James Blaine: “It was the most vigorous and determined action ever taken by Congress in time of peace.”

The right of the General Government to preserve itself in its whole constitutional vigor by repelling a direct and positive aggression upon its property or its officers cannot be denied.

You can use force only to repel an assault on the public property and aid the Courts in the performance of their duty.

But what if the feeling in any State against the United States should become so universal that the Federal officers themselves (including judges, district attorneys, and marshals) would be reached by the same influences, and resign their…

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.