John C. Calhoun: “To the People of the United States”

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We, then, hold it as unquestionable, that, on the separation from the Crown of Great Britain, the people of the several colonies became free and independent States, possessed of the full right of self-government; and that no power can be rightfully exercised over them, but by the consent and authority of their respective States, expressed or implied. We also hold it as totally unquestionable, that the Constitution of the United States is a compact between the people of the several States, constituting free, independent, and sovereign communities; that the Government it created was formed and appointed to execute, according to the provisions of the instrument, the powers therein granted, as the joint agent of the several States; that all its acts, transcending these powers, are simply and of themselves, null and void, and that in case of such infractions, it is the right of the States, in their sovereign capacity, each acting for itself and its citizens, in like manner as they adopted the Constitution, to judge thereof in the last resort, and to adopt such measures not inconsistent with the compact as may be deemed fit, to arrest the execution of the act within their respective limits. Such we hold to be the right of the States, in reference to an unconstitutional act of the Government; nor do we deem their duty to exercise it on proper occasions, less certain and imperative, than the right itself is clear.

We hold it to be a very imperfect conception of the obligation, which each State contracted in ratifying the Constitution, and thereby becoming a member of the Union, to suppose that it would be fully and faithfully discharged, simply by abstaining, on its part, from exercising the powers delegated to the Government of the Union, or by sustaining it in the due execution of those powers. These are, undoubtedly, important federal duties, but there is another not less important, to resist the Government, should it, under color of exercising the delegated, encroach on the reserved powers. The duty of the States is no less clear in the one case than in the other; and the obligation as binding in the one as in the other; and in like manner the solemn obligation of an oath, imposed by the States through the Constitution, on all public functionaries, federal and State, to support that instrument, comprehends the one as well as the other duty; as well that of maintaining the Government in the due exercise of its powers, as that of resisting it when it transcends them.

But the obligation of a State to resist the encroachments of the Government on the reserved powers, is not limited simply to the discharge of its federal duties. We hold that it embraces another, if possible, more sacred; that of protecting its citizens, derived from their original sovereign character, viewed in their separate relations. There are none of the duties of a State of higher obligation. It is, indeed, the primitive duty, preceding all others, and in its nature paramount to them all; and so essential to the existence of a State, that she cannot neglect or abandon it, without forfeiting all just claims to the allegiance of her citizens, and with it, her sovereignty itself. In entering into the Union, the States by no means exempted themselves from the obligation of this, the first and most sacred of their duties; nor, indeed, can they without sinking into subordinate and dependent corporations. It is true, that in ratifying the Constitution, they 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 so, that they reserved, at the same time, a portion still larger, and not less important, under their own immediate guardianship; and in relation to which, the original obligation, to protect the rights of their citizens, from whatever quarter assailed, remained unchanged and unimpaired. Nor is it less true, that the General Government, created in order to preserve the rights placed under the joint protection of the States, and which, when restricted to its proper sphere, is calculated to afford them the most perfect security, may become, when not so restricted, the most dangerous enemy to the rights of their citizens, including those reserved under the immediate guardianship of the States respectively, as well as those under their joint protection; and thus, the original and inherent obligation of the States to protect their citizens, is united with that which they have contracted to support the Constitution; thereby rendering it the most sacred of all their duties to watch over and resist the encroachments of the Government; and on the faithful performance of which, we solemnly believe the duration of the Constitution and the liberty and happiness of the country depend.

But, while we hold the rights and duties of the States to be such as we have stated, we are deeply impressed with the conviction, that it is due to the relation existing between them, as members of a common Union, and the respect which they ought ever to entertain towards the Government ordained to carry into effect the important objects for which the Constitution was formed, that the occasion to justify a State in interposing its authority, ought to be one of necessity; where all other peaceful remedies have been unsuccessfully tried; and where the only alternative is, interposition on one side, or oppression of its citizens, and imminent danger to the Constitution and liberty of the country on the other; and such we hold to be the present.

That the prohibitory, or protective system, which, as has been stated, is embraced in the acts which we have declared to be unconstitutional, and therefore null and void, is, in fact, unconstitutional, unequal, and oppressive in its operation on this, and the other staple and exporting States, and dangerous to the Constitution and liberty of the country, and that (all other peaceful remedies having been tried without success) an occasion has occurred, where it becomes the right and duty of the State to interpose its authority to arrest the evil within its limits, we hold to be certain; and it is under this deep and solemn conviction, that we have acted.