State's Rights In The 1850s

Superior Essays
Believe it or not, state 's rights was just as big an issue as slavery was. Many Compromises were made that directly influenced slavery in the early United States, however, these documents also had a basis for determining the rights of the states. I believe that these rights had more of an impact on the development of the Unites States up to the 1850s.
Even before the Revolution, America 's original thirteen colonies were used to making their own decisions. Often, we 'll see examples of them blatantly ignoring rules imposed on them, firstly by their mother country in Europe, followed by their own Constitution at home. When the colonies first announced their independence from the British, the regarded themselves as sovereign states. However,
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Calhoun, State Senator and Advocate for States ' Rights, took a strong stance during a nullification crisis between a few States and the overall Union. During this time, the South was upset about how their agricultural practices were being left out in favor for the North 's manufacturing by the central government. When a higher tariff replaced that of the one causing problems, Calhoun pointed out that the Constitution gave a state the power to nullify federal legislation depreciable to its interests. After, he returned to South Carolina and called for a state conference. There he directed the passage of the famous ordinance of nullification.
Nullification is a doctrine that says that the states have a right to declare null and void any federal law that they deem unconstitutional. When Calhoun came out with South Carolina 's doctrine of nullification, President Jackson returned it with a strong proclamation against the nullifiers. However, while he did force a bill that allowed him to use armed forces to execute the laws, he did also encourage friends of compromise to prepare a bill the South would accept. South Carolina, in response, took back their first nullification doctrine, only to replace it with a second addressing the force
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There were many small issues to the big one; with the new territory gained from Mexico, what kind of state would it be? Should California be allowed in as a free state? Did Texas extend all the way to Santa Fe? And finally, how should they go about dealing with Washington D.C., and the fact that it not only allowed slavery but had the biggest slave trade in the country? After a long debate, a compromise for all these issues was formed. Texas would give up the land only to be given 10 million. Also, the new states would be organized without mention of slavery, and would be decided later by the inhabitants. Regarding Washington D.C., the slave trade would be abolished while slavery would still be allowed. Finally, California would be a slave state. To pacify those who were upset with the imbalance, the Fugitive Slave Act would be

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