During the Nullification Crisis, which state asserted states' rights and threatened to secede from the Union?

During the Nullification Crisis, which state asserted states' rights and threatened to secede from the Union?

• A. Georgia
• B. North Carolina
• C. Virginia
• D. South Carolina

Answer: (D)

States' rights and federal power clash in the Nullification Crisis. South Carolina acted on the idea that states could determine whether federal laws were constitutional and even threaten to leave the Union to defend those rights. In 1832, South Carolina passed the Ordinance of Nullification, declaring the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 null within the state and threatening secession if federal officers tried to enforce them. This direct challenge to federal authority and the explicit threat of leaving the Union is what makes South Carolina the correct example. The federal government, under Andrew Jackson, countered with the Force Bill, and a compromise tariff was eventually worked out to ease the crisis, keeping the Union intact. Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia did not enact nullification or threaten secession in this crisis in the same way.

States' rights and federal power clash in the Nullification Crisis. South Carolina acted on the idea that states could determine whether federal laws were constitutional and even threaten to leave the Union to defend those rights. In 1832, South Carolina passed the Ordinance of Nullification, declaring the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 null within the state and threatening secession if federal officers tried to enforce them. This direct challenge to federal authority and the explicit threat of leaving the Union is what makes South Carolina the correct example. The federal government, under Andrew Jackson, countered with the Force Bill, and a compromise tariff was eventually worked out to ease the crisis, keeping the Union intact. Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia did not enact nullification or threaten secession in this crisis in the same way.