1

and known as the "South Carolina Exposition," 1 a vigorous arraignment of the tariff on economic and constitutional grounds. The constitutional argument follows the general lines of the doctrine laid down in the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions of * 1798-1799: that the federal government is formed by compact between sovereign states; that the activity of the federal government is limited to the powers delegated by the Constitution; that it has not the right of judging conclusively of the extent of its own powers; but that the states, as parties to the compact, have equally the right of determining whether the Constitution has been observed or violated, and of the proper mode of redress.

The chief interest of the "Exposition," however, was in its declaration regarding the means by which a state might protect itself against federal usurpation. That remedy was "interposition," and the proper body to apply it was a convention. On this point the "Exposition" says: "When convened, it will belong to the Convention itself to determine, authoritatively, whether the acts of which we complain be unconstitutional; and, if so, whether they constitute a violation so deliberate, palpable, and dangerous, as to justify the interposition of the State to protect its rights. If this question be deIcided in the affirmative, the Convention will then determine in what manner they ought to be declared null and void within the limits of the State;

1 Calhoun, Works, VI., 1-59.

which solemn declaration, based on her rights as a member of the Union, would be obligatory, not only on her own citizens, but on the General Government itself; and thus place the violated rights of the State under the shield of the Constitution." 1

To avoid precipitancy, however, it was recommended that the legislature, after presenting its views "in this solemn manner," "allow time for further consideration and reflection," in hope that

a returning sense of justice on the part of the majority" may lead to a repeal of the obnoxious acts, and that the incoming of Jackson "may be followed up, under his influence, with a complete restoration of the pure principles of our Govern

ment." 2

The "Exposition" is Calhoun's first formal statement of the doctrine of nullification. Both its strength and its originality have been much overrated. Stripped of its literary qualities-for the "Exposition" is very readable-the constitutional argument is elementary and not very skilfully worked out, and offers nothing which the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions had not already made familiar. The doctrine of "interposition" was Jefferson's, not Calhoun's, and is here phrased as hazily as when it was first announced. As compared with Hayne's speeches in the "great debate," or with Calhoun's own writings, in 1831, on the 1 Calhoun, Works, VI., 45. 2 Ibid., VI., 55, 56.

same subject,1 it is a slight performance. What gave weight to the "Exposition," apparently, was the fact that it was adopted as the formal expression of opinion by the legislature, and that it came at a time when the public mind was ready to receive it.

The "Exposition" was immediately printed and widely circulated. It should be remembered that Calhoun's connection with the document was not known at the time, and that as late as 1830 his approval of nullification was denied. Calhoun's position as vice-president and prospective candidate for the presidency in 1832 may well have made him shrink from publicity in the matter, but he was not above fashioning in secret a weapon which his friends could use against the government of which he was a high official. Had Jackson known the authorship of the "Exposition," he might well have felt that his enemies were, indeed, those of his own. household.

The protest of South Carolina was followed by similar action in Georgia, Mississippi, and Virginia. The legislature of Georgia recommended the other states to protest against the recent tariff as unconstitutional and injurious, and to adopt a policy of self-preservation" by relying as far as possible on its own resources; while the House proposed a con

6.

1 "Address on the Relations of the States and the Federal Government"; "Report on Federal Relations"; "Address to the People of South Carolina"; all in Calhoun, Works, VI., 59'Houston, Nullification in South Carolina, 179.

144.

vention of delegates from the southern states, "in event of the failure of the present Congress to repeal or modify" the tariff, to concert measures of resistance. The general assembly of Mississippi, February 5, 1829, declared the tariff "contrary to the spirit of the Constitution," and impolitic and oppressive. The general assembly of Virginia reasserted the right of each state to construe the federal compact for itself, and declared its solemn conviction that the tariff laws "are not authorized by the plain construction, true intent and meaning of the Constitution."

The inaugural address of Jackson spoke with almost ludicrous indefiniteness regarding the tariff. The secretary of the treasury was a protected manufacturer from Pennsylvania. But the triumph of the democratic principles for which Jackson stood, and the overwhelming defeat of the "corrupt alliance" of Adams and Clay, inspired general hope that the policy of high protection would soon be radically modified. Until the meeting of Congress, accordingly, the agitation slumbered.

1 The resolutions in Ames, State Documents on Federal Relations, III., 22-25.

CHAPTER VI

THE GREAT DEBATE ON THE CONSTITUTION

THE

(1829-1830)

HE first session of the twenty-first Congress met on Monday, December 7, 1829. The roll of members contained many distinguished names. Among the senators were John Holmes, of Maine; Levi Woodbury, of New Hampshire, later secretary of the navy; Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts; Horatio Seymour, of Vermont; Theodore Frelinghuysen and Mahlon Dickerson, of New Jersey; John M. Clayton, of Delaware; John Tyler, of Virginia; William Smith and Robert Y. Hayne, of South Carolina; John Forsyth, of Georgia, later secretary of state; Hugh L. White and Felix Grundy, of Tennessee; Edward Livingston, of Louisiana, later secretary of state; John McLane, of Illinois; William R. King, of Alabama; and Thomas H. Benton, of Missouri.

Prominent among the three hundred and thirteen members of the House of Representatives were Edward Everett, of Massachusetts; C. C. Cambreleng and Gulian C. Verplanck, of New York; James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania; William S. Archer,