From Compromise to Conflict: The Separation of The United States

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The southern cotton business was one of the biggest in the world at its time, producing two-thirds of the worlds cotton supply by 1860. High tariffs threatened southern cotton exports, which was the key to the southern economy. The Tariff of 1832 was to act as a remedy for the Tariff of 1828 which was to protect the industry in the North. The south declared these tariffs as “unauthorized by the constitution of the United States, and violate the true meaning and intent thereof and are null, void, and no law, nor binding upon this state”. (South Carolina Ordinance of Nullification, 1832). Because the south believed that the tariffs were unauthorized, South Carolina started the Nullification Crisis in the winter of 1832. “It shall be deemed lawful for the President of the United States, or such persons or persons that he shall have empowered for that purpose, to employ such part of the land or naval forces, or militia of the United States for the purpose of preventing the removal of such vessel or cargo, and protecting the officers of the customs in retaining the thereof”. (Force Act, 1833). Most states did not agree with South Carolina's drastic action, but the issue of states' rights was laid on the table for the first time. Jackson was forced to draw back the duties, passing the Compromise Tariff of 1833, which gradually reduced taxes back to their set levels of 1816. Henry Clay engineered the Compromise Tariff with the cooperation of John C. Calhoun