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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC00267.021.01 |
| From Archive Folder | Reports, Resolutions and Speeches Relating to State Rights and the Nullification Crisis |
| Title | In the Senate of the United States. December 27, 1837. Mr. Calhoun submitted the following motion for consideration |
| Date | 27 December 1837 |
| Author | Calhoun, John Caldwell (1782-1850) |
| Document Type | Broadside |
| Content Description | 25th Congress, 2d session, no. 47. Calhoun's famous resolution establishing the orthodox state rights position. "Resolved, That in delegating a portion of their powers to be exercised by the Federal Government, the States retained, severally, the exclusive and sole right over their own domestic institutions and police, and are alone responsible for them ..." Resolves that slavery in the southern and western states is an essential domestic element of those states and was in existence at the adoption of their constitutions. |
| Subjects | US Constitution Westward Expansion Slavery African American History US Constitution Law Government and Civics Nullification |
| People | Calhoun, John Caldwell (1782-1850) |
| Place written | Washington, D.C. |
| Theme | Government & Politics; Law; African Americans; Slavery & Abolition |
| Sub-collection | The Gilder Lehrman Collection, 1493-1859 |
| Additional Information | In his book "The Dred Scott Case: Its Significance in American Law and Politics," historian Don E. Fehrenbacher observes that with these resolutions "Calhoun laid the basis for that convenient contradiction whereby southerners, especially in the 1850s, were able to maintain that slavery was a local institution beyond the power of Congress to restrain in any way, and yet at the same time deserving of full protection in the territories...." (123). See Fehrenbacher, Don E., "The Dred Scott Case: Its Significance in American Law and Politics," New York: Oxford University Press, 1978. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Settlement, Commerce, Revolution and Reform: 1493-1859 |
| Related documents | In the Senate of the United States. December 28, 1837. Mr. Norvell submitted the following motion for consideration |