Download Conflicts Over States` Rights

Conflicts Over States’ Rights
Nullification Crisis (1828-1833)
Learning Objective: Describe the historical conflicts arising over the issue of states’ rights,
influding the Nullification and the Civil War. The summary below describes the Nullification
Crisis, in which the north and South clashed over the issue of whether a state had the right to nullify a
federal law. To nullify a law means to declare it unconstitutional and so illegal within a state’s
borders.
The issue of states’ rights increasingly divided Americans, especially Northerners and Southerners, in
the decades before the Civil War. It pitted those who favored a strong ntional government against
those who believed the states should be stronger. It was a major political issue from 1828, when the
Nullification Crisis began, until the Civil War was fought to resolve it.
The Nullification Crisis arose over the issue of tariffs, or taxes on imported goods. Tariffs hurt the
economy of the South, which depended on foreign trade. The South opposed a federal bill passed in
1828 that significantly raised tariffs.
Drawing upon the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, Vice-President John Calhoun, who was from
South Carolina, proposed the doctrine of nullification. He declared that a state had the right to nullify
a federal law within tis borders. Calhoun reasoned that the U.S. Constitution was an agreement
among sovereign states and that each state had the right to decide if an act of Congress was
unconstitutional. President Andrew Jackson and Congressional leaders from the North opposed the
doctrine of nullification. They believed that all states must obey federal laws. The Constitution
specifically stated that national laws were to be “the supreme law of the land.” However, in 1832,
Congress reduced tariffs to try to appease the South.
South Carolina thought the tariffs were still too high, and its state legislato4rs voted to nullify them.
They also voted to form an army and threatened to secede, or withdraw from the Union if custom
officials tried to collect the tariffs.
In response, President Jackson threatened to send federal troops into South Carolina to enforce the
tariffs. He made it clear that the federal government would enforce federal laws. A confrontation was
avoided, however, when Congress passed a compromise tariff in 1833 that satisfied South Carolina
and ended the immediate crisis. But the conflict over states’ rights remained an ongoing issue and
eventually pushed the nation into Civil War.
States’ Rights and the Civil War (1861-1865)
Learning Objective: Describe the historical conflicts arising over the issue of states’ rights
that led to the outbreak of the Civil War. The summary below describes how the conflict over
states’ rights led up to the Civil War.
At the root of the Civil War were differences between the Northern and Southern states over the issue
of slavery. The question of whether to allow slavery in the territories had divided the North and South
for years.
The Southern states, which depended on slave labor to produce cotton, wanted slavery allowed in the
territories and in new states formed from the territories. They did not want free states to become a
majority in Congress because the balance of power would shift to the North. The Northern states did
not want slavery to expand. Abraham Lincoln, a Northern Republican who opposed the expansion of
slavery into the territories, won the presidency in 1860.
With Lincoln’s election, Southerners feared that Northern antislavery Republicans would dominate
national politics and submit the South to federal government control. They believed a Republican
administration would work to end the slave labor system on which their economy and way of life
depended.
The Southern states had threatened to secede if Lincoln won the presidency. They argued that the
states had voluntarily joined the Union and had the right to leave it. South Carolina seceded first.
Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas joined South Carolina in secession, and
together they formed the Confederate States of America in 1861. The Confederacy adopted a
constitution that supported states’ rights and slavery. The Confederate states regarded the struggle
over slavery partly as a states’ rights issue. They believed that states had the right to selfdetermination. With secession, the issue of states’ rights came to mean complete independence of
Southern states from Federal government control.
Many Northerners, on the other hand, considered secession unconstitutional. They argued that
states did not have the right to withdraw from the union because the federal government – not a state
government – was sovereign, or the supreme authority, under the Constitution. The North went to war
to hold the Union together and assert the authority of the federal government.
Reconstruction Amendments
Learning Objective: Describe the impact of the 19th century amendments, including the 13th,
14th, and 15th amendments, on life in the United States. The summaries below describe some of
the main effects that the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments have had on American life.
The 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were ratified after the end of the Civil War to grant individual
rights to recently freed African-Americans. They are often called the Reconstruction Amendments
after this period in U.S. history. Since the period of Reconstruction, these amendments have served
to protect the individual rights not only of African-Americans but also of women, the disabled, and
other minority groups. In this way, they have contributed to the increased participation of all groups in
American life.
13th Amendment (1865): Abolition of Slavery
The Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 freed slaves in the
Confederate territory, but slavery remained in the border-states. The 13th Amendment, which was
ratified shortly after the end of the Civil War, permanently ended slavery in the United States.
After they were freed, many African-Americans left plantations, found jobs, reunited with their
families, and started schools and churches. Eventually, some African-Americans returned to
plantations to work for wages or as sharecroppers.
The 13th Amendment provided the legal basis for the Supreme Court to outlaw peonage, another form
of forced labor, in 1911. In the Southwest, African-Americans and Mexicans had been forced to work
to repay debts until this system was declared a violation of the 13 th Amendment.
14th Amendment (1868): Civil Rights
The 14th Amendment granted citizenship and equal protection of the laws to all persons born or
naturalized in the United States (except Native American on tribal lands). This amendment was
intended to make former slaves citizens to secure full civil rights for them. However, it was not
immediately enforced throughout the United States. Later it became the basis for court decisions that
ended segregation, the separation of whites and blacks in public places.
The 14th Amendment provided the legal basis for many civil rights laws of the 20 th century. Some of
these laws prohibited job discrimination, required public places to provide access for the disabled,
and required schools to provide equal resources for males and females in their athletic programs.
15th Amendment (1870): Right to Vote
The 15th Amendment guarant4eed that the right to vote could not be denied based on race, color, or
previous enslavement. It was designed to protect the voting rights of African-Americans, and many
African-Americans did begin to vote after it was passed. However, some states set voter
qualifications that kept African-Americans from voting. Nevertheless, the amendment provided the
legal basis for voting rights laws passed in the 1900’s. After the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was
passed, the number of African-American voters increased greatly, and more African-Americans were
then elected to political office.
As a side effect, the 15th Amendment strengthened the campaign to gain the right to vote for women.
It took 50 more years, however, before the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920 and women gained
suffrage, or the right to vote.