8.10.3

Identify the constitutional issues posed by the doctrine of nullification and secession and the earliest origins of that doctrine.
             Doctrine of Nullification, an idea supported by strong sectionalists such as John C. Calhoun, stated that a state had the right to allow any federal law unconstitutional, and therefore null and void in that state. John C. Calhoun, Andrew Jackson’s vice president,  adopted the Doctrine of Nullification when finding a solution to preserve the union while being fair to the South. The Doctrine of Nullification responded to the Tariff of 1828, which put a 40% tax on all foreign imports. The South lost an abundant amount of their economy. The federal government passed another tariff in 1832, so the Southerners reacted. South Carolina summoned a state convention, where they passed the 1832 Ordinance of Nullification. The Ordinance of Nullification was unconstitutional in that it did not obey the supreme law of the federal government. This could be labeled as rebellion and contributed to the succession of Southern states, which concluded in the Civil War. There was a controversy between the thirteen colonies over states’ rights. The secessionists argued that the union created by the Constitution was only an alliance of self-governing states and that power given to the federal government was limited. The self-governing states made it legal to withdraw from the voluntary union. The opponents of the right of secession believed that the Constitution created a sovereign union so that it was impossible to withdraw from that union. In 1860 to 1861, eleven Southern states from the United States formed the Confederacy. The Confederacy established a government within the Southern states of the United States after their secession from the Union. The controversy of the South and the North concluded in the Civil War. For more information on the constitutional issues posed by the doctrine of nullification and secession and the earliest origins of these doctrines, visit the sites below.


More Information:

   1.    http://www.frommers.com/destinations/northcarolina/0246034010.html
          This site explains how the doctrine of nullification started and what it did.

   2.    http://www.kusd.edu/schools/lance/platinum/banaszynski/civil_war_2002/time_line_links_2002/1832_doct_of_null.html
          This site also explains how the doctrine of nullification started and what it did. It also explains about the Civil War and causes which led to the war.

   3.    http://www.bartleby.com/65/se/secess2.html
          This site explains how the doctrine of secession started and what it did. It refers to some books and other links which may help explain about the doctrine of secession and nullification.

   4.    http://www.kusd.edu/schools/lance/platinum/banaszynski/civil_war_2002/south_links_2002/right_of_south_secession.html
          This site also explains how the doctrine of secession started and what it did. It has many links to other sources of information you can get about secession.


Recommended Books:

   1.    Jury Nullification: Evolution of a Doctrine
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   2.    Nullification and Secession in the United States: A History of the Six Attempts During the First Century of the Republic
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   3.    Nullification Era: A Documentary History
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   4.    Nullification Controversy in South Carolina
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   5.    State Papers on Nullification, American Constitutional and Legal History
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   6.    Critical Study of Nullification in South Carolina
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   7.    Prelude to Civil War: The Nullification Controversy in South Carolina, 1816-1836
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   8.    Shaping of American Liberalism: The Debates over Ratification, Nullification, & Slavery
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   9.    Apostles of Disunion: Southern Secession Commissioners and the Causes of the Civil War
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   10.  Days of Defiance: Sumter, Secession and the Coming of the Civil War, Vintage Civil War Library
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   11.  Lincoln and His Party in the Secession Crisis
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   12.  Secession Movement in South Carolina, 1847-1852, American Scene Ser.
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   13.  Secession: The Ultimate States Rights
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   14.  Secession, Coercion, and Civil War, Notable American Authors Ser.
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   15.  After Secession: Jefferson Davis and the Failure of Confederate Nationalism
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   16.  Secession and Slavery: The Effect of Secession on the Relation of the United States to the Seceded States and to Slavery Therein Considered As a Question of Constitutional Law
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   17.  After Secession: Jefferson Davis and the Failure of Confederate Nationalism
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   18.  Secession, State, and Liberty
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   19.  Slavery, Secession and Southern History
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   20.  Vital Issues of the Constitution
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