Remarks of Mr. Calhoun of South Carolina on the bill to prevent the interference of certain federal officers in elections: delivered in the Senate of the United States February 22, 1839

The author defends a state-based doctrine of nullification and related ordinances as lawful expressions of state sovereignty, arguing that states, not individuals, judge the constitutionality of federal acts affecting them. He explains the local legislative and convention processes that produced measures such as a test oath and enforcement laws and rejects claims of general proscription or unjust removal of officials. He contends that federal enforcement acts exceed constitutional delegation, warns against substituting military power for civil process, and challenges reliance on national courts when civil resistance would prevail. The speech frames the dispute as a constitutional question about the proper balance between delegated federal authority and reserved state powers.