Discuss the issue of the national debate on tariffs by comparing the ideas of Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, and John C. Calhoun. How did Jackson use the Nullification Crisis to draw the line at championing states' rights?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The ideal answer should include:
- Regional interests: First substantial tariff enacted in 1816 for protection from British competition; southern planters feared other countries would retaliate with their own tariffs on cotton; tariff bills in 1824 and 1828 raised rates higher and protected more items as the North industrialized; also supported by westerners
- "Tariff of Abominations" (1828): passed by Jackson's supporters in Congress to gain northern support for him over the objections of the South; South insisted the tariff was sectional because it only helped certain groups while hurting others; they claimed it was unconstitutional because it violated the rights of some states
- Nullification Crisis: South Carolina feared that if Congress had the power to impose harmful tariffs, it could also deprive them of property, including slavery; favored nullifying the tariff by making it null and void in their state and refusing to enforce it
- Calhoun's views: defended nullification in Exposition and Protest; saw nullification as a safeguard to the rights of the minority; disagreed with Jackson and resigned as vice president; supported South Carolina's response to the Tariff of 1832, which rejected this tariff through the Ordinance of Nullification as well as its call for a volunteer militia in case of secession
- Jackson's views: saw nullification as a threat to national unity; viewed secession as treason; approved Force Bill that authorized the federal government to collect the tariff in South Carolina at gunpoint if necessary; also asked Congress to revise the Tariff of 1832 to avoid further problems
- Clay's views: His American System proposed tariff for economic development, beginning with the Tariff of 1816; as the "Great Pacificator," he created the compromise Tariff of 1833 that South Carolina accepted, ending the Nullification Crisis