【正文】 new States have been admitted into the Union。of every art, trade, and occupation consistent with the laws of the we rejoice in the general happiness, prosperity, and advancement of our country, which have been the offspring of freedom, and not of most admirable and wisest system of wellregulated selfgovernment among men ever devised by human minds has been tested by its successful operation for more than half a century, and if preserved from the usurpations of the Federal Government on the one hand and the exercise by the States of powers not reserved to them on the other, will, I fervently hope and believe, endure for ages to e and dispense the blessings of civil and religious liberty to distant effect objects so dear to every patriot I shall devote myself with anxious will be my desire to guard against that most fruitful source of danger to the harmonious action of our system which consists in substituting the mere discretion and caprice of the Executive or of majorities in the legislative department of the Government for powers which have been withheld from the Federal Government by the the theory of our Government majorities rule, but this right is not an arbitrary or unlimited is a right to be exercised in subordination to the Constitution and in conformity to great object of the Constitution was to restrain majorities from oppressing minorities or encroaching upon their just have a right to appeal to the Constitution as a shield against such the blessings of liberty which our Constitution secures may be enjoyed alike by minorities and majorities, the Executive has been wisely invested with a qualified veto upon the acts of the is a negative power, and is conservative in its arrests for the time hasty, inconsiderate, or unConstitutional legislation, invites reconsideration, and transfers questions at issue between the legislative and executive departments to the tribunal of the all other powers, it is subject to be judiciously and properly exercised, the Constitution itself may be saved from infraction and the rights of all preserved and inestimable value of our Federal Union is felt and acknowledged by this system of united and confederated States our people are permitted collectively and individually to seek their own happiness in their own way, and the consequences have been most the Union was formed the number of the States has increased from thirteen to twentyeight。s peace and prosperity, and in some degree the hopes and happiness of the whole human assuming responsibilities so vast I fervently invoke the aid of that Almighty Ruler of the Universe in whose hands are the destinies of nations and of men to guard this Heavenfavored land against the mischiefs which without His guidance might arise from an unwise public a firm reliance upon the wisdom of Omnipotence to sustain and direct me in the path of duty which I am appointed to pursue, I stand in the presence of this assembled multitude of my countrymen to take upon myself the solemn obligation “to the best of my ability to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” A concise enumeration of the principles which will guide me in the administrative policy of the Government is not only in accordance with the examples set me by all my predecessors, but is eminently befitting the Constitution itself, plainly written as it is, the safeguard of our federative pact, the offspring of concession and promise, binding together in the bonds of peace and union this great and increasing family of free and independent States, will be the chart by which I shall be will be my first care to administer the Government in the true spirit of that instrument, and to assume no powers not expressly granted or clearly implied in its Government of the United States is one of delegated and limited powers, and it is by a strict adherence to the clearly granted powers and by abstaining from the exercise of doubtful or unauthorized implied powers that we have the only sure guaranty against the recurrence of those unfortunate collisions between the Federal and State authorities which have occasionally so much disturbed the harmony of our system and even threatened the perpetuity of our glorious Union.“To the States, respectively, or to the people” have been reserved “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution nor prohibited by it to the States.” Each State is a plete sovereignty within the sphere of its reserved Government of the Union, acting within the sphere of its delegated authority, is also a plete the General Government should abstain from the exercise of authority not clearly delegated to it, the States should be equally careful that in the maintenance of their rights they do not overstep the limits of powers reserved to of the most distinguished of my predecessors attached deserved importance to “the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most petent administration for our domestic concerns and the surest bulwark against antirepublican tendencies,” and to the “preservation of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad.” To the Government of the United States has been intrusted the exclusive management of our foreign that it wields a few general enumerated does not force reform on the leaves individuals, over whom it casts its protecting influence, entirely free to improve their own condition by the legitimate exercise of all their mental and physical is a mon protector of each and all the States。of every man who lives upon our soil, whether of native or foreign birth。two of these have taken their position as members of the Confederacy within the last population has increased from three to twenty munities and States are seeking protection under its aegis, and multitudes from the Old World are flocking to our shores to participate in its its benign sway peace and prosperity