Editing Force Bill

{{Short description|1833 United States law}}
[[File:Andrew jackson head.jpg|thumb|250px|Official White House portrait of President [[Andrew Jackson]].]]
{{for|the post-Civil War voting rights bill drafted by Henry Cabot Lodge|Lodge Bill}}

The '''Force Bill''', formally titled "''An Act further to provide for the collection of duties on imports''", {{USStat|4|632}} (1833), refers to legislation enacted by the [[22nd United States Congress|22nd U.S. Congress]] on March 2, 1833, during the [[nullification crisis]].

Passed by [[United States Congress|Congress]] at the urging of [[President of the United States|President]] [[Andrew Jackson]], the Force Bill consisted of eight sections expanding presidential power and was designed to compel the state of [[South Carolina]]'s compliance with a series of [[Tariff of Abominations|federal tariffs]], opposed by [[John C. Calhoun]] and other leading South Carolinians. Among other things, the legislation stipulated that the president could, if he deemed it necessary, deploy the [[U.S. Army]] to force South Carolina to comply with the law.

The relevant sections of the Force Bill are:<ref>[[s:Force Bill|Text of the Force Bill]], ''Wikisource''</ref>
* '''Section 1''' deals with unlawful obstructions to the collections of import duties; by securing ports and harbors for the protection of [[duty (economics)|duty collectors]], allowing for the detention of vessels and cargoes to enforce revenue laws, and authorizes the president to use armed forces to protect [[customs|customs officers]] and to prevent the unauthorized removal of untaxed vessels and cargo.
* '''Section 2''' expands the [[Federal jurisdiction|jurisdiction of federal courts]] to cases arising from revenue collections by the U.S. government and allows injured parties in revenue cases to sue in court.  It deems property detained by customs officers to be in the custody of the law, subject to disposition by court order only, and criminalizes anyone who circumvents the legal process in regaining detained property as guilty of a [[misdemeanor]].
* '''Section 5''' deals with States, or portions within a state, who employ force, or any other unlawful means, to obstruct the execution of [[United States Code|U.S. federal law]], or interfere with the [[Legal process|process]] of any [[United States federal court|federal court]].  This section authorizes the president to use whatever force necessary to suppress such insurrections, "and to cause the said laws or process to be duly executed".
* '''Section 6''' deals with states that refuse to jail persons imprisoned under federal law. It authorizes [[United States Marshal Service|U.S. marshals]] to jail such persons in "other convenient places, within the limits of said state" and to make provisions for this purpose.
* '''Section 8''' is a [[sunset provision|sunset clause]], stating that the "first and fifth sections of this act, shall be in force until the end of the next session of Congress, and no longer."

==Background behind implementation==
{{main|Nullification crisis}}
[[South Carolina]] had been sorely disappointed by negotiations surrounding the [[Tariff of 1828|Tariffs of 1828]] and [[Tariff of 1832|1832]].  The state declared the two acts unconstitutional and refused to collect federal import [[tariff]]s. President [[Andrew Jackson]] saw the nullification doctrine as being equivalent to treason.

In an early draft of what would eventually become his "[[Proclamation to the People of South Carolina]]" on December 10, 1832, Jackson declared to the South Carolina government:

{{wikisource}}
<blockquote>Seduced as you have been, my fellow countrymen by the delusion theories and misrepresentation of ambitious, ''deluded'' & designing men, I call upon you in the language of truth, and with the feelings of a Father to retrace your steps.  As you value liberty and the blessings of peace blot out from the page of your history a record so fatal to their security  as this ordinance will become if it be obeyed.  Rally again under the banners of the union whose obligations you in common with all your countrymen have, with an appeal to heaven, sworn to support, and which must be indissoluble as long as we are capable of enjoying freedom. Recollect that the first act of resistance to the laws which have been denounced as void by those who abuse your confidence and falsify your hopes is Treason, and subjects you to all the pains and penalties that are provided for the highest offence against your country.  Can (you)...consent to become Traitors?  Forbid it Heaven!<ref>Remini, Robert V.: ''The Life of Andrew Jackson'', p, 241. Perennial, an imprint of HarperColling Publishers, 2001.</ref></blockquote>

Meanwhile, Congress passed the Force Bill, which was enacted on March 2, 1833. It authorized the president to use whatever force he deemed necessary to enforce federal tariffs. As a matter of principle, the South Carolina legislature voted to nullify the Force Bill, but simultaneously, a [[Compromise Tariff]] was passed by Congress, defusing the crisis.

While the Force Bill rejected the concept of individual states' rights to nullify federal law or to secede from the Union, this was not universally accepted. It would arise again in the buildup to the [[American Civil War]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Andrew Jackson|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:1833 in American law]]
[[Category:1833 in the United States]]
[[Category:22nd United States Congress]]
[[Category:Andrew Jackson]]
[[Category:United States federal trade legislation]]
[[Category:United States federal legislation articles without infoboxes]]
[[Category:Andrew Jackson administration controversies]]