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Letter to John C. Calhoun, 2 January 1844, Draft

Source Note

JS, Letter,
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

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, Hancock Co., IL, to
John C. Calhoun

18 Mar. 1782–31 Mar. 1850. Lawyer, politician. Born near Hutchinson’s Mill, Ninety-Sixth District (later Calhoun Mill, Mount Carmel, McCormick Co.), South Carolina. Son of Patrick Calhoun and Martha Caldwell. Graduated from Yale, 1804, in New Haven, New Haven...

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, Fort Hill, Pickens Co., SC, 2 Jan. 1844. Version drafted 2 Jan. 1844; handwriting of
William W. Phelps

17 Feb. 1792–7 Mar. 1872. Writer, teacher, printer, newspaper editor, publisher, postmaster, lawyer. Born at Hanover, Morris Co., New Jersey. Son of Enon Phelps and Mehitabel Goldsmith. Moved to Homer, Cortland Co., New York, 1800. Married Sally Waterman,...

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; docket and notation in handwriting of
Thomas Bullock

23 Dec. 1816–10 Feb. 1885. Farmer, excise officer, secretary, clerk. Born in Leek, Staffordshire, England. Son of Thomas Bullock and Mary Hall. Married Henrietta Rushton, 25 June 1838. Moved to Ardee, Co. Louth, Ireland, Nov. 1839; to Isle of Anglesey, Aug...

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; eleven pages; JS Collection, CHL.

Historical Introduction

See Historical Introductions to Letter to John C. Calhoun, 2 Jan. 1844; and Letter to John C. Calhoun, 4 Nov. 1843.
Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Letter to John C. Calhoun, 2 January 1844

Page [2]

they will judge a righteous jud[g]ment— law or no law: for laws and opinions, like the vane of a Steeple, changes with the wind. One congress passes a law, and another repeals it. And one statesman says that the Constitution means this, and another that, and who does not know that both <​all​> may be wrong:— The opinion and pledge therefore, in the first sentence <​paragraph​> of your reply to my question, like the forced steam from the engine of a Steam baot [boat], makes the show of a <​bright​> cloud at first, but <​when it comes in connection <​contact​> with a purer atmosphere,​> dissolves to common air again.
Your Second paragraph leaves you naked before yourself, like a likeness in a mirror, when you say that “according to your view of <​the​> Federal Government, as <​it is​> <​is​>

Insertions in the handwriting of Thomas Bullock.


one of limited and specific powers,” it <​and​>

Insertion in the handwriting of Thomas Bullock.


has no Jurisdiction in the case <​of​> the mormans. So then, a state can at any time, expel any portions of her citizens with inpunity and <​in​> the language of
Mr [Martin] Van Buren

5 Dec. 1782–24 July 1862. Lawyer, politician, diplomat, farmer. Born in Kinderhook, Columbia Co., New York. Son of Abraham Van Buren and Maria Hoes Van Alen. Member of Reformed Protestant Dutch Church. Worked as law clerk, 1800, in New York City. Returned...

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, frosted over with your gracious “view of the case,” “though <​the​> cause is ever so just, government can do nothing for you them, because it has no power!”
Go on, then,
Missouri

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...

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, after another set of inhabitants. (as the
Latter day saints

The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...

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did) [p. [2]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to John C. Calhoun, 2 January 1844, Draft
ID #
1587
Total Pages
12
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • William W. Phelps
  • Thomas Bullock

Footnotes

  1. new scribe logo

    Insertions in the handwriting of Thomas Bullock.

  2. new scribe logo

    Insertion in the handwriting of Thomas Bullock.

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