Jackson's Force Bill and the Nullification Crisis

Disagreeing viewpoints on states' rights began as early as the 1820s when South Carolina found the ever-rising protective tariff offensive to the South, whose economy was based on agriculture and who had to pay higher prices for manufactured goods because of this. South Carolina, coordinated by Vice President and strong states' rights supporter John C. Calhoun, disagreed with the tariff of abominations of 1828, deemed the tariff unconstitutional, and nullified it.

John C. Calhoun

Calhoun's outright defiance of national power caused a rift between himself and President Jackson. Jackson, although a supporter of southern interests and states' rights, rightly saw that nullification had the potential to damage the Union. After the state legislature of South Carolina convened to vote to nullify the tariffs of 1828 and 1832, Jackson decided to take action.

At Jackson's request, Congress passed the Force Bill that allowed Jackson to use military force to ensure that South Carolina would adhere to the tariff. The Great Compromiser Henry Clay once again used his superior compromising abilities to get Jackson to pass a lower tariff. The Force Bill and the compromise of 1833 both resulted in South Carolina abolishing their nullification efforts in March of the same year. This assertion of states' rights was reiterated as South Carolina seceded from the Union over a quarter of a century later.

Divine, Robert A., T. H. Breen, George M. Fredrickson, and R. Hal Williams. America Past and Present. Revised Sixth Edition, AP* Edition . Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc., 2003. 295-96. Print.

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