Andrew Jackson

Large broadside on silk (29 x 20 1/2 in.; 736 x 521 mm), text in 5 columns, within ornamental border; minor fraying at top and bottom margins, very light dampstaining, minor areas of splits or pin holes, evidence of previous mounting along top and bottom on verso.

Sabin 35352

As described in catalogue entry.
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"JACKSON'S FAMOUS PROCLAMATION IN WHICH HE DENOUNCED NULLIFICATION AS TREASON AND TOLD THE PEOPLE OF SOUTH CAROLINA IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS THAT HE PROPOSED TO ENFORCE THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES" (Streeter).

Drafted by Secretary of State Edward Livingston, but infused with the President's Unionist principles and unyielding resolve, Jackson's Proclamation was the most important statement of constitutional principles in the first half of the nineteenth century.

On 25 November 1832, South Carolina passed an Ordinance of Nullification declaring the congressional tariffs of 1828 and 1832 to be in violation of the Constitution and therefore null and void. Jackson's 10 December 1832 address declared South Carolina's action to be treasonous, and threatened military force in response. A compromise tariff would be negotiated to settle the dispute and the Ordinance of Nullification was repealed by South Carolina on 11 March 1833.

The first broadsides of this Proclamation were printed in Washington D.C. on paper. Other cities, including New York, Philadelphia, Hartford, and Boston then published the statement on paper or silk.