Nullification Crisis

The Nullification Crisis occurred in South Carolina over the Tariff of 1828 and whether the individual states had the right to nullify federal laws. Now seen as an early warning sign of the American Civil War, the problems of the Nullification Crisis were worked out by Henry Clay of Kentucky.

It occurred when South Carolina decided to nullify the Tariff of 1828, which Southerners called the "Tariff of Abominations". It forced President Andrew Jackson to clash with his own Vice President John C. Calhoun, as Jackson favored enforcing the law, unlike Calhoun. He thus forged an unusual temporary alliance with the Whigs and tried to persuade Congress to pass a "force bill", which would enable him to enforce the law. They did, though South Carolina nullified that as well. Henry Clay stepped in and created a compromise between the two sides through the Tariff of 1833 after the failed attempt at reconciliation through the Tariff of 1832, which resolved the dispute. It strained the relationship between Calhoun and Jackson, and Calhoun resigned in 1832, re-entering the Senate in 1833.