To be prepared for self-defense, I called Congress together at
Montgomery on April 29th, and, in the message of that date, thus spoke
of the proclamation of the President of the United States: "Apparently
contradictory as are the terms of this singular document, one point is
unmistakably evident. The President of the United States calls for an
army of seventy-five thousand men, whose first service is to be the
capture of our forts. It is a plain declaration of war, which I am not
at liberty to disregard, because of my knowledge that, under the
Constitution of the United States, the President is usurping a power
granted exclusively to Congress."
I then proceeded to say that I did not feel at liberty to disregard the
fact that many of the States seemed quite content to submit to the
exercise of the powers assumed by the President of the United States,
and were actively engaged in levying troops for the purpose indicated in
the proclamation. Meantime, being deprived of the aid of Congress, I had
been under the necessity of confining my action to a call on the States
for volunteers for the common defense, in accordance with authority
previously conferred on me. I stated that there were then in the field,
at Charleston, Pensacola, Forts Morgan, Jackson, St. Philip, and
Pulaski, nineteen thousand men, and sixteen thousand more were on their
way to Virginia; that it was proposed to organize and hold in readiness
for instant action, in view of the existing exigencies of the country,
an army of one hundred thousand men; and that, if a further force should
be needed, Congress would be appealed to for authority to call it into
the field.
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