York or Phila 
 delphia might perhaps apprehend, if there were any expectation 
 of its being exercised with respect to them, and the enormous 
 abuse to which it is liable, does the Constitution contemplate or 
 authorize, the delegation of this discretion to an individual ? If 
 it were exercised, it would be a plain violation of that part of 
 the Constitution which directs that, in regulations of commerce, 
 no preference shall be given to the ports of one State over those 
 of another. The same inequality is occasioned by directing the 
 payment of Cash Duties. It is vain to say that this has been 
 rendered necessary by the Act of the State, and without it, the 
 collection of revenue would be impracticable. Whatever lati 
 tude may be allowed in the selection of means necessary and 
 proper to carry into effect the granted powers of Congress, we 
 believe no one has yet imagined, that a plain provision of the 
 Constitution may be violated, as a means of carrying into effect 
 a power granted by another provision. Although we may con 
 cede the power of Congress, for sufficient cause and in good 
 faith, to abolish one port of entry and establish another, yet we, 
 of course, cannot concede that it may delegate this power ; or, 
 that the sovereign Act of the State, for the vindication of her 
 reserved rights, constitutes sufficient cause, or that this act has 
 been done in good faith. 
 
 The provisions of the Act, that all property in the hands of 
 any officer or other person, detained under any Revenue Law, 
 shall be subject only to the orders and decrees of the Courts of 
 the United States, plainly enact, that it shall not be subject to 
 any process, order or decree of the Courts of the State. We 
 have heretofore been accustomed to regard our Superior Courts 
 as having jurisdiction over all persons and all property within 
 the limits of the State. This jurisdiction is, of course, super 
 seded, whenever any other Court of concurrent jurisdiction has 
 possession or custody of any cause or any property. But that a 
 ministerial, executive officer, or that property in his hands, 
 should be exempted from the jurisdiction and authority of State 
 
367 
 
 Courts, we believe to be unprecedented in our legislation, and 
 without any shadow of Constitutional authority. 
 
 One of the most extraordinary and exceptionable provisions of 
 the Act, appears to be that authorizing the removal, previous to 
 trial, of suits or prosecutions from the State Courts, upon affida 
 vit made, and a certificate of the opinion of some counsellor or 
 attorney to the same effect, that the suit or prosecution was for, 
 or on account of any act done under the Revenue Laws of the 
 United States, or under color thereof, or for, or on account of 
 any right, authority or title, set up or claimed by any officer or 
 other person, under any such law of the United States. If there 
 be any violation of the law of the State if there be a wrong 
 done to person or property within the limits of the State have 
 not the Courts of the State jurisdiction of that matter ? By 
 what authority does the Congress of the United States limit that 
 jurisdiction ? What shadow of Constitutional provision is there 
 to sanction this flagrant usurpation? True, such a violation of 
 the law of the State may, sometimes, be justified, as being done 
 in execution of a Constitutional law of the United States; but 
 this is a matter of defence, to be tried as every other defence is 
 to be tried, and can have no effect in ousting the jurisdiction, or 
 in giving the Courts of the United States original jurisdiction of 
 offences against the State laws. So any person is authorized to 
 bring suit in the Courts of the United States, for any injury to 
 person or property, for, or on account of, any act done in exe 
 cution of the Revenue Laws. The Constitution gives to the 
 Courts of the United States, jurisdiction of all cases in law and 
 equity arising under the Constitution and laws of the United 
 States. An assault on the person or trespass to property, is a 
 violation of the laws of the State. Can it make a difference, 
 that a violation of the State law was provoked by an act done 
 under color of executing the law of the United States? The 
 protection of persons and property has, heretofore, been supposed 
 the province of the States. In assuming to itself this new func 
 tion, the Federal Government indicates most clearly its tendency 
 to engross all power, and control all State authority. 
 
 It is plain likewise from the various provisions of the Act, that 
 such suits are intended to be allowed against persons acting 
 in execution of the process of the State Courts. Judgments 
 
368 
 
 of those Courts are declared to be void, and persons and pro 
 perty exempted from their jurisdiction. 
 
