Editing Andrew Jackson (section)

===Nullification crisis===
{{Main|Nullification crisis}}

[[File:Democracy-1832-1864-Jackson.jpg|thumb|A [[American Civil War|Civil War]]–era lithograph cartoon of [[John C. Calhoun]] bowing before Jackson during the nullification crisis by [[Pendleton's Lithography]] and published by [[Louis Prang|L. Prang & Co.]] in 1864|alt=Jackson stands looking right with right arm raised; Calhoun faces left bowing before Jackson with hands down.]]

Jackson had to confront another challenge that had been building up since the beginning of his first term. The Tariff of 1828, which had been passed in the last year of Adams' administration, set a protective tariff at a very high rate to prevent the manufacturing industries in the Northern states from having to compete with lower-priced imports from Britain.{{sfn|Wilentz|2005|pp=63–64}} The tariff reduced the income of southern cotton planters: it propped up consumer prices, but not the price of cotton, which had severely declined in the previous decade.{{sfn|Freehling|1966|p=6}} Immediately after the tariff's passage, the [[South Carolina Exposition and Protest]] was sent to the U.S. Senate.{{sfn|Brogdon|2011|pp=245–273}} This document, which had been anonymously written by John C. Calhoun, asserted that the constitution was a compact of individual states{{sfn|Wilentz|2005|p=64}} and when the federal government went beyond its delegated duties, such as enacting a protective tariff, a state had a right to declare this action unconstitutional and [[Nullification (U.S. Constitution)|make the act null and void]] within the borders of that state.{{sfn|Ellis|1989|pp=7–8}}

Jackson suspected Calhoun of writing the Exposition and Protest and opposed his interpretation. Jackson argued that Congress had full authority to enact tariffs and that a dissenting state was denying the will of the majority.{{sfn|Wilentz|2005|pp=64–65}} He also needed the tariff, which generated 90% of the federal revenue,{{sfn|Temin|1969|p=29}} to achieve another of his presidential goals, eliminating the national debt.{{sfn|Lane|2014|pp=121–122}} The issue developed into a personal rivalry between the two men. For example, during a celebration of Thomas Jefferson's birthday on April 13, 1830, the attendees gave after-dinner toasts. Jackson toasted: "Our federal Union: It must be preserved!"&nbsp;– a clear challenge to nullification. Calhoun, whose toast immediately followed, rebutted: "The Union: Next to our Liberty, the most dear!"{{sfn|Brands|2005|pp=445–446}}

As a compromise, Jackson supported the [[Tariff of 1832]], which reduced the duties from the Tariff of 1828 by almost half. The bill was signed on July 9, but failed to satisfy extremists on either side.{{sfn|Remini|1981|pp=358–360}} On November 24, South Carolina had passed the [[Ordinance of Nullification]],{{sfn|Bergeron|1976|p=263}} declaring both tariffs null and void and threatening to secede from the United States if the federal government tried to use force to collect the duties.{{sfn|Freehling|1966|pp=1–2}}{{sfn|Ordinance of Nullification|1832}} In response, Jackson sent warships to Charleston harbor, and threatened to hang any man who worked to support nullification or secession.{{sfn|Howe|2007|pp=404–406}} On December 10, he issued a proclamation against the "nullifiers",{{sfn|Remini|1984|p=22}} condemning nullification as contrary to the Constitution's letter and spirit, rejecting the right of secession, and declaring that South Carolina stood on "the brink of insurrection and treason".{{sfn|Jackson|1832}} On December 28, Calhoun, who had been elected to the U.S. Senate, resigned as vice president.{{sfn|Feerick|1965|pp=85–86}}

Jackson asked Congress to pass a "[[Force Bill]]" authorizing the military to enforce the tariff. It was attacked by Calhoun as despotism.{{sfn|Meacham|2008|pp=239–240}} Meanwhile, Calhoun and Clay began to work on a new [[Tariff of 1833|compromise tariff]]. Jackson saw it as an effective way to end the confrontation but insisted on the passage of the Force Bill before he signed.{{sfn|Ericson|1995|p=253, fn14}} On March 2, he signed into law the Force Bill and the Tariff of 1833. The South Carolina Convention then met and rescinded its nullification ordinance but nullified the Force Bill in a final act of defiance.{{sfn|Remini|1984|p=42}} Two months later, Jackson reflected on South Carolina's nullification: "the tariff was only the pretext, and [[Secession in the United States|disunion]] and [[Confederate States of America|southern confederacy]] the real object. The next pretext will be the negro, or [[History of slavery in the United States|slavery]] question".{{sfn|Meacham|2008|p=247}}