September 23, 2025

“N” is for Nullification. The passage of the federal tariff law of 1828 signaled the rise of the nullification controversy in South Carolina. Led by John C. Calhoun a majority of South Carolinians eventually came to assert that a state had the right to nullify or veto federal laws and secede from the union. In 1832 the General Assembly called for a special convention to nullify the tariffs of 1828 and 1832. The convention, in turn, voted to declare the federal tariffs “null and void” and forbid federal officials from collecting tariffs in the state. South Carolina suddenly found itself isolated as no other states supported its cause and President Andrew Jackson threatened military action. Nullification crystallized South Carolina’s early ideological commitment to slavery and southern nationalism. The Nullification Crisis was defused with the passage of the Compromise of 1833.