 It is not only our law but part of the law of the civilized 
 world, that the judgment of a Court of competent jurisdiction is 
 valid, until it be reversed by a competent authority. The judg 
 ment of a Superior Court of general jurisdiction can never be 
 void for want of jurisdiction. When there are Courts of concur 
 rent jurisdiction, that which obtains possession of the cause is 
 entitled to retain it ; its process must be respected, and all other 
 jurisdiction is excluded. It is true that the judgments of Courts 
 of limited jurisdiction (and such are the Courts of the United 
 States, and so they themselves have determined) are void, if the 
 jurisdiction be transcended. This distinction would seem to 
 determine whether sovereignty is to be attributed to the State 
 or to the Federal authority. Hitherto, it has never occurred to 
 any one to doubt that an officer, acting in execution of the pro 
 cess of a Court of general jurisdiction, and all persons acting 
 under his direction, are exempted from all responsibility for that 
 Act. He is bound under the highest sanction to execute that 
 process ; and shall he be punished for performing his duty ? 
 
 If this Act were submitted to, the entire administration of the 
 criminal justice of the State might be interrupted ; and it is not 
 too much to say, that the State Governments would be rendered 
 impracticable. The worst criminal one stained with the guilt 
 of murder upon making an affidavit, which no such criminal 
 would hesitate to make, and procuring a certificate, which any 
 criminal might easily procure, would be able to elude the crim 
 inal justice of the State. His cause must be removed to the 
 Federal Court ; and when, upon his trial, it shall appear that his 
 act was not done in execution of the law of the United States, 
 your Committee do not perceive what other consequence can 
 follow, than that he must be acquitted and go with impunity. 
 
 Having taken this view of the provisions of the Act in ques 
 tion, the Committee would submit to the solemn consideration 
 and determination of this Convention, whether they do not effect 
 an entire change in the character of our Constitution, and will 
 not, when carried into practice, abolish every vestige of liberty, 
 and render this an absolute Consolidated Government, without 
 limitation of powers. It has been truly said, that if these things 
 
369 
 
 may be done, the most solemn acts of the highest authorities of 
 the State may be regarded as the unauthorized proceedings of 
 individuals ; the Courts of justice may be shut up; the Legisla 
 ture dispersed, as a lawless mob ; and we, ourselves, represent 
 ing, as we vainly believe, the sovereignty of the State, called to 
 answer for what we have said and done on this floor, at the bar 
 of a Circuit Court of the United States. Is this an exaggerated 
 picture ? Let us examine it a little more closely. If these pro 
 visions may be made to enforce the execution of the Revenue 
 Laws of the United States, they may be made to enforce any 
 other Act which Congress shall think proper to pass. No mat 
 ter how oppressive, how clearly unconstitutional, there is no 
 power in the constituted authorities of the State to resist it. If 
 one class of cases may be removed from the jurisdiction of the 
 State Courts, any other class, subject only to the discretion of 
 Congress, may be likewise removed. If the process of the 
 Courts be void, and the officer executing it, and those acting 
 under his direction, responsible civilly, or punishable criminally, 
 the Judge who directed the process must be answerable in like 
 manner. He was equally without authority, and having com 
 manded the act, is a partaker of the guilt. The Legislature 
 who commanded the act of the Judge, and the Convention of 
 the people in obedience to whose mandate every thing was done, 
 must have the same participation. If the sheriff, and his posse, 
 obstructing the execution of the Revenue laws, may constitute 
 that unlawful combination and assemblage, on being notified of 
 which, the President is authorized to use the military force of 
 the United States to disperse them, then the Courts, the Legis 
 lature, or the Convention, in obedience to whose authority alone 
 the Sheriff acts, and who are the efficient causes of the obstruc 
 tion, are assemblages of similar character, and may be dispersed 
 by military force. The whole purpose of the act is to con 
 found the acts of the constituted authorities of the State, how 
 ever solemn and well considered, with the lawless and irregular 
 acts of individuals or mobs. The certain effect of it must be, to 
 restrain the States from the exercise of any other authority than 
 such as Congress, or the sectional majority represented in Con 
 gress, shall think fit to permit them to exercise ; and to ensure 
 the enforcement of every law which that majority may think 
 48 
 
370 
 
 proper to enact. It involves the cruelty and absurdity of making 
 the community responsible to hostile force for its acts as a com 
 munity, and the individuals of the community, punishable for 
 their acts in obedience to the laws of their Government ; an obe 
 dience from which they cannot exempt themselves, unless they 
 absolve themselves from their allegiance, by self-banishment. 
 
