Nullification Crisis: A Civil War Prelude

This assignment delves into the Nullification Crisis of 1832, analyzing its significance as a precursor to the American Civil War. Students are tasked with examining contemporary sources like the New York Times article from 1860 alongside scholarly works to understand the crisis's causes, key figures (e.g., Vice President Calhoun), and long-term impact on US federalism and sectional divisions.

Running head: AMERICAN HISTORY
American History
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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The Nullification crisis
The nullification crisis has been one of the remarkable things in the history of America.
This is considered to be the sectional political crisis that took place between the years 1832 and
1837. The actual conflict was between the federal government of the USA and the state of South
Carolina. The result of this crisis was the fact that South Carolina had declared that the federal
tariffs that were introduced by the government were entirely unconstitutional. These tariffs were
being put into practice in the years 1828 and 1832 (Andrews, 2015). It has to be remembered
United States had been suffering from a huge economic instability in the decade of 1820. The
state of South Carolina had been affected in a great way during this time. This tariff had been
taken into the law when John Quincy Adams had been the president. The administration run by
Jackson wanted to inflict this tariff within South Carolina. The Jackson administration and the
vice president John C. Calhoun had a huge tussle among them. He was from South Carolina and
he took a pioneering step to advocate this nullification step (Andrews, 2015). The Vice President
Calhoun had then resigned so that he could represent the South Carolina state in a more effective
way and be present in the senate. His motive was to defend this nullification process. In the
month of November in the year 1832, the state convention had proceeded to adopt the Ordinance
of Nullification and the attempts of the federal government were proved to be null and void.
The Tariff of Abominations
The tariff of Abominations is also regarded to this incident. The nullification crisis had
taken place as a reaction to this tariff (Berlinski, 2014). This tariff of abominations is considered
to be the protective tariff taken by the Congress of the United States in the year 1828. This tariff
was taken into action to protect the industries in the northern United States. This tariff or law was

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enacted by the then President John Quincy Adams. The situation had occurred that the industries
that did their business in the northern USA had begun to be wiped out since goods were being
imported from the other countries. The goods that were being imported had been taxed around
38%. This tax was on the 92% of the goods that were imported. The result of this was the fact
that a conflict had arisen in the Southern regions because they had to pay a bigger amount to pay
for the good that were imported (Berlinski, 2014). Many important facts had come into notice in
this context. This entire economical problem led to a huge crisis led to a political conflict in
those areas of Southern and Northern USA. South Carolina had burst into loud protests because
they had been affected very much and this could create a huge upset in the relation between the
sections of the country. The conflict, led by the Vice President, had taken the front role in
banning this tariff in South Carolina.
The impact of Nullification crisis on USA economy
The entire economy of the United States had been impacted in a large way because of this
nullification crisis and the tariff of abominations. This tariff passed by the federal government
would work in favor of North and against the South. The tension aroused because the cotton that
was exported to the United Kingdom would charge a heavier amount for this tariff or
abominations (Hays, 2012). The Southern USA is mainly considered to be a section where the
economy was dictated by agriculture. There were huge chances of war in between the two
sections of the country and this is why Southern states had proposed for the nullification of the
tariff of abominations. The government had then agreed and rested South Carolina from that law
being enforced there. One of the most important things that this Nullification Crisis was that it
had shown the entire country that it had shown the entire country and the upper classes that their
dominance will not be tolerated by the states in the South (Spalding & Hickok, 2013). These

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tariffs were designed to help the Northern states but they were deemed to be very fatal for the
Southern states. South Carolina had adopted the extreme position that they would not adhere by
the actions of the federal government (Rufino, 2012). They would be very much strict about
their stand and they would take the extreme step of nullification of this tariff in their state.
Annotated Bibliography
Primary sources
Gilderlehrman.org. (2017). The Nullification Crisis | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of
American History. Gilderlehrman.org. Retrieved 11 November 2017, from
https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/age-jackson/resources/nullification-crisis
This source is taken from the Gilder Lehrman institute of American History and the author who
has written this Elise Stevens Wilson. She has been one of the main writers in this institute and
she has published many important things in these historical aspects of USA. This paper was
published in the year 2014. This paper talks about the impacts about the impact of the
nullification crisis in the politics of United States. The fact that each region in the country
wanted to protect its own economic condition has been highlighted in this scenario.
Secondary resources
Aleph.humanities.ucla.edu.(2017). Conflict and Compromise: The Nullification
Crisis. Aleph.humanities.ucla.edu. Retrieved 11 November 2017, from
http://aleph.humanities.ucla.edu/2015/10/09/conflict-and-compromise-the-nullification-
crisis/

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This source is taken from the Undergraduate Research Journal for Humanities and
Social Sciences and the name of the author is Adam El-Sahn. This article has been chosen
because it consists of a good round of information about the nullification crisis. The Civil War
between the North and South that was set to break out has been highlighted in this paper. A civil
war ultimately had broken out between the two and this nullification crisis is supposed to be the
huild up for that incident.
Contemporary sources
Nytimes.com. (2017). NOW AND THEN.; Nullification in 1832 and Secession in 1860. Revew of
the History of the Nullification Movement in 1832...Public Sentiment at the South Then and
Now.. Nytimes.com. Retrieved 11 November 2017, from
http://www.nytimes.com/1860/12/03/news/now-then-nullification-1832-secession-1860-revew-
history-nullification-movement.html?pagewanted=all
In this paper, the relevant things about the nullification crisis have been discussed along with the
role of the contemporary vice president Calhoun. This article had been published in the New
York Times in the year 1980. The relevant information has been given in this newspaper article
and impact of this crisis has been discussed here as well. This is why this resource has been
chosen as the contemporary source.

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References
Aleph.humanities.ucla.edu. (2017). Conflict and Compromise: The Nullification
Crisis. Aleph.humanities.ucla.edu. Retrieved 11 November 2017, from
http://aleph.humanities.ucla.edu/2015/10/09/conflict-and-compromise-the-nullification-
crisis/
Andrews, J. C. (2015). South Reports the Civil War. Princeton University Press.
Berlinski, D. (2014). On the origins of life. The Nature of Nature: Examining the Role of
Naturalism in Science.
Gilderlehrman.org. (2017). The Nullification Crisis | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American
History. Gilderlehrman.org. Retrieved 11 November 2017, from
https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/age-jackson/resources/nullification-crisis
Hays, B. D. (2012). Nullification and the Political, Legal, and Quasi-Legal
Constitutions. Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 43(2), 205-226.
Nytimes.com. (2017). NOW AND THEN.; Nullification in 1832 and Secession in 1860. Revew
of the History of the Nullification Movement in 1832...Public Sentiment at the South Then
and Now.. Nytimes.com. Retrieved 11 November 2017, from
http://www.nytimes.com/1860/12/03/news/now-then-nullification-1832-secession-1860-
revew-history-nullification-movement.html?pagewanted=all
Spalding, M., & Hickok, E. (2013). Why States? The Challenge of Federalism. Heritage
Foundation.