Nullification Crisis

Does a state have the right to ignore a federal law it finds objectionable? Remember this issue came up in the 1790s when Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts. James Madison and Thomas Jefferson in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions declared that states did have the right to declare void federal laws that threatened individual liberty or exceeded constitutional authority. This issue would come up again during Jackson's presidency.

As relations between Jackson and his vice president, John C. Calhoun, deteriorated, a controversy grew between the President's administration and Calhoun's home state of South Carolina. The disagreement stemmed from a tariff bill passed in 1828, during the Adams administration, that dramatically raised the duties imposed on imports. South Carolina's economy was floundering at this time due to a decline in cotton prices. Farmers in the state railed against the tariff (called the Tariff of Abominations), which raised the cost of imported goods they bought. John Calhoun took the lead in expressing his state's opposition. In writing The South Carolina Exposition and Protest, he advanced his theory of nullification:

• A protective tariff is unconstitutional because Congress cannot enact financial measures that benefit one section of the country over another.
• The union is a compact among the states, which retain sovereignty.
• Each state may nullify any federal legislation it finds unconstitutional.

How did Calhoun's nullification theory compare with Jefferson and Madison's position in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions?

The theories were similar. Calhoun, Jefferson, and Madison all maintained that a state had the right to declare a national law unconstitutional to protect the rights of the state's citizens.

South Carolinians grew discontent with Andrew Jackson for not addressing their grievances over the tariff. In 1832, Congress passed a new tariff bill slightly lowering duties from the 1828 levels. The new levels, however, did not satisfy South Carolina planters, who saw the tariff of 1832 as a reaffirmation of protectionism. Pro-nullification forces gained control of the state's legislature and declared the federal tariff null and void in their state as of February 1, 1833.

Though Jackson was sympathetic to southern interests, he saw nullification as a challenge to his authority as President. He called for Congress to pass a Force Bill authorizing him to use the military to collect import duties in South Carolina. By the time Congress approved this legislation, Henry Clay and John Calhoun had worked out a compromise. Congress passed a new tariff law in March 1833 that would gradually lower tariff rates over ten years. South Carolina repealed its nullification ordinance, and the crisis ended.

What caused the nullification controversy?

A high federal tariff that Southerners believed hurt their economy.

Though the nullification crisis did not end in bloodshed or secession, southerners had grown more wary of the federal government.