On the record
He had only removed from the hospitality and shelter of a British ship four men who were bent on an errand of destruction to the American Union.
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gutenberg.orgJames Blaine: “He had only removed from the hospitality and shelter of a British ship four men who were bent on an errand of…”
Editor's note · Context
Blaine defends Captain Wilkes by stating he acted against individuals threatening the American Union, not against British citizens.
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More from James Blaine
But this is a totally different thing from an offensive war to punish the people for the political misdeeds of their State Government, or to enforce an acknowledgment that the Government of the United States is supreme.
If it be true that war cannot be declared, nor a system of general hostilities carried on by the Central Government against a State, then it seems to follow that an attempt to do so would be ipso facto an expulsion of such State from the…
Under such circumstances, to send a military force into any State, with orders to act against the people, would be simply making war upon them.
If this view of the subject be correct, as I think it is, then the Union must utterly perish at the moment when Congress shall arm one part of the people against another for any purpose beyond that of merely protecting the General…
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