Volume IV Part 62 (2/2)
Was war at hand? This was the question every man asked of his neighbor.
A pamphlet on the situation, written by some one in a state of great emotion, had been sent to Marshall, and Judge Peters had inquired about it, giving at the same time the name of the author.
”I am not surprised,” answered Marshall, ”that he [the author] is excited by the doctrine of nullification. It is well calculated to produce excitement in all.... Leaving it to the courts and the custom house will be leaving it to triumphant victory, and to victory which must be attended with more pernicious consequences to our country and with more fatal consequences to its reputation than victory achieved in any other mode which rational men can devise.”[1504] If Nullification must prevail, John Marshall preferred that it should win by the sword rather than through the intimidation of courts.
Jackson rightly felt that his reelection meant that the country in general approved of his att.i.tude toward Nullification as well as that toward the Bank. He promptly answered the defiance of South Carolina. On December 10, 1832, he issued his historic Proclamation. Written by Edward Livingston,[1505] Secretary of State, it is one of the ablest of American state papers. Moderate in expression, simple in style, solid in logic, it might have been composed by Marshall himself. It is, indeed, a restatement of Marshall's Nationalist reasoning and conclusions. Like the argument in Webster's Reply to Hayne, Jackson's Nullification Proclamation was a repet.i.tion of those views of the Const.i.tution and of the nature of the American Government for which Marshall had been fighting since Was.h.i.+ngton was made President.
As in Webster's great speech, sentences and paragraphs are in almost the very words used by Marshall in his Const.i.tutional opinions, so in Jackson's Proclamation the same parallelism exists. Gently, but firmly, and with tremendous force, in the style and spirit of Abraham Lincoln rather than of Andrew Jackson, the Proclamation makes clear that the National laws will be executed and resistance to them will be put down by force of arms.[1506]
The Proclamation was a triumph for Marshall. That the man whom he distrusted and of whom he so disapproved, whose election he had thought to be equivalent to a dissolution of the Union, should turn out to be the stern defender of National solidarity, was, to Marshall, another of those miracles which so often had saved the Republic. His disapproval of Jackson's rampant democracy, and whimsical yet arbitrary executive conduct, turned at once to hearty commendation.
”Since his last proclamation and message,” testifies Story, ”the Chief Justice and myself have become his warmest supporters, and shall continue so just as long as he maintains the principles contained in them. Who would have dreamed of such an occurrence?”[1507] Marshall realized, nevertheless, that even the bold course pursued by the President could not permanently overcome the secession convictions of the Southern people.
The Union men of South Carolina who, from the beginning of the Nullification movement, had striven earnestly to stay its progress, rallied manfully.[1508] Their efforts were futile--disunion sentiment swept the State. ”With ... indignation and contempt,” with ”defiance and scorn,” most South Carolinians greeted the Proclamation[1509] of the man who, only three years before, had been their idol. To South Carolinians Jackson was now ”a tyrant,” a would-be ”Caesar,” a ”Cromwell,” a ”Bonaparte.”[1510]
The Legislature formally requested Hayne, now Governor, to issue a counter-proclamation,[1511] and adopted spirited resolutions declaring the right of any State ”to secede peaceably from the Union.” One count in South Carolina's indictment of the President was thoroughly justified--his approval of Georgia's defiance of Marshall and the Supreme Court. Jackson's action, declared the resolutions, was the more ”extraordinary, that he has silently, and ... with entire approbation, witnessed our sister state of Georgia avow, act upon, and carry into effect, even to the taking of life, principles identical with those now denounced by him in South Carolina.” The Legislature finally resolved that the State would ”repel force by force, and, relying upon the blessing of G.o.d, will maintain its liberty at all hazards.”[1512]
Swiftly Hayne published his reply to the President's Proclamation. It summed up all the arguments for the right of a State to decide the const.i.tutionality of acts of Congress, that had been made since the Kentucky Resolutions were written by Jefferson--that ”great Apostle of American liberty ... who has consecrated these principles, and left them as a legacy to the American people, recorded by his own hand.” It was Jefferson, said Hayne, who had first penned the immortal truth that ”NULLIFICATION” of unconst.i.tutional acts of Congress was the ”RIGHTFUL REMEDY” of the States.[1513]
In his Proclamation Jackson had referred to the National Judiciary as the ultimate arbiter of the const.i.tutionality of National laws. How absurd such a claim by such a man, since that doctrine ”has been denied by none more strongly than the President himself” in the Bank controversy and in the case of the Cherokees! ”And yet when it serves the purpose of bringing odium on South Carolina, 'his native State,' the President has no hesitation in regarding the attempt of a State to release herself from the control of the Federal Judiciary, in a matter affecting her sovereign rights, as a violation of the Const.i.tution.”[1514]
In closing, Governor Hayne declares that ”the time has come when it must be seen, whether the people of the several States have indeed lost the spirit of the revolution, and whether they are to become the willing instruments of an unhallowed despotism. In such a sacred cause, South Carolina will feel that she is not striking for her own, but the liberties of the Union and the RIGHTS OF MAN.”[1515]
Instantly[1516] the Legislature enacted one law to prevent the collection of tariff duties in South Carolina;[1517] another authorizing the Governor to ”order into service the whole military force of this State” to resist any attempt of the National Government to enforce the Tariff Acts.[1518] Even before Hayne's Proclamation was published, extensive laws had been pa.s.sed for the reorganization of the militia, and the Legislature now continued to enact similar legislation. In four days fourteen such acts were pa.s.sed.[1519]
