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Nullification And Secession Of States During The Civil War

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During the civil war era the nullification and secession in the South was perfectly constitutional. According to the Compact theory, the federal government is only powerful due to the power of the states, therefore, the state’s have a say in the federal government and their rights. The South failed even though secession and nullification was constitutional only because the North had a more powerful army than the South and were able to overpower them. Nullification is a legal theory that a state has the right to invalidate any federal law in which that state deems as unconstitutional. Courts at the state and federal level have rejected this theory due to the Supremacy Clause which stipulates that in the case of a conflict against federal and …show more content…

Tariffs are taxes on imports that increase the prices of foreign goods in order to stimulate domestic industry. The Northerners saw the tariff as a benefit to the economy while the Southerners saw it as a burden on their people brought forth from the federal government. This placed Northern manufacturers and Southern plantation owners at odds end with each other setting the scene for the secession of states and the nullification of …show more content…

President Lincoln was against the secession of states for a variety of reasons. In his first Inaugural Address he said that, “We cannot remove our respective sections from each other nor build an impassable wall between them”. The states cannot physically be separate and should not be separated by law either. Lincoln believed that secession was unlawful, saying that, “no State, upon its own mere motion, can lawfully get out of the Union”. They would be breaking the law by cutting their status in the union. Breaking this status would have to be done by revolution. Lincoln believed, “the central idea of secession is the essence of anarchy”. Lincoln believed that secession would destroy the world’s only democracy, showcasing to the world that a government run by the people would never work. During the eighteenth century, France was the only other country that had attempted democracy. Unfortunately, it did not succeed as people would would use the guillotine to resolve crimes. Lincoln wanted to remain in a position where other countries would look at America as an example and a source of

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Secession is the means to withdraw one’s self from a federal union or other affiliated group. The southern secession was the separation of 11 states moving from the Union to the Confederate States Popular sovereignty helped the Union and the Confederates compromise by allowing the right to vote for or against slavery knowing that the popular vote would be to be against slavery, aiding in the final decision. The motive to use the

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“The lack of… nationality, I believe, is one of the great evils of the times…” Senator John Sherman stated on February 10, 1863. The United States had been split into sections from the beginning, and it created a lack of unity and togetherness. In Document A, the reader can acquire from the reading that South Carolina (and later many other states) seceded from the Union because of states’ rights. Document A states that an amendment (specifically the

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This was called state’s rights which were the rights withheld by a state rather than the federal government. Even though most of them did believe they had the right to withdraw, Abraham Lincoln didn’t agree. He said during his inauguration,“I hold that the Union of these states is perpetual. No state upon its own mere motion, can lawfully get out of the Union”. (Doc C)

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Throughout history federalism has gone through several substantial changes, such as the boundaries and balances between the state and national government. Due to this we have experienced several different era’s of federalism from the original “dual-federalism” to the “new federalism” and just about everything else in between. Dual-federalism also known as divided sovereignty was a optimistic belief that federal and state government could exist if their was a clear division between authority. The problem with this is that there was a clever mechanism in the constitution that reserved a powers clause in favor of the national government. Such cases held in Marshall court favored the national government “McCulloch v. Maryland(1819)”, “Gibbons

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South Carolina attempted to nullify the tariff through the theory of nullification, which states that the states have the right to nullify any law that is unconstitutional. Southerners claimed that the tariff was unconstitutional (as it only benefited the industrialized North), they claimed it was their right as a state to nullify the tariff and not have to pay for it. Thus, Southerners believed that the tariff should go away as a whole as they felt it went against what the founding fathers wrote in the Constitution. The North on the other hand loved the tariff, as it benefited them. They clung to Article 1 Section 8 Clause 1 of the Constitution, which said that Congress had the power to tax.

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“This is a union of equal states, and no state can force another state either to remain in it or withdraw from it. ”(C) I hold that… the Union of these States is perpetual… No state upon its own mere motion, can lawfully get out of the Union. The argument between whether a state could leave the US without permission was one of the main reasons that the Civil War began.

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In the early 1830’s, South Carolina had the idea that they could nullify the law. This meant that the states could disregard some of the federal laws. A man named John C. Calhoun Promoted the idea. In 1828, there was a tariff passed that put a tax on all imports. Calhoun and a lot of Southern states were outraged.

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When South Carolina withdrew from the Union in December 1860, Davis still opposed secession, though he believed that the Constitution gave a state the right to withdraw from the original compact of states. He believed that the newly elected president, Abraham Lincoln, would use lethal force into the South and there will be

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Calhoun, the former vice president of the United States, asserted that any states can null and void the protective tariff with anonymous pamphlet with title, South Carolina Exposition and Protest. In his perspective, as one of representatives of the south, protective tariff law should be void for South Carolina’s economy. Consequently, the Convention adopted an Ordinance of Nullification, which declared the protective tariff law null and void in South Carolina in November. And even more, Robert Y. Hayne argued that states can secede from the federal government. On the other hand, Daniel Webster who served as a Massachusetts orator, denounced South Carolina’s nullification by saying, “Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable!”

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As stated in the handout, Lincoln had evident and negative views on secession. He took issue with it as it was unlawful, unpractical (the states cannot physically separate from the US), and a sign that America could not uphold a democracy. So, readmitting the Confederate states would align directly with his position regarding secession. It would show that the US is united and that a government for and by the people could truly work. Naturally, it would make sense that Lincoln would be in support of readmitting the South.

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The vast power of the federal government has been on the rise, crippling the state’s authority. In the early 1800’s there have been cases where the Supreme Court has ruled, for the most part, in the federal government’s benefit. With the Legislative and Judicial Branches making up 2/3 of the federal government’s power, many could speculate the two powers are working to strengthen the federal government. However, the ruling was based off of Necessary and Proper Clause, where it is said that Congress (Legislative Branch) has the authority “to find the great powers, to lay and collect taxes; to borrow money; to regulate commerce; and to declare and conduct a war.” When the states interfere it causes the Judicial Branch to step in and decide what

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‘Slavery was the root cause of secession’. ‘November 6 1860, Lincoln was elected president of America which resulted in panic emerging in the South’ . The election of Lincoln as president who was a Republican leader meant that ideologies, movements and values from the North would be implemented in the South which meant the abolition of slavery. Slavery was a huge characteristic of the South as the economy; politics; social status and psychological mind-sets were influenced by the process of slavery. The southern white population then derived the idea of secession which meant the South would gain independence from Northern aggression .

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If a minority, in such case, will secede rather than acquiesce, they make a precedent which, in turn, will divide and ruin them; for a minority of their own will secede from them whenever a majority refuses to be controlled by such minority” (Basler, p.585). Lincoln’s argument against the South not having grounds to fight for the continuation of slavery because they are a minority is an argument based strongly on the basis of the country being governed by the majority. Just because a faction pushes for something doesn’t mean they are permitted to secede from the union. That goes against everything that the Union stands for in terms of a moral foundation and allegiance to a higher undertaking se forth by Founders from the very beginning. “Plainly, the central idea of secession, is the essence of anarchy.

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Many southern businesses and individuals were against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. They were resistant and argued that it was their constitutional right to decide if they wanted to desegregate. In this situation, the federal government’s ability to override the states was essential. This idea is like that of the Federalist No. 51 in the sense of check and balances.

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Tariffs are taxes placed on imported goods. An effect of this is that it increases the price of those goods on the domestic market. The tax money goes to the government whom benefits off of the tariff revenue. Since tariffs increase the price of the goods, less of the good is produced, and consumers pay higher prices. The graph below shows the effect of a tariff on a supply curve.

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