Download Nullification Crisis STAAR Review

Nullification Crisis STAAR Review
An important result of the War of 1812, between Britain and the United States, was an increase in
American manufacturing. A British blockade had forced Americans to manufacture their own goods during
the war. After the war was over, the British tried to put Americans out of business by selling their
manufactured goods for a cheaper price.
The American government stepped in and passed protective tariff laws. Tariffs are taxes on imported
(foreign) goods. They protected northern manufacturers by making foreign goods more expensive than
American goods. This forced southerners to purchase manufactured goods from the North. They were not
happy about having to pay a higher price.
The first protective tariff was passed in 1816, after the War of 1812. The tariff was rate was increased
by the year 1824. Then, in 1828, while Andrew Jackson was president, an even higher protective tariff was
passed. The South was outraged. The South referred to it as the "Tariff of Abominations." An abomination is
something that people hate.
Congress passed another tariff in 1832, which actually had a lower tax than the "Tariff of
Abominations" but southerners were still upset. Vice-President John C. Calhoun, resigned and returned to his
home state of South Carolina to be a senator. Calhoun proposed that South Carolina could nullify the tariff
law. Nullification is the idea that a state can void or cancel a law, within their state, that they feel is
unconstitutional.
This wasn’t the first time nullification had been brought up. When John Adams was the second
president of the United States, Congress passed the Sedition Act, which said people could be thrown in jail for
criticizing the government. Many people believed this was a violation of the First Amendment.
Thomas Jefferson and James Madison wrote the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions in response, which
said a state should be able to nullify federal laws.
Calhoun and South Carolina got the idea of nullification from the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions.
South Carolina passed the Nullification Ordinance (Law) in 1832, which nullified the Tariffs of 1828
and 1832. South Carolina said those federal laws were unconstitutional and that they would not follow those
laws. Calhoun and South Carolina then threatened to secede (leave, break away) from the U.S. if the federal
government tried to use force (troops) to collect the taxes.
The issue became a battle on who should have the most power. Should the national government have
the most power and ultimate (top) authority or should states have the most power.
Jackson immediately spoke out against nullification, calling it treason. He said that states cannot nullify
federal laws. Jackson threatened to hang Calhoun and he is rumored to have said, "John Calhoun, if you
secede from my nation, I will secede your head from the rest of your body."
If a state could declare a law of Congress unconstitutional then each state would obey whatever laws
it wanted. It would give the states more power than the national government and would result in chaos.
Jackson sent U.S. naval ships to Charleston Harbor (South Carolina) and had Congress pass the Force
Bill, which would allow him the ability to send in federal troops to enforce the law. He was going to make
South Carolina obey the tariff law just as George Washington had made the Pennsylvania farmers pay their
taxes in the situation of the Whiskey Rebellion. Jackson was not going to back down. He believed federal law
must be obeyed.
Both sides braced for war. This situation became known as the Nullification Crisis. Would a state be
allowed to declare a federal law unconstitutional and nullify it? Andrew Jackson said no! Jackson upheld the
power of the federal government with his strong actions.
The “Great Compromiser” Henry Clay finally proposed a compromise through a decrease in tariffs over
the next ten years. This tariff would be known as the Compromise Tariff of 1833. South Carolina backed down
and agreed to the new tariff, but the idea of nullification would hang around into the future.
SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS
1. The War of 1812 resulted in an increase in American…
2. What is a tariff?
3. Why did Northerners like tariffs?
4. Why did the South not like tariffs?
5. What did the South call the tariff of 1828?
6. Which state declared the tariff law unconstitutional and threatened to secede from the U.S?
7. What does secede mean?
8. What does nullification mean?
9. What law did Congress pass, under President Adams, which allowed people to be jailed for criticizing
the government?
10. What amendment did this law violate
11. Who was President of the U.S. during the Nullification Crisis?
12. Who was the vice president that resigned and led South Carolina in nullification?
13. Who had set a good example by enforcing federal laws in the Whiskey Rebellion?
14. Who is the “Great Compromiser?”
15. What was the final result of the Nullification Crisis?
16. What could happen if each state were allowed to declare laws “unconstitutional?”
LABEL QUESTIONS
Directions: Label the following statements with N for North or S for South.
17._____Featured an economy built on industry and manufacturing.
18._____Featured an economy built on agriculture and farming.
19._____Opposed tariffs
20._____Favored tariffs
21._____Featured a state that threatened to secede from the Union
22._____Were forced to buy U.S. made goods after the tariff
23._____South Carolina
24._____Featured a state that nullified the tariff laws
25._____John C. Calhoun
LABEL QUESTIONS PART II
Directions: Label the following statements with AJ for Andrew Jackson, JC for John C. Calhoun, or HC for
Henry Clay.
26._____vice president of the United States
27._____president of the United States
28._____upheld the power of the federal government
29._____believed a state should be able to nullify a law they believed was unconstitutional
30._____threatened military action if South Carolina did not back down
31._____Compromise Tariff of 1833
32._____threatened to kill John C. Calhoun
33._____resigned as vice president and passed the Nullification Ordinance (Law) in South Carolina
Write a paragraph on the Nullification Crisis. Why did it start? Who was angry? How did they
respond? How did President Jackson handle the situation? What was the result?
Draw a picture that would illustrate the U.S. if states could nullify federal laws.