The Nullification Crisis was a conflict between South Carolina and the Jackson

presidency during the 1830’s. South Carolina believed the tariffs issued by the federal

government, specifically the Tariff Acts of 1828 and 1832, only benefited the northern

states and deemed it unconstitutional. Using the Nullification Ordinance, South

Carolina declared the tariff of 1832 void. In the end, the federal government

eradicated the Nullification and maintained its supremacy. 

The Tariff Acts of 1828 and 1832 were put in place to protect manufacturing

interests by raising the prices of European products in America. This act did not

explicitly benefit only the side of the North, but except, the profits of all

manufacturers. So, to claim that they “favored the North at the expense of the South”

would be a deception. Hiding why the South truly wishes to have the power of federal

interference with their policies cease. Specifically, the issue of slavery; the South

fearing that with more States entering the Union, more abolitionists and opposition

will join them.

The theory of the Nullification Doctrine first appeared with James Madison,

Thomas Jefferson, and the “Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions”. The idea that the

States, and not that of the people, were sovereign carried over to Jackson’s presidency

with his new adversary; John Calhoun-secretary of the state of South Carolina.

Advocating the Compact Theory and the States’ ability to nullify federal law, Calhoun

presented the “South Carolina Petition and Protest”, indirectly influencing South

Carolina the will to secede. Andrew Jackson, President of the United States,
Commander in Chief, wished to keep his country unified by any means necessary. His

response to Calhoun and South Carolina’s wish to secede, was the Force Bill of 1833.

With the power invested in him, Andrew Jackson sent troops to a South Carolina

stronghold in Charleston and disrupted the uprising. Demonstrating the Federal

government’s military and political leadership.  

Pro Federal government, the settling of the Nullification Crisis aided in

diminishing the constitutional theory that conserves the power of the States to nullify

federal acts, and sustained the Federal governments authority. However, the tariff

issue in and of itself, proved to be a disruptive drum in the orchestra of woodwinds

between the North and South in later 19  century.

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