US Presidency
1845

To the states, respectively, or to the people have been reserved the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution nor prohibited by it to the states. Each state is a complete sovereignty within the sphere of its reserved powers. The government of the Union, acting within the sphere of its delegated authority, is also a complete sovereignty. While the general government should abstain from the exercise of authority not clearly delegated to it, the states should be equally careful that in the maintenance of their rights they do not overstep the limits of powers reserved to them. One of the most distinguished of my predecessors attached deserved importance to the support of the state governments in all their rights, as the most competent administration for our domestic concerns and the surest bulwark against antirepublican tendencies, and to the preservation of the general government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad. To the government of the United States has been intrusted the exclusive management of our foreign affairs.