nullification

(noun)

Nullification, in United States constitutional history, is a legal theory that a state has the right to nullify, or invalidate, any federal law which that state has deemed unconstitutional.

Related Terms

Examples of nullification in the following topics:

  • Nullification

    • The Tariff of 1828 highlighted economic conflicts of interest between the Northern and Southern states that eventually led to the Nullification Crisis of 1832.
    • The Nullification Crisis was a sectional crisis occurring during the presidency of Andrew Jackson that was created by South Carolina's 1832 Ordinance of Nullification.
    • Calhoun, the most effective proponent of the constitutional theory of state nullification.
    • In response, the South Carolina convention reconvened and repealed its Nullification Ordinance on March 11, 1833.
    • Summarize the circumstances that led to South Carolina's Ordinance of Nullification and the resolution of the crisis

  • Protective Tariffs

    • Calhoun strongly opposed the tariff and urged nullification of the tariff within South Carolina.
    • The passing of the ordinance, which later became known as the Nullification Crisis, also sparked early discussions of secession from the Union among radical factions.
    • While the Nullification Crisis would be resolved in early 1833, tariff policy would continue to be a national political issue between the Democratic Party and the newly emerged Whig Party for the next 20 years.
    • The Nullification Crisis is also considered a precursor to the sectional crisis that would become the Civil War.
    • Discuss the history of tariffs from their inception in 1789 until the Nullification Crisis of 1832

  • Manufacturing and Trade

    • The reaction in the South, particularly in South Carolina, led to the Nullification Crisis that began in late 1832.
    • In resistance to federal legislation increasing tariffs, South Carolina passed an "Ordinance of Nullification," a procedure in which a state would, in effect, repeal a Federal law.

  • The Jackson Presidency

    • This is not to say that Jackson was a states' rights extremist; indeed, the Nullification Crisis (described below) would find Jackson fighting against what he perceived as state encroachments on the proper sphere of federal influence.
    • Another notable crisis during Jackson's period in office was the Nullification Crisis, or Secession Crisis, of 1828–1832, which merged issues of sectional strife with disagreements over tariffs.

  • Federalism and the Civil War: The Dred Scott Decision and Nullification

  • Freedom of Expression and its Limits

    • Although the judge dismissed this claim entirely, Hamilton persuaded the jury to disregard the laws on libel in favor of this concept—an argument that convinced the jury to return a verdict of "not guilty. " Therefore, not only did the Zenger Trial result in a remarkable instance of jury nullification, but it also established a precedent for protecting the freedom of the press in the American courts.

  • Jackson's Democratic Agenda

    • Jackson said that he would guard against "all encroachments upon the legitimate sphere of State sovereignty. " This is not to say that Jackson was a states' rights extremist; indeed, the Nullification Crisis would find Jackson fighting against what he perceived as state encroachments on the proper sphere of federal influence.

  • The Democratization of the Political Arena

    • Jackson said that he would guard against "all encroachments upon the legitimate sphere of State sovereignty. " This is not to say that Jackson was a states' rights extremist; indeed, the Nullification Crisis would find Jackson fighting against what he perceived as state encroachments on the proper sphere of federal influence.

  • Planter Power

    • The reaction in the South, particularly in South Carolina, would lead to the Nullification Crisis that began in late 1832.

  • Jacksonian Democrats: 1824–1860

    • This is not to say that Jackson was a states' rights extremist; indeed, the Nullification Crisis would find Jackson fighting against what he perceived as state encroachments on the proper sphere of federal influence.