In the state election of 1832, the Nullifiers and Unionists clashed head-on in the nullification crisis in South Carolina. Congress “tipped the balance by passing the new Tariff of 1832,” and in an act of defiance, South Carolina threatened to leave the Union. But who won this debacle? With Andrew Jackson sitting as the President, was this tactic truly effective? The fact of the matter is that the national government “won” the nullification crisis because, in the end, South Carolina returned back to the Union with little to no hesitation, but in the long-term, the Southern states might have achieved their ultimate goal of lowering the Tariff. With the high tariff in 1828 on imports in effect, it mainly “benefitted American producers of cloth,”
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Jackson immediately offered his thought that “nullification was tantamount to treason and quickly dispatched ships to Charleston harbor and began strengthening federal fortifications there .” With such brute force, he turned around and then shot back at South Carolina harder than they questioned the government’s enforcement of the Tariff. To top it off, Congress supported his decision to dispatch soldiers to enforce the tariff measures by passing the Force Bill. The government was all hands on board to resolve this nullification crisis by silencing South Carolina. Secretly, under the table, Calhoun and Clay “had been working against the tariff drafting treatises railing against it and its effects on the South .” Even the government was trying its best to not let the volcano, Andrew Jackson, erupt and just shut the South Carolinians up. This act to help the state out of deep economic trouble shows that the government is making its best effort to please as many people as possible. This tactic prevented an explosive situation to turn into a civil war, which was successful for a short time, but the dawn of a future issue …show more content…
Such the national government had the short-term victory, but in the long run, the government did not take the big picture into account. Jackson’s quick and aggressive retaliation is what spilt America for years to come. Although a majority of the government believed that South Carolina should have been disciplined, there were a few outliers, like Clay and Calhoun, who showed that there was also mixed views from the “top.” There was still a minority that was against the hurried decision that Jackson made, which could have been the reason for such confusion. Regardless, if South Carolina threw up the “white flag” by repealing the nullification, the idea of nullification, in general, never died away. This small, complaint soon turned into nullification of the Union and the formation of the Confederacy. Such a small victory would end up being a crucial and punishing blow to what the United States has created thus
Jackson immediately offered his thought that “nullification was tantamount to treason and quickly dispatched ships to Charleston harbor and began strengthening federal fortifications there .” With such brute force, he turned around and then shot back at South Carolina harder than they questioned the government’s enforcement of the Tariff. To top it off, Congress supported his decision to dispatch soldiers to enforce the tariff measures by passing the Force Bill. The government was all hands on board to resolve this nullification crisis by silencing South Carolina. Secretly, under the table, Calhoun and Clay “had been working against the tariff drafting treatises railing against it and its effects on the South .” Even the government was trying its best to not let the volcano, Andrew Jackson, erupt and just shut the South Carolinians up. This act to help the state out of deep economic trouble shows that the government is making its best effort to please as many people as possible. This tactic prevented an explosive situation to turn into a civil war, which was successful for a short time, but the dawn of a future issue …show more content…
Such the national government had the short-term victory, but in the long run, the government did not take the big picture into account. Jackson’s quick and aggressive retaliation is what spilt America for years to come. Although a majority of the government believed that South Carolina should have been disciplined, there were a few outliers, like Clay and Calhoun, who showed that there was also mixed views from the “top.” There was still a minority that was against the hurried decision that Jackson made, which could have been the reason for such confusion. Regardless, if South Carolina threw up the “white flag” by repealing the nullification, the idea of nullification, in general, never died away. This small, complaint soon turned into nullification of the Union and the formation of the Confederacy. Such a small victory would end up being a crucial and punishing blow to what the United States has created thus