Our Presidents and how we make themMcClure, Alexander K. (Alexander Kelly)
History
Our Presidents and how we make them
McClure, Alexander K. (Alexander Kelly)
Presidents -- United States -- Election
1. That governments deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed are instituted among men to secure to all those unalienable
rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness with which they
are endowed by their Creator, and of which none can be deprived by
valid legislation, except for crime.
2. That the true mission of American Democracy is to maintain the
liberties of the people, the sovereignty of the States, and the
perpetuity of the Union, by the impartial application to public
affairs, without sectional discriminations, of the fundamental
principles of human rights, strict justice, and an economical
administration.
3. That the Federal Government is one of limited powers, derived
solely from the Constitution, and the grants of power therein ought
to be strictly construed by all the departments and agents of the
Government, and it is inexpedient and dangerous to exercise doubtful
constitutional powers.
4. That the Constitution of the United States, ordained to form a
more perfect Union, to establish justice, and secure the blessings
of liberty, expressly denies to the General Government all power to
deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process
of law; and, therefore, the Government, having no more power to make a
slave than to make a king, and no more power to establish slavery than
to establish a monarchy, should at once proceed to relieve itself from
all responsibility for the existence of slavery wherever it possesses
constitutional power to legislate for its extinction.
5. That, to the persevering and importunate demand of the slave power
for more Slave States, new Slave Territories, and the nationalization
of slavery, our distinct and final answer is: No more Slave States, no
Slave Territory, no nationalized slavery, and no national legislation
for the extradition of slaves.
6. That slavery is a sin against God and a crime against man, which
no human enactment or usage can make right; and that Christianity,
humanity, and patriotism alike demand its abolition.
7. That the Fugitive Slave act of 1850 is repugnant to the
Constitution, to the principles of the common law, to the spirit
of Christianity, and to the sentiments of the civilized world. We
therefore deny its binding force upon the American people, and demand
its immediate and total repeal.
8. That the doctrine that any human law is a finality, and not subject
to modification or repeal, is not in accordance with the creed of the
founders of our Government, and is dangerous to the liberties of the
people.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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