Clemence Boboy
Professor Hollinger
Course 1301
26 October 2017
Theory of “Nullification”
“The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.”, quoted by James Madison. Nullification theory is a belief that a state has the right to invalidate any federal law that was considered unconstitutional. The Constitution Convention continuously rejects to support this theory. They declared that only the federal courts had the right to void a law. The Nullification Theory is important because of the Kentucky and Virginia Resolution in 1798, the Nullification Crisis, and the Slave and Segregation laws. All those events started a …show more content…
The South Carolina Exposition and Protest by John C. Calhoun is a good example of the Nullification Theory during this period. Calhoun stated that the Tariff of 1828 was unconstitutional because it favored the north manufacturing over the southern agricultural and trade. Calhoun also stated that “Tariff power could only be used to generate revenue, not to provide protection from foreign competition for U.S. industries, the protective system was unjust and unequal in operation, and the people of a state, or several states, had the power to veto any act of the federal government which violated the Constitution”(The Second Reply To Hayne). In the Webster debate with Hayne in 1830, Daniel Webster responded to the Nullification theory with this speech that the constitution was "...the people's constitution, the people's government; made by the people and answerable to the people. The people have declared that this constitution ... shall be the supreme law." The Supreme Court of the United States alone could declare a national law to be unconstitutional; no state could do that. Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable” (The Second Reply To Hayne). This means that the constitution said that the federal judiciary court has the power to solve anything that interprets the constitution. That no state shall result any interpretation of the constitution. In 1832, South …show more content…
Also that the Supremacy Clause gave the federal court the final say in conflict and federal laws. The Theory of Nullification is about states believing that they have more power over the federal court. Supreme Court proved them otherwise. Prigg v Pennsylvania and Ableman v Booth are examples of the effect of nullification because no matter how bad those states that were going against the court were trying to avoid a law from enforcing. The Supreme Court always had the final say. The two cases impacted the US by keeping Slavery legal. A second way the Nullification Theory impacted the US is the issue of school desegregation in the 1950s. For example, Nullification and interposition came back in 1950 because of Brown v Education. The Brown v Education case is about the Supreme Court declaring that segregating in school was unconstitutional. Most of the southern states were against Brown decision, so they went on and passed the nullification measures to try to keep segregation in schools. The southern states argued that Brown’s decision was unconstitutional and that states had the power to prevent the decision to be enforced in their
Professor Hollinger
Course 1301
26 October 2017
Theory of “Nullification”
“The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.”, quoted by James Madison. Nullification theory is a belief that a state has the right to invalidate any federal law that was considered unconstitutional. The Constitution Convention continuously rejects to support this theory. They declared that only the federal courts had the right to void a law. The Nullification Theory is important because of the Kentucky and Virginia Resolution in 1798, the Nullification Crisis, and the Slave and Segregation laws. All those events started a …show more content…
The South Carolina Exposition and Protest by John C. Calhoun is a good example of the Nullification Theory during this period. Calhoun stated that the Tariff of 1828 was unconstitutional because it favored the north manufacturing over the southern agricultural and trade. Calhoun also stated that “Tariff power could only be used to generate revenue, not to provide protection from foreign competition for U.S. industries, the protective system was unjust and unequal in operation, and the people of a state, or several states, had the power to veto any act of the federal government which violated the Constitution”(The Second Reply To Hayne). In the Webster debate with Hayne in 1830, Daniel Webster responded to the Nullification theory with this speech that the constitution was "...the people's constitution, the people's government; made by the people and answerable to the people. The people have declared that this constitution ... shall be the supreme law." The Supreme Court of the United States alone could declare a national law to be unconstitutional; no state could do that. Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable” (The Second Reply To Hayne). This means that the constitution said that the federal judiciary court has the power to solve anything that interprets the constitution. That no state shall result any interpretation of the constitution. In 1832, South …show more content…
Also that the Supremacy Clause gave the federal court the final say in conflict and federal laws. The Theory of Nullification is about states believing that they have more power over the federal court. Supreme Court proved them otherwise. Prigg v Pennsylvania and Ableman v Booth are examples of the effect of nullification because no matter how bad those states that were going against the court were trying to avoid a law from enforcing. The Supreme Court always had the final say. The two cases impacted the US by keeping Slavery legal. A second way the Nullification Theory impacted the US is the issue of school desegregation in the 1950s. For example, Nullification and interposition came back in 1950 because of Brown v Education. The Brown v Education case is about the Supreme Court declaring that segregating in school was unconstitutional. Most of the southern states were against Brown decision, so they went on and passed the nullification measures to try to keep segregation in schools. The southern states argued that Brown’s decision was unconstitutional and that states had the power to prevent the decision to be enforced in their