Tariff Of 1828, The Main Cause Of The Nullification Crisis

When congress was siding more with free states, Southern Leader, John C. Calhoun, created the “doctrine of nullification” which states that “a state has the constitutional right to nullify a national law” (73). This action almost lead to war when South Carolina invoked this doctrine and Andrew Jackson took military action to keep the union in tact. Although both sides were able to reach a compromise, a civil war will take place 30 years from then. Another spike in tensions was the Dred Scott decision (1857). A slave named Dred Scott argued that since his master died in a free state, and the Missouri Compromise of 1820, a federal law, made slavery in a free state illegal, he was a free man.

It was also a factor contributing to the civil war to come in 1861. Calhoun got his ideas from Madison, Jefferson and the tenth amendment of the constitution. He argued that “since the federal government was a creation of that states-not the courts or congress- were the final arbiters of the constitutionality of the federal laws” (Brinkley 206). He then stated that “If a state concluded that congress had passed an unconstitutional law, then it could hold a special

In 1828, Andrew Jackson became president and once again Calhoun served as vice president. This is when there was a major turning point in Calhoun’s political ideologies. Contrary to Jackson, he favored northern interests over southern agricultural concerns. Eventually Calhoun decided to resign from his position during Jackson’s second term because he felt that he couldn’t be vocal about his ideas. During this time period is when Calhoun’s theories on

1). In both documents Daniel Webster and the citizens of South Carolina convey a strong argument regarding the topic of states being able to nullify federal laws. In the Liberty and Union speech, Daniel Webster addresses the topic and opposes the doctrine by stating how the government and Constitution was created by and for the people and on how the American people have preserved their own chosen Constitution for the past 40 years since it has been created. Because of this, the American people have prospered happily, grown and become stronger with America, as the country has progressed. While Daniel Webster stated valid points regarding South Carolina’s Senator Robert Haynes, in 1832, South Carolina held a convention to represent their official position on the nullification of federal laws towards President Andrew Jackson and the tariffs of 1832.

The Nullification Crisis was an event that happened between the years of 1828 and 1832. There were many reasons that this crisis occurred. Many of these reasons could have been avoided from happening. The event that really started it all was the Tariff of 1828. One of the tariffs done during the presidency of Andrew Jackson, it was tax on goods that were imported and sold.

In 1828, Georgia passed a string of laws that violated the rights of the Cherokee people. One of the law passed by the state of Georgia also allowed the removal of the Cherokee from their own land After the settlers that were after the natives land had been burn and destroying houses and towns, and trespassing among other things, with the support of the state government the Cherokee’s brought a case to the supreme court. The treaties negotiated between Georgia and the Cherokee were negotiated as the Cherokee as an Independent Nation, this guaranteed the independence of both the land and the people of the Cherokee Nations. Cherokee tried negotiating with congress and Andrew Jackson, both of which failed. The Cherokee Nation, represented by John Ross who was the principal chief of the Cherokee’s, then filed for an Injunction at the Supreme Court against Georgia repeal the unfair laws.

In President Jackson's Proclamation Regarding Nullification, Jackson states, “And, finally, the said ordinance declares that the people of South Carolina will maintain the said ordinance at every hazard, and that they will consider the passage of any act by Congress abolishing or closing the ports of the said State, or otherwise obstructing the free ingress or egress of vessels to and from the said ports, or any other act of the Federal Government to coerce the State, shut up her ports, destroy or harass her commerce, or to enforce the said acts otherwise than through the civil tribunals of the country, as inconsistent with the longer continuance of South Carolina in the Union; and that the people of the said State will thenceforth hold themselves absolved from all further obligation to maintain or preserve their political connection with the people of the other States, and will forthwith proceed to organize a separate government, and do all other acts and things which sovereign and independent States may of right do.” (1832). Jackson threatened South Carolina, in a way of taunting or daring them to secede, which struck fear into them. A compromise was made for nullification, and the topic of secession was closed for a while. This was thirty years prior to the Civil War.

The southerners had originally expected Andrew Jackson to reduce tariffs, considering he was from the south, but he instead made a compromise that gained the support of most northerners and about half of southern Congress members. South Carolina, however, was not satisfied with this. They were quick to call for nullification on the tariff, especially after John C. Calhoun wrote anonymously the South Carolina Exposition and Protest, and that is how the 1832 Ordinance of Nullification came about. This action taken by South Carolinians was most likely swayed by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson’s theories of nullification in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions. Jefferson’s charged rhetoric had introduced to the people the evidence that nullification is part of their given rights, which stayed present in the South

Cherokee Nation versus Georgia In the Indian Removal Act, there were three sides to whether or not the Cherokee Nation should have their land taken from them. There was the state of Georgia, the Supreme Court, and the Cherokee Nation. In the end, it was up to the Supreme Court to decide if the Cherokee Nation was a foreign state or not, but this did not stop the state of Georgia as well as the Cherokee Nation from expressing their views on why or why not the Cherokee Nation should be considered a foreign nation. Georgia believed that the Cherokee Nation was not a part of the United States.

The nullification crisis occurred during 1832 through 1833, during the time of Andrew Jackson’s time as president. The conflict was mainly about the idea that a state could practice the act of ignoring federal law. There were also a multitude of different tariffs that had led to inevitable conflicts. The south had felt that this series of tariffs had specifically impacted their agricultural economy, as the tariffs were putting heavy taxes on all of the imported goods. Of which the government had done in order to boost manufactured goods of which primarily came from the north.

The state of Georgia ignored their autonomy and threatened to steal their land. The Cherokees took this case to the Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Marshall declared, “the Indian territory is admitted to compose a part of the United States” and that the tribes were “domestic dependent nations” and their relation to the United States resembles that of a ward to his guardian.”. But, a year later, the Cherokees won the favorable decision, but Georgia decided to ignore the court’s decision. President Jackson also refused to accept Supreme Court’s ruling.

As they said, “no taxation without representation,” the British Parliament imposed taxes and other unfair acts on the colonists without any consent. Moreover, the South thought that they suffered economically from the Union. They complained that the various charges that “added some 20 percent to the cost of cotton and other commodities went into the pockets of northern merchants…” It resembled the colonists’ complaint on the Navigation Acts, which gave British merchants monopoly on trades. Also economically, the South suffered because of the various bans on slavery.

The Indian Removal Act was signed in 1830 by President Andrew Jackson to remove the Cherokee Indians from their homes and force them to settle west of the Mississippi River. The act was passed in hopes to gain agrarian land that would replenish the cotton industry which had plummeted after the Panic of 1819. Andrew Jackson believed that effectively forcing the Cherokees to become more civilized and to christianize them would be beneficial to them. Therefore, he thought the journey westward was necessary. In late 1838, the Cherokees were removed from their homes and forced into a brutal journey westward in the bitter cold.

“No one need think that the world can be ruled without blood. The civil sword shall and must be red and bloody.” “Peace, above all things, is to be desired, but blood must sometimes be spilled to obtain it on equable and lasting terms.” In both of these quotes from the United States’ 9th president, the word ‘blood’ is used rather lightly. Throughout all of Andrew Jackson’s presidency and life before the office, he was considered a powerful man.

Slavery was one of the biggest problems between 1820 and 1860. Sometimes two states had to be added to the Union at the same time, to make things fair. The North and the South fought almost constantly over the issue of slavery, sometimes things were able to be worked out about it, but as the years passed, the problems with slavery and territory started to become too big to ignore or