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In December of 1828, Vice President John C. Calhoun wrote the South Carolina Exposition and Protest, a document in which his name wasn't even present. In this document, he argued that states had the right to nullify laws, and more specifically, that South Carolina could nullify an 1828 act which they referred to as "Tariff of Abominations", an act viewed as unconstitutional because it only benefited Northern states industries and left South Carolinians poorer. -
In 1832, Congress passed a bill meant to revise the previous Tariff Act of 1828 in order to comply with South Carolina's complaints about that 1828 act. -
The Tariff Act of 1832 was unsuccessful at pleasing South Carolina, so South Carolina threw a temper tantrum known as the Ordinance of Nullification, in which the state declared both the 1828 and 1832 tariff acts meaningless and stated that the state would refuse to enforce them. The biggest threat brought by this Ordinance was that South Carolina also threatened to succeed the union and the state government had already passed acts to support the Ordinance and gather troops. -
As a response to South Carolina's Ordinance of Nullification, President Andrew Jackson sent a Proclamation to the People of South Carolina, stating that he would be using force to enforce US law, in this case, neutralize any violent and serious threats brought by South Carolina and to warn the people of South Carolina of the dangers brought about from succeeding the Union. -
Jackson was not very fond of his Vice President, John C. Calhoun. He blamed him for the madness going on in South Carolina, accusing him of promoting and instigating South Carolina's tantrum. So, a few months before the elections, Calhoun resigned from his office and picked up an empty South Carolina seat in the Senate on December 12, 1832. This allowed another man, Martin Van Beuren to gain Jackson's favor, a man who became Jackson's VP, but also the 8th US president. -
Once the issue of tariffs made its way back to Congress, Senator Henry Clay, Jackson's political rival, was the white knight who came to save the day. Clay engineered a compromise to resolve South Carolina's grievances, while still not fully giving in to their tantrum. The compromise stated that all tariffs with a duty that exceeded 20% of the product's original price were to be reduced year by year. This bill quickly became law and seemed to have solved the threat of succession. -
Allas, Clay's compromise settled South Carolina's grievances. This compromise was able to both neutralize the threat of South Carolina's succession, as well as comply with South Carolina's demands. And, although South Carolina's demands weren't fully met, their tantrum proved that state protests could be effective at making federal changes. This event also brought a future major player into the picture, Vincent Van Buren, who saw his opportunity to rise in this crisis, and took it.