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A Year of Campaigning
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cially did they resent the charge of being "Submission men."[1]
The Greenville Mountaineer, in contrast to some papers referred to above, did not impugn the motives of such men as John C. Calhoun, Robert Y. Hayne, George McDuffie, and James Hamilton, Jr., but its editor professed to feel certain that the leaders and advocates of nullification did not apprehend the dangers which he foresaw would result from these doctrines. They, no doubt, thought the doctrines not only constitutional,
- ↑ One of the best answers to this charge appeared in the Camden Journal, April 9, 1831, as an editorial on "Submission Men": "For a year or two past it has appeared to afford great comfort to the advocates of nullification, war, bloodshed, and brimstone to call people who have little relish for a tournament with windmills submission men, and they keep it up with undiminished zeal and good sense. … We are submission men. … We profess to submit to the Constitution of our country. We submit to the laws framed under the forms of that Constitution. We submit to the voice of a majority of the nation. We submit to government in preference to submission to anarchy, and we finally submit to the oaths we have taken to support all these things in their integrity. This is what we submit to; and now tell us whether these are any of the items to which you do not submit." It is but a subterfuge to say one submits to the Constitution, but since it has been violated one is absolved from allegiance. "We do ourselves believe the spirit of the Constitution to have been violated; but a violation of the Constitution must be constitutionally remedied. Because A has cheated B out of his lawful rights, is B at liberty to knock A's brains out for the offense? The national legislature has enacted an unconstitutional law. Who
