Letter from John C. Calhoun, 2 December 1843, as Published in Nauvoo Neighbor
Source Note
, Letter, Fort Hill near , Pickens District, SC, to JS, [, Hancock Co., IL], 4 Nov. 1843. Version published in “Correspondence of Gen. Joseph Smith and Hon. J. C. Calhoun,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 10 Jan. 1844, vol. 1, no. 37, p. [2]. For more complete source information, see the source note for Notice, 26 Aug. 1843.
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 , candour 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.