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What did the Ordinance of Nullification declare about the Tariffs of 1828 and 1832?
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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 Ordinance of Nullification, adopted by a South Carolina state convention on November 24, 1832, declared the federal Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 to be "null, void, and no law, nor binding upon this State, its officers or citizens."1
Beyond declaring the tariffs unenforceable, the ordinance included several aggressive measures to challenge federal authority:
- It forbade the appeal of any measures related to the ordinance to federal courts.1
- It required all state officeholders, with the exception of members of the legislature, to take an oath of support for the ordinance.1
- It threatened secession if the federal government attempted to collect tariff duties by force.1
This action was a practical application of the nullification doctrine, which argued that states possessed the sovereign right to reject federal laws they deemed unconstitutional.21