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How did John C. Calhoun define the Constitution as a compact among states?

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Jackson's “Proclamation to the People of South Carolina” — Nullification Crisis U.S. Pres. Andrew Jackson issued his “Proclamation to the People of South Carolina” on December 10, 1832, in response to South Carolina's refusal to be bound by federal tariffs. In it Jackson asserted the supremacy of the federal government and rejected South Carolina's argument that it, as a state, had the right to reject laws made by the federal government that it deemed unconstitutional. Jackson's proclamation was an escalation of the Nullification Crisis, and some argue that it helped lay the foundation for the American Civil War.

John C. Calhoun defined the U.S. Constitution as a compact among sovereign, free, and independent states. In his view, the federal government was merely a "joint agent" created by these states to execute specific, delegated powers as outlined in the Constitution.12

Because the states were the original parties to this compact, Calhoun argued that they retained the authority to judge when the federal government exceeded its constitutional limits. Consequently, he believed that if the federal government enacted laws that transcended its granted powers, those acts were inherently "null and void". In such instances, Calhoun maintained that each state, acting in its sovereign capacity, had the right to interpose and arrest the enforcement of the unconstitutional act within its own borders. Under this theory, the federal government would then be required to obtain an amendment to the Constitution—ratified by three-fourths of the states—to confirm its authority to exercise such power.12