USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -John C. Calhoun built his argument for South Carolina’s right to block the imposition of federal tariffs on the doctrine of nullification espoused by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, respectively, in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions passed by the legislatures of those states in 1798.

Detailed explanation-2: -Vice President John C. Calhoun of South Carolina published the South Carolina Exposition and Protest, responding to the 1828 tariff and setting forth arguments in favor of state nullification of federal laws.

Detailed explanation-3: -John C. Calhoun, Andrew Jackson’s vice president and a native of South Carolina, proposed the theory of nullification, which declared the tariff unconstitutional and therefore unenforceable.

Detailed explanation-4: -Therefore, if a state found a federal law unconstitutional and detrimental to its sovereign interests, it would have the right to “nullify” that law within its borders. Calhoun advanced the position that a state could declare a national law void.