 That the object of many of the politicians who supported this 
 bill the politicians of that majority in whose hands all power 
 will be is to establish a Consolidated Government, is now 
 hardly at all disguised. The chimera of a Government partly 
 consolidated, partly federative, is now scarcely contended for. 
 The same class of politicians have always had in view the same 
 object. It was attempted to be effected in the Convention 
 which framed the Constitution of the United States. The at 
 tempt was there foiled. After the formation of the Government, 
 those who affected Consolidation, assumed the term of " Fede 
 ral," and denied that the opinions held by them, led to that re 
 sult. The possession of power, however, developed their views, 
 and the first marked indication of their disposition to engross 
 the powers of the States, and meddle with their internal con 
 cerns, was afforded by the alien and sedition laws. This at 
 tempt was so strongly rebuked by public opinion, which led to 
 the change of administration in 1800, that the hopes of consoli 
 dation seemed abandoned forever. They remained dormant, 
 until revived by the agitations springing out of our late protect 
 ing system. It was perceived that nothing less strong than a 
 consolidated Government could sustain that system of iniquity. 
 Gradually, we have been told, that the States have parted with 
 a portion of their sovereignty ; then, that they were never sove 
 reign ; until at length, availing themselves of the excitement of 
 a particular crisis, and passion for power, and the influence of an 
 individual, the act before us has been passed, sweeping away 
 every vestige of State Sovereignty and Reserved Rights, or 
 causing them to be held at the mercy of the majority ; compared 
 to which, the alien and sedition laws sink into measures harm 
 less and insignificant. 
 
 And what is it to the Southern States, to be subjected to a 
 consolidated Government ? These States constitute a minority, 
 and are likely to do so forever. They differ in institutions and 
 
371 
 
 modes of industry, from the States of the majority, and have dif 
 ferent, and in some degree, incompatible interests. It is to be 
 governed, not with reference to their own interests or according 
 to their own habits and feelings, but with reference to the inter 
 ests, and according to the prejudices of their rulers, the majori 
 ty. It has been truly said that the protecting system consti 
 tutes but a small part of our controversy with the Federal Gov 
 ernment. Unless we can obtain the recognition of some effec 
 tual Constitutional check on the usurpation of power, which can 
 only be derived from the sovereignty of the States, and their 
 right to interpose for the preservation of their reserved powers, 
 we shall experience oppression more cruel and revolting than 
 this. 
 
 While there remains within the States any spirit of liberty, 
 prompting them to repel Federal usurpations, one of the most 
 obvious means to break that spirit and reduce the States to sub 
 jection, will be that which has been attempted by the act before 
 us. It will be to Create or to sustain, by the patronage of Gov 
 ernment or other means, a party within the State devoted to Fed 
 eral power, exempted from responsibility to the State authori 
 ties, and having power to harass and degrade the State authori 
 ties, by means of the tribunals of the United States. Thus will 
 be created a Government within a Government, with all the con 
 sequences, which experience informs us, are likely to arise from 
 that state of things, and such as did arise from the independent 
 ecclesiastical jurisdictions within the Governments of Europe. 
 The Federal Government will interfere with every department of 
 the State Governments ; it will influence elections ; it will raise 
 up and put down parties, as they shall be more servile to its will. 
 Pretexts for interference will never be wanting. Already has it 
 been said, that ours is no longer a Republican Government, be 
 cause the State, in vindicating its sovereignty, has refused to en 
 trust with any portion of its authority, those who deny or refuse 
 to recognize that sovereignty. Other classes of individuals 
 might be found, within the State, whom it might suit the major 
 ity to suppose disfranchised, in derogation of true republican 
 principles, and to require their interference and protection. 
 This interference will be practiced at first with moderation, and 
 with some apparent respect for the rights of the States. Grad- 
 
372 
 
 ually, as the power of the Government shall be established, and 
 the Southern States become weakened and less capable of re 
 sistance, the shew of moderation will be thrown off. Thus the 
 peace of those States will be embroiled ; their prosperity inter 
 rupted, their character degraded ; until in the natural progress 
 of things, your Committee think it not too strong to say, that 
 they will be more miserable, more utterly enslaved, more tho 
 roughly debased, than any provinces that have ever been ren 
 dered subject by the sword. 
 
 In alluding to the oath, which the State has heretofore thought 
 proper to exact of its citizens, and to one somewhat similar, 
 which the Committee propose to recommend, they think proper 
 to disclaim, as they do most solemnly disclaim, on behalf of 
 themselves and the Convention, that this or any other measure 
 which the Convention has adopted, has been adopted upon mere 
 party views, to secure party ascendancy, or gratify party resent 
 ment. They appeal to God, that their only object has been to 
 vindicate their just rights and liberties, and the common liber 
 ties of the whole South. This object they have pursued in sin 
 gleness of purpose ; though exposed to much obloquy threat 
 ened with much danger, and discountenanced by those from 
 whom they had a right to expect support. They have never 
 sought to endanger this Union ; but to perpetuate it by render 
 ing it compatible with, and a security for liberty. 
 
