USA HISTORY

SECTIONAL CRISIS 1850 1861

TENSION OVER SLAVERY IN THE 1850S

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
Who was known as the “Great Nullifier?”
A
Henry Clay
B
John C. Calhoun
C
Daniel Webster
D
William H. Seward
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -Calhoun claimed that states could nullify federal laws, earning him the nickname of “Arch Nullifier, ” and Jackson threatened to use the army if South Carolina forced the issue. In 1832, he became the first vice president to resign, deciding he would have greater influence over the crisis in the Senate.

Detailed explanation-2: -Considered an early American third party, it was started by John C. Calhoun in 1828. The Nullifier Party was a states’ rights, pro-slavery party that supported strict constructionism with regards to the U.S. government’s enumerated powers, holding that states could nullify federal laws within their borders.

Detailed explanation-3: -A staunch defender of the institution of slavery, and a slave-owner himself, Calhoun was the Senate’s most prominent states’ rights advocate, and his doctrine of nullification professed that individual states had a right to reject federal policies that they deemed unconstitutional.

Detailed explanation-4: -He served as a U.S. representative, secretary of war, vice president and secretary of state, and had a long career in the U.S. Senate, during which he emerged as an outspoken defender of states’ rights and the institution of slavery.

Detailed explanation-5: -As secretary of war, Calhoun’s major accomplishments included the reorganization of the armed forces and of the United States Military Academy at West Point. In addition, he oversaw treaty negotiations with Indian nations, and he moved to censure Gen.

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