Nullificiation Crisis

Nullification Crisis

Does a state have the right to leave the nation?

Key Term

​tariff

A tariff is a tax on imported goods, governments will use this kind of tax to protect domestic businesses and industries. Popular for people who compete with foreign products. Unpopular for people who buy or trade in foreign products.

Multiple Choice

What is a tariff?

• an export tax

• an import tax

• income tax

• state sales tax

Congress has the power to create new taxes. The president can veto this action.

Congress passes tariffs

​​Northern Factory Owners

The protective tariff displeased Southerners, who feared it would hurt their cotton trade.

Southern Plantation Owners

​The protective tariff on European manufactured goods pleased Northeastern factory owners

“I consider, then, the power to annul a law of the United States, assumed by one State, incompatible with the existence of the Union, contradicted expressly by the letter of the Constitution, unauthorized by its spirit, inconsistent with every principle on which it was founded, and destructive of the great object for which it was formed.”

—President Jackson's Proclamation Regarding Nullification, December 10, 1832

Multiple Choice

What is Jackson afraid will happen if states can nullify federal laws?

• it will destroy state power

• it will destroy the nation

• states can refuse a tariff

• American businesses will suffer

“Those who claim to exercise power under the Constitution are bound to show that it is expressly granted, or that it is necessary and proper as a means of the granted powers. The advocates of the Tariff have offered no such proof. ... If it be conceded ... that the sovereign powers delegated are divided between the General and State Governments, . . . it would seem impossible to deny to the States the right of deciding on the infractions of their powers, and the proper remedy to be applied for their correction. ... To the States respectively each in its sovereign capacity is reserved the power, by its veto, to arrest the encroachment [advances] of the federal government.”

—South Carolina Exposition and Protest, John C. Calhoun, 1828

Multiple Choice

Why is Calhoun sure that the tariff supporters are wrong?

• the federal government is supreme

• state government is supreme

• state and federal governments share power

• there are power that only states have

An End to the Crisis

Force Bill

Andrew Jackson supported a strong Union. He had Congress pass a Force Bill to allow military to enforce federal law if needed. South Carolina accepted a new lower tariff but nullified the Force Bill. The conflict ended but states' rights would remain a key issue in the United States leading up to the Civil War.

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​Reading 1: "Jacksonian Democracy"

Start Cornell Notes for the module. Include details about changes in government and democracy during the Age of Jackson.

Remember to leave room for the next two readings in this module.

Notes are due today. Make your submission before tonight. Avoid a LATE!