The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-06-30
Extract from General Jackson's Proclams-

On such expositons and reasonings. the ordi-
nance grounds not only assertion OF the right to
annul the laws OF which complains but 70 enforce
it by threat of seeding from ths Union II any at
tempt l. made to execute them
This right 10 secede Is deduccd from the nature
of the Constitution, which, they say, 10 compact
between soyereignStates, who have preserved 'hele
whole soverei9nfy, and therefore are subect to no
superior that because they made the compact,
they en- break Il, when, In tneir opinaoh' mas
cid AZ this course Of reasoning Is II enlists State
pride and finds advocates in the honest preJudices
OF those who have not studied the nature Of our
Government sufficiently to see the radical error on
which il rests.
The people of the United States formed the Con-
ettution, acting through the State Legislatures in
making the compact, to meet and discuss Its pro-
visions, and acting In separate. conventions when
thew ratified those provisions; butthe terms used
in lie construction show il TO be- government in
which the people Of all the States collectively are
represented. We are ONE PEOPLE in the choice OF
tAc President and Vice President Here the States
have other agency than to direct the mode IN
which the votes shall be given. The candidates
having the majority of all the votes are chosen.
The electors of majority Of the States may have
given their votes for one candidate. and yet an
other may be chosen. The people, then, and not
the States are represented in the Executive branch
In the House Of Representatives there 10 this diff
ference, 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 arc
all representatives of the United States, not repre-
sentativcs 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 do consult and prefer the interests
of their particular constituents when they come in
conflict with any dut1 as
tves of the United States, to promote the genersD
good.
The Constitution of the United States then forms
a government, not league; and whether it be
formed by compact between the States or in any
other manner, its character Ia the same. II IL
government in which all the people are repre-
sented, which operates directly on the people indi
vidually,not upon the States-they retained all the
power they did not grant. But each State having
expressly parted with 90 many powers as to const-
tute jointly with the other States single nation,
cannot from that period possess any right TO secede,
besause such secession does not break league,
but destroys the unity Of nation; and any injury
to that unity is not only breach which would re-
suit from the contravention OF compact, but II 10
an offence against the whole Union 10 say that
any State may at pleasure secede from the Union
is to say that the United States are not nation,
because it would be solecism to contend that any
part of nation might dissolve its connection 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 consttu-
tional right 10 confounding the meaning OF terms,
and can only be done through gross error, or to
deceive those who willing to assert right, but
would pause before they made revolution, or in
cur the penalties consequent on failure
Because the Union was formed by compact, It il
said the parties to that compact may, when they
feel themselves aggrieyed, depart from 1t; but 1t Is
precisely because It ia compact that they cannot.
A compact 10 an agreement or binding obligation.
1t may, by its terms, have sanction or penalty
f,.s a. hrnu ov nm mt
sanction it may be broken with no other conse-
quence than moral guilt; if it have sanction then
the breach insures the designated or implied PEN
atty league between independent nations gen.
eraliy has no sanction other than moral one; or,
if il should contain penalty, as there is no COM
mon superior, 1t cannot be enforced govern
ment, on the contrary, always has q sanction, ex-
press implied; and, in our cnse 1t is both neces
sarily implied and expressly given. An attempt,
by force Of arms, to destroy a government, is an
offence, by whatever means the constitutional COM
pact may have been formed, and such government
has the right, by the law Of self defence, to pass
acts for Furnishing the offender, unless that right 10
modified, restrained. or resumed by the constitu.
tonal act. In our system, although 1t Ia modified
given to pass all laws necessary to carry itspowers
into effect, and, under this grant, provision has
been made for furnishing acts which obstruct the
due administration Of the laws.
II would seem superf1uous to add any thing to
show the nature of that union which connects US
but, as erroneous opinions on this subject are the
foundation of doctrines the most destructive to
peace, must give some further development to
my views this subject. No one, fellow citizens,
has higher for the reserved rights OF the
States than the magistrate who now addresses you.
No one would make greater personal sacrifices or
official excrtons to defend them from vi0lation but
equal 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 distinctly drawn as to avoid doubt
in some cases of the exercise of power Men of the
bea N
their construction Of some parts of the Constitutions
but there others on which dispassiOnate rctiec
ton can leave no doubt OF this nature appears to
be the assumed right OF secession. 1t treats as we
have seen, on the alleged undivided 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 secedc. Both Of these posi-
tions are erroneous and some of the arguments to
prove them 30 have been anticipated.
The States severally have not retained their en-
tire sovereignty. II has been shown that, in be-
coming parts OF nation, not members Of a league,
they surrendered many of their essential parts of
sovereignty. The right to make trcatics-declare
variety taxes-cxerciee exclusive judicial and
legislative powers-werc all Of them functions Of
sovereign power. The States, then, for oil these
purposes, were no longer sovereign. The ale
glance of their citizens was transferred, in the first
instance, to the Government OF the United States;
they became American citizens, and owed ODE
dience to the Constitution of the United States, and
to laws made in conformity with the powers il
vested in Congress. The last position has not been
and cannot be denied. How, then, can that State
be said to be sovereign and independent whose cit
liens owe obedience 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 What shows conclusively that the
States cannot be said to have reserved an undivided
sovereignty s that they expressly ceded the right
to punish treason, not treason against their sepa
rate power, but treason against the United States.
Treason is offence against sovereignty, and SOW
ereigntv must reside with tho power to punish il.
But the reserved rights of the States are not less
sacred because they have, for their common into
rest, made the General Government the depository
Of these powers.
The unity of our,political character Gas has been
shown for another purpcse) commenced with its
very existence. Under the royal government we
had no separate character; our opposition to its
expressions began as UNITED COLONIES. We were
the UNITED STATES under the Confederation, and
the name perpetuated and the Union rendered
more perfect by the Federal Constitution. In none
of these stages did VIC consider ourselves in any
other light than forming one nation. Treaties
and alliances were made in the namo of all.