1 Having the fullest confidence in the justness of the legal and constitutional opinion of my duties which has been expressed, I rely with equal confidence on your undivided support in my determination to execute the laws to preserve the union by all constitutional means-to arrest, if possible, by moderate but firm measures, the necessity of a recourse to force; and, if it be the will of heaven that the recurrence of its primeval curse on man for the shedding of a brother's blood should fall upon our land, that it be not called down by any offensive act on the part of the United States. Fellow citizens! The momentous case is before you. On your undivided support of your government depends the decision of the great question it involves, whether your sacred union will be preserved, and the blessing it secures to us as one people shall be perpetuated. No one can doubt that the unanimity with which that decision will be expressed, will be such as to inspire new confidence in republican institutions, and that the prudence, the wisdom and the courage which it will bring to their defence, will transmit them unimpaired and invigorated to our children. May the Great Ruler of nations grant that the signal blessings with which He has favored ours, may not, by the madness of party or personal ambition, be disregarded and lost: and may His wise Providence bring those who have produced this crisis, to see the folly, before they feel the misery of civil strife: and inspire a returning veneration for that union which, if we may dare to penetrate His designs, He has chosen as the only means of attaining the high destinies to which we may reasonably aspire. In testimony whereof, I have caused the seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed, having signed the same with my hand. Done at the city of Washington this 10th day of December, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two and of the Independence of the United States the fifty-seventh. By the President. Ewd. Livingston, Secretary of State. ANDREW JACKSON. MESSAGE TO CONGRESS. Communicated January, 16, 1833. Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives: IN my annual message, at the commencement of your present session, I adverted to the opposition to the revenue laws in a particular quarter of the United States, which threatened, not merely to thwart their execution, but to endanger the integrity of the union. And, although I then expressed my reliance that it might be overcome by the prudence of the officers of the United States, and the patriotism of the people, I stated that should the emergency arise, rendering the execution of the existing laws impracticable, from any cause whatever, prompt notice should be given to congress, with the suggestion of such views and measures as might be necessary to meet it. Events which have occurred in the quarter then alluded to, or which have come to my knowledge subsequently, present this emergency. Although unknown to me at the date of the annual message, the convention which assembled at Columbia, in the State of South Carolina, passed, on the 24th of November last, an ordinance declaring certain acts of congress therein mentioned within the limits of that state to be absolutely null and void, and making it the duty of the legislature to pass such laws as would be necessary to carry the same into effect, from and after the 1st of February next. A copy of that ordinance has been officially transmitted to me by the governor of South Carolina, and is now communicated to congress. The consequences to which this extraordinary defiance of the just authority of the government might too surely lead were clearly foreseen, and it was impossible for me to hesitate as to my own duty in such an emergency. The ordinance had been passed, however, without any certain knowledge of the recommendation, which, from a view of the interests of the nation at large, the executive had determined to submit to congress, and a hope was indulged that by frankly explaining his sentiments and the nature of those duties which the crisis would devolve upon him, the authorities of South Carolina might be induced to retrace their steps. In this hope I determined to issue my proclamation of the 11th of December last, a copy of which I now lay before congress. I regret to inform you that these reasonable expectations have not been realized, and that the several acts of the legislature of South Carolina, which I now lay before you, and which have all and each of them finally passed after a knowledge of the desire of the administration to modify the laws complained of, are too well calculated, both in their positive enactments and in the spirit of opposition which they obviously encourage, wholly to obstruct the collection of the revenue within the limits of that state. Up to this period, neither the recommendation of the executive, in regard to our financial policy and impost system, nor the disposition manifested by congress promptly to act upon that subjcct, nor the unequivocal expression of the public will in all parts of the union, appears to have produced any relaxation in the measures of opposition adopted by the state of South Carolina, nor is there any reason to hope that the ordinance and laws will be abandoned. I have no knowledge that an attempt has been made, or that it is in contemplation to re-assemble either the convention or the legislature; and it will be perceived, that the interval before the 1st of February is too short to admit of the preliminary steps necessary for that purpose. It appears, moreover, that the state authorities are actively organizing their military resources, and providing the means, and giving the most solemn assurances of protection and support to all who shall enlist in opposition to the revenue laws. A recent proclamation of the present governor of South Carolina has openly defied the authority of the executive of the union, and general orders from the head-quarters of the state have announced his determination to accept the services of volunteers, and his belief, that should their country need their services, they will be found at the post of honor and duty, ready to lay down their lives in her defence. Under these orders, the forces referred to, are directed to "hold themselves in readiness to take the field in a moment's warning," and in the city of Charleston-within a collection district, and a port of entry, a rendezvous has been opened for the purpose of enlisting men for the magazine and municipal guard. Thus South Carolina presents in the attitude of hostile preparation, and ready even for military violence if need be, to enforce her laws for preventing the collection of the duties within her limits. Proceedings thus announced and matured must be distinguished from menances of unlawful resistance by irregular bodies of people, who, acting under temporary delusion, may be restrained by reflection and the influence of public opinion from the commission of actual outrage. In the present instance aggression may be regarded as committed when it is officially authorised, and the means of enforcing it fully provided. Under these circumstances, there can be no doubt that it is the determination of the authorities of South Carolina, fully to carry into effect their ordinance and laws, after the first of February. It therefore becomes my duty to bring the subject to the serious consideration of congress, in order that such measures as they, in their wisdom may deem fit, shall be seasonably provided, and that it may be thereby understood, |