 The firmness of the State seems, at length, in some degree, to 
 have triumphed. But let it be recollected that the moment of 
 triumph is commonly one of danger. Let it be kept in mind, 
 that this is not a contest ended, but a contest not more than be 
 gun, and not to be determined, till this act shall cease to dis 
 grace the statute book. Let this contest be carried on firmly, 
 steadily, without passion and without faultering. If the vigilance 
 of the State should relax; if it should cease to raise up barriers 
 against the head of usurpation, which threatens to overwhelm 
 us, the torrent will break loose, and sweep our liberties along 
 with it. Let every man consider this his own peculiar business. 
 If liberty be saved, every thing is saved : If liberty be lost, every 
 thing is lost. 
 
 As the provisions of the act have reference only to certain 
 acts of the people and Legislature of this State, which have been 
 
373 
 
 superseded by the late modification of the Tariff, it could not 
 have been contemplated that it should have any immediate ope 
 ration. And your Committee doubted whether, regarding it as 
 merely a menace, they should recommend any action upon it, or 
 only that the sentiments of the Convention should be expressed, 
 in regard to the principles it contains. But most of its provis 
 ions are made permanent, and may be put in practice on some 
 future occasion. The Committee cannot doubt that it expresses 
 the true principles of many of those who voted for it, and who 
 will seek occasion to reduce them to practice. As a precedent, 
 it is most dangerous. The vote on the very act, shows how lit 
 tle is to be expected from a majority. It is incumbent on South 
 Carolina, unsupported as she is, to take care that no federal au 
 thority, unauthorized by our federal compact, shall be exercised 
 within the limits of the State. For the purpose of providing 
 that the act shall never have operation or effect, within the lim 
 its of the State, the Committee beg leave to report the follow 
 ing Ordinance. 
 
 AN ORDINANCE, 
 
 To Nullify an Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled 
 " An Act further to provide for the Collection of Duties on 
 Imports," commonly called the Force Bill. 
 
 We, the People of the State of South Carolina, in Convention as 
 sembled, do Declare and Ordain, That the Act of the Congress 
 of the United States, entitled " An Act further to provide for 
 the collection of duties on imports," approved the 2d day of 
 March, 1833, is unauthorized by the Constitution of the United 
 States, subversive of that Constitution, and destructive of pub 
 lic liberty ; and that the same is, and shall be deemed null and 
 void, within the limits of this State ; and it shall be the duty of 
 the Legislature, at such time as they may deem expedient, to 
 adopt such measures and pass such acts as may be necessary to 
 prevent the enforcement thereof, and to inflict proper penalties 
 on any person who shall do any act in execution or enforcement 
 of the same within the limits of this State. 
 
 We do further Ordain and Declare, That the allegiance of the 
 
374 
 
 citizens of this State, while they continue such, is due to the 
 said State : and that obedience only, and not allegiance, is due 
 by them to any other power or authority, to whom a control over 
 them has been, or may be delegated by the State ; and the Gen 
 eral Assembly of the said State is hereby empowered from time 
 to time, when they may deem it proper, to provide for the ad 
 ministration to the citizens and officers of the State, or such of 
 the said officers as they may think fit, of suitable oaths or affir 
 mations, binding them to the observance of such allegiance, and 
 abjuring all other allegiance ; and, also, to define what shall 
 amount to a violation of their allegiance, and to provide the 
 proper punishment for such violation. 
 
 Done in Convention, at Columbia, the eighteenth day of March, 
 in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and 
 thirty-three, and in the fifty-seventh year of the Sovereignty 
 and Independence of the United States of America. 
 
 ROBERT Y. HAYNE, Del- ) 
 
 egate from the Parishes of \ President of the Convention. 
 St. Philip and St. Michael, ) 
 
 ISAAC W. HAYNE, Clerk. 
 
 Gen. Hamilton then introduced the following Resolutions, 
 which were adopted, to wit : 
 
 " Resolved, That the Clerk do order to be printed, by the 
 printer of this Convention, to be appended to the copies now on 
 hand of the proceedings of the former session of the Convention, 
 five hundred copies of the Journal, Ordinances, and Reports of 
 the present session $ a copy of each to be distributed to each 
 Member of the Convention and Legislature also, separately, 
 three thousand copies of the Ordinances and Reports of the 
 present session, to be distributed to the people of this State; 
 and it be made the duty of the Clerk to attend to the distribu 
 tion of the same." 
 
 " Resolved, That the President of this Convention do transmit 
 to the President of the United States, and to the Governors of 
 the several States, copies of the Reports and Ordinances of this 
 Convention, adopted at its present session." 
 
