Notes:States’ Rights

States’ Rights

• Nullification Crisis- A series of events that came to the surface in 1832. The
main issue was over the use of tariffs, which made imported goods more
expensive for Southerners. Southerners usually received credit overseas for
their crops. Because the tariffs had adverse effects on the economies of the
South, South Carolina “nullified” ignored federal tariff laws and threatened to
secede from the Union. President Andrew Jackson believed that in defying
the laws of the United States, South Carolina was defying the will of the
people. He threatened to send in troops to force South Carolina to comply.
Ultimately, a compromise was reached.
• Sectionalism- Regional differences between the North, South and the West,
caused the regions to grow in radically different directions. Tariff policies
created sectional rivalry in the United States.
• Secession- Southern states believed that since they voluntarily entered into
the union they could leave when things went against the best interest of their
individual states as indicated in the Declaration of Independence. Between
1860-1861, southern states seceded from the Union because of Lincoln’s
election as president believing that Lincoln would abolish slavery and supercede
states’ rights.