Page 269 - American Stories, A History of the United States

System. After the tariff of abominations passed in 1828, the South Carolina legislature
10.1 Nullification The supposed right declared the new duties unconstitutional and endorsed a lengthy affirmation—written
of any state to declare a federal law anonymously by Calhoun—of nullification, or an individual state’s right to set aside
inoperative within its boundaries. federal laws. Calhoun supported Jackson in 1828 and planned to serve amicably as his
in 1832, South Carolina nullified
10.2 the federal tariff. vice president, expecting Jackson to support his native region on the tariff and states’
rights. He also hoped to succeed Jackson as president.
In the meantime, however, a bitter personal feud developed between Jackson and

10.3 Calhoun. The vice president and his wife were prime movers in ostracizing Peggy Eaton.
Evidence also came to light that Calhoun, as secretary of war in Monroe’s cabinet in
1818, had advocated punishing Jackson for his incursion into Spanish-ruled Florida. As
Calhoun lost favor, it became clear that Van Buren rather than the vice president would
10.4
be Jackson’s designated successor. The personal breach between Jackson and Calhoun
colored and intensified their confrontation over nullification and the tariff.
The two men also differed on matters of principle. Although generally a defender of
states’ rights and strict construction of the Constitution, Jackson opposed nullification as a
threat to the Union. In his view, federal power should be held in check, but the states were
not truly sovereign. His nationalism was that of a soldier who had fought for the United
States against foreign enemies. He was not about to let dissidents break up the nation. The
differences between Jackson and Calhoun surfaced at the Jefferson Day dinner in 1830,
when Jackson offered the toast “Our Union: It must be preserved,” to which Calhoun
responded, “The Union. Next to Liberty, the most dear. May we always remember that it
can only be preserved by distributing equally the benefits and the burdens of the Union.”
In 1830 and 1831, the movement against the tariff grew in South Carolina. Calhoun
openly took the lead, arguing that states could set aside federal laws. In 1832, a new
tariff lowered the rates slightly but retained the principle of protection. Supporters of
nullification argued that the new law simply demonstrated that they could expect no
relief from Washington. The South Carolina legislature then called a special conven-
tion. In November 1832, its members voted to nullify the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 and
forbid the collection of customs duties within the state.

Read the Document South Carolina, ordinance of Nullification (1832)

tHe BurDeN of tArIffs vice President John C. Calhoun emerged as a champion of states' rights during the
nullification crisis, when cartoons such as this example depicted the emaciated South burdened by tariffs while the
North grew fat at the southerners' expense.
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