The spirit and consistency of South Carolina were as admirable as her theory was erroneous and narrow. If she meant what she had said, the State could have taken no other course. If, moreover, she really intended to resist the National Government, Jackson had given cause for South Carolina's militant action. As soon as the Legislature ordered the calling of the State Convention to consider the tariff, the President directed the Collector at Charleston to use every resource at the command of the Government to collect tariff duties. The commanders of the forts at Charleston were ordered to be in readiness to repel any attack. General Scott was sent to the scene of the disturbance. Military and naval dispositions were made so as to enable the National Government to strike quickly and effectively.[1520]
Throughout South Carolina the rolling of drums and blare of bugles were heard. Everywhere was seen the blue c.o.c.kade with palmetto b.u.t.ton.[1521]
Volunteers were called for,[1522] and offered themselves by thousands; in certain districts ”almost the entire population” enlisted.[1523] Some regiments adopted a new flag, a banner of red with a single black star in the center.[1524]
Jackson attempted to placate the enraged and determined State. In his fourth annual Message to Congress he barely mentioned South Carolina's defiance, but, for the second time, urgently recommended a reduction of tariff duties. Protection, he said, ”must be ultimately limited to those articles of domestic manufacture which are indispensable to our safety in time of war.... Beyond this object we have already seen the operation of the system productive of discontent.”[1525]
Other Southern States, although firmly believing in South Carolina's principles and sympathetic with her cause, were alarmed by her bold course. Virginia essayed the role of mediator between her warlike sister and the ”usurping” National Government. In his Message to the Legislature, Governor John Floyd stoutly defended South Carolina--”the land of Sumpter [_sic_] and of Marion.” ”Should force be resorted to by the federal government, the horror of the scenes hereafter to be witnessed cannot now be pictured.... What surety has any state for her existence as a sovereign, if a difference of opinion should be punished by the sword as treason?” The situation calls for a reference of the whole question to ”the PEOPLE of the states. On you depends in a high degree the future destiny of this republic. It is for you now to say whether the brand of civil war shall be thrown into the midst of these states.”[1526]
Mediative resolutions were instantly offered for the appointment of a committee ”to take into consideration the relations existing between the state of South Carolina and the government of the United States,” and the results to each and to Virginia flowing from the Ordinance of Nullification and Jackson's Proclamation. The committee was to report ”such measures as ... it may be expedient for Virginia to adopt--the propriety of recommending a general convention to the states--and such a declaration of our views and opinions as it may be proper for her to express in the present fearful impending crisis, for the protection of the right of the states, the restoration of harmony, and the preservation of the union.”[1527]
Only five members voted against the resolution.[1528]
The committee was appointed and, on December 20, 1832, reported a set of resolutions--”worlds of words,” as Niles aptly called them--disapproving Jackson's Proclamation; applauding his recommendation to Congress that the tariff be reduced; regretting South Carolina's hasty action; deprecating ”the intervention of arms on either side”; entreating ”our brethren in S. Carolina to pause in their career”; appealing to Jackson ”to withstay the arm of force”; instructing Virginia Senators and requesting Virginia Representatives in Congress to do their best to ”procure an immediate reduction of the tariff”; and appointing two commissioners to visit South Carolina with a view to securing an adjustment of the dispute.[1529]
With painful anxiety and grave alarm, Marshall, then in Richmond, watched the tragic yet absurd procession of events. Much as the doings and sayings of the mediators and sympathizers with Nullification irritated him, serious as were his forebodings, the situation appealed to his sense of humor. He wrote Story an account of what was going on in Virginia. No abler or more accurate statement of the conditions and tendencies of the period exists. Marshall's letter is a doc.u.ment of historical importance. It reveals, too, the character of the man.
It was written in acknowledgment of the receipt of ”a proof sheet” of a page of Story's ”Commentaries on the Const.i.tution of the United States,”
dedicating that work to Marshall. ”I am ... deeply penetrated,” says Marshall, ”by the evidence it affords of the continuance of that partial esteem and friends.h.i.+p which I have cherished for so many years, and still cherish as one of the choicest treasures of my life. The only return I can make is locked up in my own bosom, or communicated in occasional conversation with my friends.” He congratulates Story on having finished his ”Herculean task.” He is sure that Story has accomplished it with ability and ”correctness,” and is ”certain in advance” that he will read ”every sentence with entire approbation. It is a subject on which we concur exactly. Our opinions on it are, I believe, identical. Not so with Virginia or the South generally.”
Marshall then relates what has happened in Richmond: ”Our legislature is now in session, and the dominant party receives the message of the President to Congress with enthusiastic applause. Quite different was the effect of his proclamation. That paper astonished, confounded, and for a moment silenced them. In a short time, however, the power of speech was recovered, and was employed in bestowing on its author the only epithet which could possibly weigh in the scales against the name of 'Andrew Jackson,' and countervail its popularity.
”Imitating the Quaker who said the dog he wished to destroy was mad, they said Andrew Jackson had become a Federalist, even an ultra Federalist. To have said he was ready to break down and trample on every other department of the government would not have injured him, but to say that he was a Federalist--a convert to the opinions of Was.h.i.+ngton, was a mortal blow under which he is yet staggering.
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