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 a warning 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 Democrats 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. Henry Clay stepped in and created a compromise between the two sides through the Tariff of 1833, which helped to resolve the dispute. It strained the relationship between some Calhoun and Jackson, and Calhoun resigned in 1832.