375 
 
 It was now moved by Gen. Hamilton, that the Convention 
 should resolve itself into a Committee of the whole; which be 
 ing agreed to, Mr. Turnbull was called to the chair. Col. Sam 
 uel Warren then introduced the following Resolution, which 
 was adopted unanimously, and ordered to be so entered on the 
 Journal, to wit : 
 
 " Resolved, unanimously, That the thanks of this Covention be 
 presented to his Excellency, Robert Y. Hayne, for the dignity, 
 ability, and impartiality, with which he has presided over its de 
 liberations." 
 
 The Committee rose and Reported to the Convention. On 
 motion of Mr. Turnbull, it was 
 
 " Resolved, That the Convention do now adjourn, sine die, and 
 that it be dissolved." 
 
 After a prayer from the Rev. Mr. Ray, the President pro 
 nounced the Convention dissolved. 
 
RESOLVES 
 
 LEGISLATURE 
 
 OF 
 
 ILLINOIS. 
 
RESOLVES. 
 
 IN THE ILLINOIS LEGISLATURE, Dec. 26, 1832. 
 
 WHEREAS, the President of the United States, in his procla 
 mation of the 10th instant, has exhibited a just view of the 
 origin of our free constitution, and of the powers confided by 
 that sacred instrument to the States and the General Govern 
 ment ; and whereas, by the said proclamation, the assumed 
 power of a State to annul a law of Congress is conclusively 
 shown to be " incompatible with the existence of the Union, 
 contradicted expressly by the letter of the constitution, unau 
 thorized by its spirit, inconsistent with every principle on which 
 it was founded, and destructive of the great object for which it 
 was formed;" and whereas, the particular application of this 
 assumed power to the alleged grievances of South Carolina is 
 most ably and unanswerably refuted, and the dangerous and 
 treasonable doctrine of the right of secession, combated by 
 the clearest reasoning, is denounced in a spirit of devoted at 
 tachment to the Union ; and whereas, also, the Executive has 
 expressed a confident reliance on the undivided support of the 
 nation, in his " determination to execute the laws, to preserve 
 the Union by all constitutional means, and to arrest, if possible, 
 by moderate but firm measures, the necessity of a recourse to 
 force :" therefore 
 
 Resolved by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in 
 the General Assembly, That we highly approve the sentiments 
 contained in the said proclamation, and the avowed purpose 
 
380 
 
 of repelling the unconstitutional and dangerous designs an 
 nounced in the "disorganizing edict" of the South Carolina 
 Convention. 
 
 Resolved, That, whilst we admire the firmHess that would 
 resist " the mad project of disunion," we cordially approve the 
 spirit of moderation which deprecates " any offensive act on 
 the part of the United States." 
 
 Resolved, That " disunion by armed force is treason," and 
 should be treated as such by the constituted authorities of the 
 nation. 
 
 Resolved, That, whilst we deplore the spirit of disaffection 
 manifested by our South Carolina brethren, and should hail 
 with unmingled satisfaction their return to the first great prin 
 ciples of our Union, we hold it to be the duty of every citizen 
 of the United States, without distinction of sect or party, to 
 rally to the support of the great charter of American freedom. 
 
 Resolved, That, should the pacific invitation and solemn warn 
 ing of our illustrious President fail to recall the disaffected to 
 their duty should the anti-republican doctrine of nullification 
 be persisted in, and treason rear its polluted form within the 
 bosom of our prosperous, patriotic, and peaceful Republic, we 
 do hereby instruct our Senators in Congress, and request our 
 Representative, to unite in the most speedy and vigorous meas 
 ures on the part of the General Government for the preserva 
 tion of the peace, integrity, and honor of the Union. And 
 we do hereby solemnly pledge the faith of our State in support 
 of the administration of the laws and constitution of our 
 beloved country. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of the foregoing resolutions be trans 
 mitted to the President of the United States, to the heads of 
 the several departments at Washington, and to our Senators and 
 Representative in Congress. 
 
381 
 
 I certify the foregoing preamble and resolutions were unani 
 mously adopted by the House of Representatives. 
 
 f 
 
 DAVID PRICKETT, 
 
 Clerk of the House of Representatives. 
 
 ALEXANDER M. JENKINS, 
 
 Speaker of the Rouse of Representatives. 
 
 I certify the foregoing preamble and resolutions were unani 
 mously adopted by the Senate. 
 
 JESSE B. THOMAS, Jr. 
 
 Secretary of the Senate. 
 
 ZADOC CASEY, 
 
 Speaker of the Senate. 
 
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