TowneForCongress.

com
 May 2010

NULLIFICATION
The Forgotten Check on the Federal Government

by Jake Towne

“In questions of powers, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him
down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.” - Thomas Jefferson

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 Agenda

Origins of Nullification in America

Past Examples
Present Day Use of Nullification

Lecture available at
http://towneforcongress.com/economy/nullification-the-forgotten-check-on-the-federal-government-1

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 Origins of Nullification in America

State Sovereignty
Virginia Ratifying Convention of 1788
Tenth Amendment
– “The powers not delegated to the United States by
the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States,
are reserved to the States respectively, or to the
people.”
– www.TenthAmendmentCenter.com

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Kentucky & Virginia Resolutions of 1798

Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798

– a crime to publish "false, scandalous, and malicious writing" against
the government
– authorized the president to deport any resident alien considered
"dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States."

KY: “...whensoever the

general government assumes
undelegated powers, its acts
are unauthoritative, void, and
of no force”
http://www.constitution.org/cons/kent1798.htm

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Kentucky & Virginia Resolutions of 1798

VA: “That this Assembly doth explicitly and

peremptorily declare, that it views the powers of the
federal government... as limited by the plain sense
and intention of the instrument constituting the compact;
as no further valid that they are authorized by the grants
enumerated in that compact; and that in case of a
deliberate, palpable, and dangerous exercise of other
powers, not granted by the said compact, the states who
are parties thereto, have the right, and are in duty
bound, to interpose for arresting the progress of the
evil, and for maintaining within their respective limits, the
authorities, rights and liberties appertaining to them.”

http://www.constitution.org/cons/virg1798.htm

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 Other Past Examples
Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
– Abolitionists favored nullification

Military Conscription of Minors

South Carolina's Nullification
Ordinance voided the Tariffs of 1828
and 1832
Calling up the militia to invade
Canada during the War of 1812
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 Calhoun's Fort Hill Address
“Stripped of all its covering, the
naked question is, whether ours is a
federal or a consolidated
government; a constitutional or
absolute one; a government resting
ultimately on the solid basis of the
sovereignty of the States or on the
unrestrained will of a majority; a form
of government, as in all other
unlimited ones, in which injustice,
and violence, and force must finally
prevail.”
- Vice President John Calhoun, 1831
http://pages.prodigy.net/krtq73aa/calhoun.htm

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 Present Day Use of Nullification
Federal Health Care Bill

http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/nullification/health-care/ TowneForCongress.com
Present Day Use of Nullification

Medicinal Marijuana Legalization

• California has already nullified federal
law
REAL ID signed into federal law in 2005
• States were to implement in early 2008
• All 50 states filed extensions
• 25 states passed acts to not comply
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REAL_ID_Act

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Present Day Use of Nullification

“Bring Home the Guard” - Specifies

governors have the ability to deny National
Guard deployments
Montana's “Firearms Freedom Act” was
passed in April
Federal gun and ammo regulations
are now voided inside of Montana
http://data.opi.mt.gov/bills/2009/billhtml/HB0246.htm

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 Upcoming Book
“Nullification” by Dr. Thomas Woods
http://www.thomasewoods.com/blog/nullification/
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=754

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Q&A

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 Graphics Acknowledgements
Unless listed below, all photos are either mine or public domain.

The “Towne 2010 – As Good As Gold” logo was created by Derek Wyatt

The Jake Towne for United States Congress logo was created by Anthony Geist

Document Copyright
Copyright © Jake Towne, 2010. Any portion of this presentation that could be copyrighted
is owned by myself and I hereby released it to the public domain. I grant full permission to
use any of the ideas or material within. You may republish this work. Attribution to myself
is appreciated but not required.

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