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How did the debate over state sovereignty in the Nullification Crisis reappear during Southern secession in 1860–61?

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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.

The debate over state sovereignty during the Nullification Crisis of 1832–33 centered on the theory that the U.S. Constitution was a compact among sovereign states, granting them the right to judge federal acts and nullify those they deemed unconstitutional. Proponents, led by John C. Calhoun, argued that this "interposition" protected minority interests from federal overreach.123

This constitutional argument resurfaced in 1860–61 as the primary justification for secession. While the Nullification Crisis was ostensibly about tariffs, it was deeply rooted in Southern fears regarding the future of slavery. By 1860, the election of Abraham Lincoln convinced Southern leaders that their constitutional rights and social institutions were under direct threat.1245

Building on the earlier compact theory, 11 Southern states asserted that their sovereignty allowed them to withdraw from the Union entirely. Unlike the 1830s, when South Carolina stood alone, the 1860 crisis escalated into the American Civil War, ultimately resolving the question of whether states possessed the right to unilaterally dissolve their ties to the federal government.1453