The Ordinance of Nullification declared the Tariff of 1828 and 1832 null and void within the state borders of South Carolina, beginning on February 1, 1833. It began the Nullification Crisis. Passed by a state convention on November 26, 1832, it led to President Andrew Jackson's proclamation against South Carolina, the Nullification Proclamation on December 10, 1832, which threatened to send government ground troops to enforce the tariffs. In the face of the military threat, and following a Congressional revision of the law which lowered the tariff, South Carolina repealed the ordinance.
The protest that led to the Ordinance of Nullification was caused by the belief that the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 favored the North over the South and therefore violated the Constitution. This led to an emphasis on the differences between the two regions and helped set the stage for conflict during the antebellum era.
References
External links
- Transcript of Ordinance of Nullification from The Federalist: A Commentary on the Constitution of the United States; edited by Paul Leicester Ford; 1898; Appendix pp. 690
- President Jackson's Message to the Senate and House Regarding South Carolina's Nullification Ordinance; January 16, 1833
- President Jackson's Nullification Proclamation (1832)(subscription required)
