The Nullification Crisis and Its Effects on the United States

John C. Calhoun was not only a United States statesman, but also a nationalist and outspoken supporter of the slave and plantation system in the pre-Civil War South. In his early days as a War Hawk and congressman, Calhoun helped to guide the United States into war with Great Britain. He also had a hand in establishing the Second Bank of the U.S. He was in staunch opposition to President Polk's Mexican-American War and admitting California as a free state. He was a very vocal and well known leader in the fight to have slavery as a secure institution in the South, if not the whole United States. In the late 1820's, Calhoun drafted an Exposition and Protest for the South Carolina legislative body, thus beginning the Nullification Crisis faced

During the late 1820s, John C. Calhoun believed that the tariff of 1816 was responsible for the decline of the South Carolina economy. Calhoun believed that if he developed the Theory of Nullification people in his home state would view him differently. The Theory of Nullification is the idea that states (unions) have the rights to void any law that is created by the government that is seen unconstitutional. States are the foundation of the Union, so they have the power to refuse any unconstitutional laws, and really states usually have the final say. What really caused the Nullification Crisis were many series of Protective Tariffs. Protective Tariffs are taxes placed on imported goods that are from foreign countries and their duty is to raise the price of foreign goods, making them less attractive to consumers protecting them from foreign competition such as; The Tariff of 1816 that placed a 20-25 percent tax on foreign goods, The Tariff of 1824 which placed a 35 percent duty tax on imported iron, wool, hemp, and cotton, finally the Tariff of 1828 which is also known as the Tariff of Abominations it was the third protective tariff and increased taxes to almost 50 percent.

The Nullification Crisis was significant. The Nullification Crisis started in 1828 when the Congress passed a very high tariff on manufactured goods from Europe. The Southerners started protesting against tariffs and called to secede from the United States. Since anger of tariffs continued to build in the South, the Congress passed a new, lower tariff in 1832, hoping that the protest in the South would die down. However, the South Carolina legislature passed the Nullification act, an act refusing to pay the “illegal” tariffs of 1828 and 1832. If the federal government interfered then the South will continue calling for secession and the union will split apart. The significance of the Nullification Crisis was that it caused President Jackson

South Carolina then threatened to secede from the union. While Jackson was pro-state’s rights he was against secession. Andrew Jackson threatened to send troops to South Carolina to prevent secession. Thankfully, a compromise proposed by Henry Clay in which tariffs will be reduced over the course of 10 years to which South Carolina agrees.

The Tariff of 1828 raised taxes and the Southerners did not like this at all. South Carolina threatened to leave the union if the taxes were not lowered. Calhoun wanted to nullify the taxes in South Carolina, but Jackson threatened to bring military forces to South Carolina to solve the problem.

Tensions between the North and South had grown steadily since the anti slavery movement in 1830. Several compromises between the North and South regarding slavery had been passed such as the Nebraska-Kansas and the Missouri act; but this did little to relieve the strain. The election of President Lincoln in 1861 proved to be the boiling point for the South, and secession followed. This eventually sparked the civil war; which was viewed differently by the North and the South. The Northern goal was to keep the Union intact while the Southern goal was to separate from the Union. Southern leaders gave convincing arguments to justify secession. Exploring documents from South Carolina’s secession ordinance and a speech from the Georgia

The Nullification Crisis was a major political crisis that began with the Tariff of Abominations of 1828, which occurred during the presidency of Andrew Jackson involving a conflict with the United States Federal Government and South Carolina. South Carolina felt the Tariff was unconstitutional and

Economic conflict became a major cause of the Civil War because the South objected to unfair tariff levels. With tariffs in place that caused taxes on goods brought into the country, the South started to feel as though this was very unfair to them since they didn’t have as many industries as the North and were more dependent goods imported from Europe. As the taxes went up, so did the price of the items and resulting in every day, normal priced items becoming overpriced for people who couldn't afford the higher prices. This anger among the people of the south caused by this inflation was the source of economic conflict. John Calhoun of South Carolina claimed that he was going to end this practice,

The Nullification Crisis was a revolt by the citizens against Andrew Jackson and the Union, whereby they sought liberty and the state of being free, including various social, political, and economic privileges. This attempt to revolt against Jackson failed, and their seceding from the country was not granted. In these efforts to secede, they sought liberty and worked together as a state to gain what they believed to be free and include various privileges they rightfully have.

Political tension between the North and the South started early when there was disagreement over Henry Clay’s American System. The American System imposed tariffs to support northern manufacturing, federally funded roads and canals, and supported the National Bank. Northerners were in support of the American System but the South wasn’t on board with the plan. This protective tariff was a tax on imports, and since the South was receiving most of the imported goods, they got the brunt of the tariff. The South believed it was unfair that it was putting money into the North’s industrial economy when the South was barely making enough revenue to support itself. While the South provided the Northern industries with most of the raw materials they needed, the price the North paid for these things were nothing compared to what the South had to pay for the manufactured goods the North produced. The opposition to the American System was so strong that South Carolina declared the tariffs void and threatened to leave the Union. But Andrew Jackson worked with South Carolina and the Union remained whole. This was the Nullification Crisis of 1832. The two regions clashed politically too. While the North became generally

Slavery was the most important cause of the Civil War, because this single issue divided the North and South to begin with. The ideological differences between the North and South led to economic differences, conflicts over newly acquired territories, disputes over the constitution, and political extremism. The Election of 1860 was the culmination of these disputes and caused the South to secede in 1861 and guided the way towards the Civil War.

In 1787, the creation of the U.S. Constitution would grant the national government dominance over the states. However, the southerners still felt that they should be able determine whether or not they accepted certain acts, and the idea of nullification was proposed. John C. Calhoun was first to present the states right to nullify, or ignore federal laws in which they disagreed, in his doctrine.[6] Things seemed to have remained calm until the commencement of Lincoln’s presidency when nullification was no longer allowed.

By the year of 1860, the North and the South was developed into extremely different sections. There was opposing social, economic, and political points of view, starting back into colonial periods, and it slowly drove the two regions farther in separate directions. The two sections tried to force its point of view on the nation as a whole. Even though negotiations had kept the Union together for many years, in 1860 the condition was unstable. The presidential election of Abraham Lincoln was observed by the South as a risk to slavery and many believe it initiated the war.

The Civil War was caused by many several pressures, principles, and prejudices, fueled by sectional differences, and was finally set into motion by a most unlikely set of political events. From economic differences to political differences all the way up to cultural differences, the North and the South opposed each other. These tensions were further increased after the western expansion of the United States. By the early 1850’s a civil war was known to be likely coming soon.

The final cause leading to the Civil War was Abraham Lincoln’s election. Lincoln in truth fought for and against slavery depending on the situation. However, Southerners strongly believed Lincoln was anti-slavery. So before Lincoln even entered the office seven states had already seceded. These states included the following: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. Lincoln was moderate towards slavery at first, but many congressmen agreed that the South was becoming too strong and slavery should not be