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Jackson to The Nullification Crisis

Jackson in The Whitehouse

  • once in office, further controversy

    • new scandals and personal vendettas

    • authoritarian tendencies

  • in the first year alone, he replaced 919 federal officials with campaign supporters

    • claimed it would reduce corruption, however, it actually increased it

    • beginning of the “spoils system” as later administrations did the same

The Nullification Crisis, 1832-1833

  • 1828 import tariffs were passed under Adams

    • to boost northern manufacturing

    • hurt southern planters

  • South Carolina politicians feared the “tariff of abominations” could lead to a direct attack on slavery

  • John C. Calhoun (Jacksons VP) anonymously wrote “South Carolina Exposition and Protest”, which argued:

    • US was a compact of states, not people

    • states were still sovereign

    • thus, a state could nullify a federal law it considered unconstitutional

    • if necessary, a state could leave the union

  • Jackson furious, felt personally betrayed

  • November 1832, a special convention was held in South Carolina

    • declared tariffs null and void

    • threatened secession if federal government attempted enforcement

  • Jackson immediately responded

    • threatened to hang Calhoun for treason

    • 1833 Force Bill authorized the use of military to enforce tariffs

    • Henry Clay and others broker a compromise deal with Calhoun

  • legacies:

    • showed slaveholder power and axiety]

    • linked states’ rights, slavery and secession

    • ideas shaped future crises over slavery

Jackson to The Nullification Crisis

Jackson in The Whitehouse

  • once in office, further controversy

    • new scandals and personal vendettas

    • authoritarian tendencies

  • in the first year alone, he replaced 919 federal officials with campaign supporters

    • claimed it would reduce corruption, however, it actually increased it

    • beginning of the “spoils system” as later administrations did the same

The Nullification Crisis, 1832-1833

  • 1828 import tariffs were passed under Adams

    • to boost northern manufacturing

    • hurt southern planters

  • South Carolina politicians feared the “tariff of abominations” could lead to a direct attack on slavery

  • John C. Calhoun (Jacksons VP) anonymously wrote “South Carolina Exposition and Protest”, which argued:

    • US was a compact of states, not people

    • states were still sovereign

    • thus, a state could nullify a federal law it considered unconstitutional

    • if necessary, a state could leave the union

  • Jackson furious, felt personally betrayed

  • November 1832, a special convention was held in South Carolina

    • declared tariffs null and void

    • threatened secession if federal government attempted enforcement

  • Jackson immediately responded

    • threatened to hang Calhoun for treason

    • 1833 Force Bill authorized the use of military to enforce tariffs

    • Henry Clay and others broker a compromise deal with Calhoun

  • legacies:

    • showed slaveholder power and axiety]

    • linked states’ rights, slavery and secession

    • ideas shaped future crises over slavery

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