Tariffs and Nullification
Sectionalism
Industrial North (pro business, trade, and
tariffs), Agrarian South (cash crops, slavery,
anti-tariffs) Frontier West (cheap land, internal
improvements)
Sectional differences were increasing over economics
and political power-- slavery in the south and
manufacturing in the north--*favoritism in congress
Tariffs
Protective tariffs (taxes on imported products) were welcomed
in the north and despised in the south- southern states
viewed tariffs as favoring the Northern business elite
Tariff of Abominations- an 1828 tax on imported
wool with extremely high rates—the south had had
enough
States’ Rights became a serious issue, as South
Carolina and VP Calhoun began to consider
nullification
States’ Rights Doctrine- since each state
voluntarily entered and therefore makes up the
union, they should have powers equal to or
greater than the federal government
Nullification- ignoring or rejecting a law deemed
unfair
Nullification Act- South Carolina law which said the 1828
Tariff of Abominations and the 1832 tariff were null, void,
and non-binding to the state
Nullification Crisis- Calhoun resigns as Vice
President, officially declares the States’ Rights
Doctrine, and South Carolina threatens to secede
Hayne-Webster Debate- Daniel Webster sternly
announces that, “liberty and union, now and
forever, one and inseparable”-individual states
can’t just “come and go” from the union, nor can
they pick and choose which laws to follow
Jackson’s Response to the Crisis
Force Bill- Jackson calls on federal
troops to prepare to invade South
Carolina as a way to enforce the tariff
Henry Clay proposes a compromise
where the tariff will decrease gradually
over time- both sides reluctantly agree