Letter from John C. Calhoun, 2 December 1843, as Published in New York Herald
Source Note
, Letter, Fort Hill near , Pickens District, SC, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 4 Nov. 1843. Version published in “City of Nauvoo—Its Prospect,” New York Herald, 26 Jan. 1844, vol. 10, no. 25, p. [2]; edited by James Gordon Bennett. Transcript from digital images obtained from Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress, in 2025.
Sir,—You ask me what would be my rule of action, relative to the Mormons, or , should I be elected President—to which I answer, that if I should be elected, I would strive to administer the government according to the constitution and the laws of the ; and that as they make no distinction between citizens of different religious creeds, I should make none. As far as it depends on the executive department, all should have the full benefit of both, and none should be exempt from their operation.
But as you refer to the case of , candor compels me to repeat what I said to you at ; that according to my views the case does not come within the jurisdiction of the federal government, which is one of limited and specific powers.