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Tariff of Abomination
The Congress approved the Tariff of 1828, or the ‘Tariff of Abominations for the South” Since it put high tariffs on imported goods thereby protecting the northern industries while negatively affecting the southern economy, specifically South Carolina, which considered it as economically unfavorable as well as unconstitutional. -
South Carolina Exposition and Protest
John C. Calhoun, Vice President to John Quincy Adams, and to Andrew Jackson wrote anonymously the South Carolina Exposition and Protest, an assertion of the doctrine of nullification-the idea that a state could nullify federal laws it believed were unconstitutional. -
Hayne-Webster Debate
The famous debate between states’ rights and federal power was between Senator Robert Hayne of South Carolina and Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts. Hayne advocated nullification while Webster stood for the primacy of federal laws, for the necessity of a compact, an indissoluble Union. -
Tariff of 1832
To calm the South’s concerns, Congress passed the Tariff of 1832 which reduced some of the tariffs but failed to convince South Carolina. The state still considered the tariffs as being unfair and unconstitutional. -
Ordiance of Nullification
In 1832 South Carolina was the first state to pass the Ordinance of Nullification which caused the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 to be nullufied in the state. This act was a way to face the national government and warned that any attempt at trying to enforce the tariffs would lead to secession. -
Jackson Proclomation
The President Andrew Jackson came out openly to counter with the Proclamation to the People of South Carolina in which he considered nullification as treason and the Union as supreme. He threatened the people of south carolina against violating federal laws. -
Compromise Tariff
In order to reduce tension between the two factions, Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun came up with the Compromise Tariff of 1833 which was a plan of progressively reducing the tariffs over the period of 10 years. South Carolina agreed to the compromise and withdrew its Nullification Ordinance thus bringing the crisis to its conclusion. -
Force Bill
Finally in order to assert the authority of the federal government in the face of South Carolina’s continued defiance, Congress passed the Force Bill, which allowed Jackson to use military force in order to enforce federal tariffs in South Carolina. This showed the federal government’s power over the states.