From: Dustin Hurt
Date: 3/15/00
Time: 11:28:32 AM
Remote Name: 155.247.193.50
Dustin Hurt Dr. Wm. Cutler History 67
Why was the President angry with some of the leaders of South Carolina?
President Andrew Jackson was upset with the leaders of South Carolina because they were taking up extreme liberal views on government. It started when the federal government passed legislation that created tariffs on manufactured goods, This hurt the southern economies because it increased the price that they had to pay for imported goods as well as hurt their relations to the foreign market. So, to South Carolina, the protective tariff seemed unfair and hurtful. This, combined with the fear that the federal government may do something to change slavery, caused concern for state’s rights. What happened next is what caused alarm in Washington. The South Carolina legislature "declared the new duties unconstitutional" (text 305). S.C. declared, in a document prepared by Calhoun, that it had right to "nullify" anything the government imposed on it if it saw it unjust and unconstitutional. Jackson thought that such actions as this were a threat to the Union. Jackson sited the nullification as "a treasonous attack on the Union" and called for military action. This letter is written just before S.C. repealed its nullification, which cooled the issue.