The danger in our system is that the general government, which represents the interests of the whole, may encroach on the states, which represent the peculiar and local interests, or that the latter may encroach on the former.
John C. CalhounRead
I hold it to be the most monstrous proposition ever uttered within the Senate that conquering a country like Mexico, the President can constitute himself a despotic ruler without the slightest limitation on his power. If all this be true, war is indeed dangerous!
Interpretation
What this quote means
Calhoun warns against the dangers of unchecked power in the context of war and conquest.
This quote expresses a profound concern about the implications of a political leader, specifically the President, unilaterally asserting tyrannical power by conquering another nation. Calhoun highlights the moral and ethical quandaries of such an action, suggesting that it undermines democratic principles and poses grave risks to both the conquered nation and the integrity of governance itself.
Themes
PowerWarGovernmentConquestAuthority
In practice
Example use cases
Discussing the importance of limitations on presidential power in a political debate.
More from John C. Calhoun
All quotes →There is a tendency in all parties, when they have been for a long time in possession of power, to augment it.
John C. CalhounRead
I hold that there is a mysterious connection between the fate of this country and that of Mexico; so much so that her independence and capability of sustaining herself are almost as essential to our prosperity and the maintenance of our institutions as they are to hers.
John C. CalhounRead
The error is in the assumption that the General Government is a party to the constitutional compact. The States ... formed the compact, acting as sovereign and independent communities.
John C. CalhounRead
There is not an example on record of any free state holding a province of the same extent and population without disastrous consequences. The nations conquered and held as a province have, in time, retaliated by destroying the liberty of their conquerors through the corrupting effect of extended patronage and irresponsible power.
John C. CalhounRead
Stripped of all its covering, the naked question is, whether ours is a federal or consolidated government; a constitutional or absolute one; a government resting solidly on the 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, violence, and force must ultimately prevail.
John C. CalhounRead
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