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Federal Authority and its Opponents:
Judicial Federalism, the Bank War, Tariff
Controversy, and States' Rights Debates
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King Andrew
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During his two terms in office
Andrew Jackson exercised his
veto power more than any other
President before him.
His opponents saw this use as
excessive and unwarranted.
In 1832 President Jackson vetoed
a bill that would have established
a second bank of the United
States.
This bill was seen as a political
move on the part of Jackson's
opponents.
President Jackson strongly
opposed a second bank and made
his feelings on the situation well
known.
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Veto Message Regarding the
Bank of the United States
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In his veto message to the Senate, Andrew
Jackson outlines his grievances with the charter
of the second bank of the United States.
Jackson sites the problems that will arise from
investment in the Bank by only 25 people and
foreign entities.
He is fearful of the political and economic
ramifications of a second bank.
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Tariff of 1828
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In 1828, Vice President John C. Calhoun began to differ
with Andrew Jackson over the question of states' rights.
While Jackson began supporting the federal government
vis-a-vis the states, Calhoun took the oppositie view.
When the Tariff of 1828 was imposed, Calhoun was
opposed to such an act. He drafted a speech to air his
greviances.
"With these views the committee are solemnly of the impression, if the present usurpations and
the professed doctrines of the existing system be persevered in, after due forebearance on the
part of the State, that it will be her sacred duty to interposes duty to herself, to the Union, to the
present, and to future generations, arid to the cause of liberty over the world, to arrest the
progress of a usurpation which, if not arrested, must, in its consequences, corrupt the public
morals and destroy the liberty of the country. "
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Tariff of 1832
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In order to keep peace with the South and to prevent
succession, in particular that of South Carolina, Andrew
Jackson proposed a new tariff.
This tariff was slightly lower than that of 1828, but was
not low enough to appease the south.
South Carolina continued to threaten nullification in
response to the two tariffs.
In this proclamation, Andrew Jackson defends his tariffs
and declares nullification illegal.
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The Debates over States'
Rights
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At the height of the Tariff Controversy, debates
began about the rights of states.
In his inaugural address as Governor of South
Carolina, Robert Y. Hayne (1791-1839) outlines
the reasons his state has for nullification.
One of the main reasons sited is the
unwarranted tariffs put into place by Andrew
Jackson.
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Antifederalist No. 17
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In opposition to Federal authority Brutus, describes the
limitations that the Constitution places on state authority.
In particular, he sites that articles one and eight make it
clear that there is no need for state governments
"It appears from these articles, that there is no need of any intervention of the State
governments, between the Congress and the people, to execute any one power
vested in the general government, and that the Constitution and laws of every State
are nullified and declared void, so far as they are or shall be inconsistent with this
Constitution, or the laws made in pursuance of it, or with treaties made under the
authority of the United States. The government, then, so far as it extends, is a
complete one, and not a confederation. It is as much one complete government as
that of New York or Massachusetts; has as absolute and perfect powers to make and
execute all laws, to appoint officers, institute courts, declare offenses, and annex
penalties, with respect to every object to which it extends, as any other in the world. "
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Judiciary Act of 1789
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The Judiciary Act of 1789, the first act of Congress,
establishes the federal courts system.
The Act outlines the jurisdiction and duties of the courts.
In particular, section 25, describes the courts jurisdiction
and power of final say over all matters, including those of
individual states.
"the decision is against the title, right, privilege, or exemption,
specially set up or claimed by either party, under such clause of the
said Constitution, treaty, statute, or commission, may be reexamined, and reversed or affirmed in the Supreme Court of the
United States upon a writ of error,"
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Antifederalist No. 22
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In the Antifederalist No. 22, Candidus, writes about the
alternatives to a federal Constitution.
This plan outlines seven suggestions for the
Constitution; including judicial power and states' rights.
"The advocates for the Constitution, have always assumed an advantage by
saying, that their opposers have never offered any plan as a substitute; the
following outlines are therefore submitted, not as originating from an
individual, but as copied from former resolutions of Congress, and united
with some parts of the Constitution proposed by the respectable
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convention "
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Federalist No. 39
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James Madison shows his support for the federal
judiciary in the Federalist No. 39.
He describes what constitutes a republican government
and it’s components and strengths; including a federal
judiciary or as he refers to it a “tribunal.”
"What, then, are the distinctive characters of the republican form?
Were an answer to this question to be sought, not by recurring to
principles, but in the application of the term by political writers, to the
constitution of different States, no satisfactory one would ever be
found… "
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