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Letter to John C. Calhoun, 2 January 1844

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; 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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; docket in handwriting of
Leo Hawkins

19 July 1834–28 May 1859. Clerk, reporter. Born in London. Son of Samuel Harris Hawkins and Charlotte Savage. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by John Banks, 23 Oct. 1848. Immigrated to U.S. with his family; arrived in New Orleans...

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; four pages; JS Collection, CHL.
Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Letter to John C. Calhoun, 2 January 1844, as Published in Times and Seasons

Page [2]

of a glorious nation;— but remember, a “Sovereign State”! is so much more powerful than the
United States

North American constitutional republic. Constitution ratified, 17 Sept. 1787. Population in 1805 about 6,000,000; in 1830 about 13,000,000; and in 1844 about 20,000,000. Louisiana Purchase, 1803, doubled size of U.S. Consisted of seventeen states at time ...

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, the parent government, that it can exile you at pleasure, Mob you with impunity; Confiscate your lands and property: have the Legislature Sanction it: yea, even Murder you, as an edict of an Emperor, and it does no wrong. for the Noble
Senator

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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of South Carolina, says, the power of the Federal Government, is so limited and specific, that it has no Jurisdiction of the Case! What think ye of Imperium in imperio
Ye Spirits of the blessed of all ages, Hark! Ye shades of departed Statesmen, listen! Abraham, Moses, Homer, Socrates, Solon, Solomon, and all that ever thought of right and wrong, look down from your exaltations, if you have any, for it is said in the midst of Counsellors there is safety, and when you have learned that fifteen thousand innocent Citizens, after having purchased their Lands of the
United States

North American constitutional republic. Constitution ratified, 17 Sept. 1787. Population in 1805 about 6,000,000; in 1830 about 13,000,000; and in 1844 about 20,000,000. Louisiana Purchase, 1803, doubled size of U.S. Consisted of seventeen states at time ...

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and paid for them, were expelled from a “Sovereign
State

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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” by order of the
Governor

14 Dec. 1796–14 Mar. 1860. Bookkeeper, bank cashier, merchant, Indian agent and trader, lawyer, doctor, postmaster, politician. Born at Lexington, Fayette Co., Kentucky. Son of John M. Boggs and Martha Oliver. Served in War of 1812. Moved to St. Louis, ca...

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, at the point of the Bayonet:— their arms taken from them by the same authority: and their right of Migration into said
State

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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, denied under pain of imprisonment, Whipping, Robbing, Mobbing, and even Death and no Justice or recompence allowed: and from the Legislature, with the
Governor

14 Dec. 1796–14 Mar. 1860. Bookkeeper, bank cashier, merchant, Indian agent and trader, lawyer, doctor, postmaster, politician. Born at Lexington, Fayette Co., Kentucky. Son of John M. Boggs and Martha Oliver. Served in War of 1812. Moved to St. Louis, ca...

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at the head, down to the
Justice of the Peace

11 Sept. 1801–14 July 1890. Farmer, sheriff, justice of the peace, judge. Born at Henderson Co., Kentucky. Son of William Black and Jane Wilson. Moved near Booneville, Copper Co., Missouri Territory, and then to Ray Co., Missouri Territory, 1819. Elected ...

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, with a Bottle of Whiskey in one hand and a bowie knife in the other, hear them all declare that there is no Justice for a Mormon in that
State

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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, and Judge ye a righteous Judgment, and tell me when the virtue of the States was stolen; where the honor of the General Government lies hid; and what Clothes a Senator with Wisdom? Oh nullifying Carolina! Oh little tempestuous Rhode Island! would it not be well for the great Men of the Nation to read the fable of the Partial Judge. And when part of the free Citizens of a State had been expelled contrary to the Constitution, Mobbed, Robbed, Plundered and many murdered, instead of searching into the course taken with Joanna Southcott, Ann Lee, the French Prophets, the Quakers of New England, and Rebellious Niggers
1

This racial slur was commonly employed by white Americans by the nineteenth century to refer derogatorily to people of African descent. Black Americans strongly objected to the use of the term.a The Church Historian’s Press also condemns the use of this word but retains it in document transcripts to accurately present the historical record and to illuminate the oppressive racial landscape faced by Black Americans. Church leaders today have asked Latter-day Saints to “lead out in abandoning attitudes and actions of prejudice,” which includes rejecting racist language.b(aEaston, Treatise on the Intellectual Character, and Civil and Political Condition of the Colored People of the U. States, 40–41.bNelson, “Let God Prevail,” 94.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Easton, Hosea. A Treatise on the Intellectual Character, and Civil and Political Condition of the Colored People of the U. States; and the Prejudice Exercised towards Them: With a Sermon on the Duty of the Church to Them. Boston: Isaac Knapp, 1837.

Nelson, Russell M. “Let God Prevail.” Ensign, Nov. 2020, 92–95.

in the Slave States, to hear both sides and then judge, rather than to have the mortification to say, “Oh it is my bull “that has killed your Ox— that alters the case? I must enquire into it. And if, and if?”
If the General Government has no power, to re-instate expelled citizens to their rights, there is a monstrous hypocrite fed and fostered from the hard earnings of the people!— A real “Bull Beggar” upheld by Sycophants; and altho’ you may wink to the Priests to stigmatize; wheedle the drunkards to swear, and raise the hue and cry of Imposter, False Prophet, God dam old Joe Smith, yet remember, if the Latter Day Saints are not restored to all their rights, and paid for all their lossses according to the known rules of Justice and Judgment, reciprocation and common honesty among men, that God will come out of his hiding place and vex this nation with a sore vexation— yea, the consuming wrath of an offended God shall smoke through the nation, with as much distress and woe, as Independence has blazed through with pleasure and delight. Where is the Strength of Government? Where is the Patriotism of a Washington, a Warren, and Adams? and where is a spark from the Watch fire of ’76, by which one candle might be lit that would glimmer upon the confines of democracy? Well may it be said that one man is not a State; nor one State the nation. In the days of General [Andrew] Jackson, when
France

Nation in western Europe. Paris chosen as capital, 508 AD. Political and economic crises led to revolution against monarchy, 1789. Napoleon Bonaparte crowned emperor in Paris, 1804. In 1815, Bonaparte abdicated after being defeated by British; monarchy restored...

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refused the first instalment for spoliations, there was power, force, and honor enough to resent [p. [2]]
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Page [2]

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to John C. Calhoun, 2 January 1844
ID #
1241
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Thomas Bullock

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    This racial slur was commonly employed by white Americans by the nineteenth century to refer derogatorily to people of African descent. Black Americans strongly objected to the use of the term.a The Church Historian’s Press also condemns the use of this word but retains it in document transcripts to accurately present the historical record and to illuminate the oppressive racial landscape faced by Black Americans. Church leaders today have asked Latter-day Saints to “lead out in abandoning attitudes and actions of prejudice,” which includes rejecting racist language.b

    (aEaston, Treatise on the Intellectual Character, and Civil and Political Condition of the Colored People of the U. States, 40–41. bNelson, “Let God Prevail,” 94.)

    Easton, Hosea. A Treatise on the Intellectual Character, and Civil and Political Condition of the Colored People of the U. States; and the Prejudice Exercised towards Them: With a Sermon on the Duty of the Church to Them. Boston: Isaac Knapp, 1837.

    Nelson, Russell M. “Let God Prevail.” Ensign, Nov. 2020, 92–95.

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