Why Did Jackson And Calhoun Contribute To The Civil War

Nullification was a controversial constitutional theory started by John C. Calhoun. He came up with the idea because he believed the tariff of 1816 was responsible for fall of South Carolinas economy. When in fact it was the exhausted farm land in the state which had caused the downfall. With his future political dreams resting on how he met this challenge in his home state he developed the theory of nullification. The theory stated that a state can suspend, within its boundaries, a federal law that was thought to be unconstitutional. It was also a factor contributing to the civil war to come in 1861. Calhoun got his ideas from Madison, Jefferson and the tenth amendment of the constitution. He argued that “since the federal government was a creation of that states-not the courts or congress- were the final arbiters of the constitutionality of the federal laws” (Brinkley 206). He then stated that “If a state concluded that congress had passed an unconstitutional law, then it could hold a special

He soon became a member of both the official cabinet and the “kitchen cabinet” (president’s unofficial circle of political allies). His influence grew stronger with the quarrel between Jackson and Calhoun. Peggy O’Neale was the attractive daughter of a Washington tavern keeper whom Jackson and John H. Eaton took stay at while they were senators for Tennessee. There had been rumors going around that Peggy and Eaton were having an affair. Soon after Peggy’s husband died she and Eaton were married. Jackson then made Eaton secretary of war and named Mrs. Eaton a cabinet wife, but all the other cabinet wife’s disapproved of her. They were led by Mrs. Calhoun who refused to let Mrs. Eaton join their social world, but Van Buren befriended the Eaton’s, wedging himself to Jackson who in the end chose him to succeed with him in the white house ending Calhoun’s chance of