“The restrictive Tariff of Abominations of 1828 had angered the South, especially the South Carolinians, who protested vehemently against an ‘unconstitutional’ tax levied indirectly to them to support ‘greedy’ Yankee manufacturers” (Spirit 274). South Carolina issued an ordinance that declared that “the tariff acts are unauthorized by the Constitution of the United States, and violate the true meaning and intent thereof, and are null, void, and no law, nor binding upon this State, its officers or citizens” (Spirit 276). The nullifiers felt that the tariff acts favored Northern manufacturing interests at the expense of Southern farmers. Therefore, President Jackson issued a proclamation to the people of South Carolina that disputed a states right to nullify a federal law. He spoke directly to South Carolina, delivering a message of nationalism and unity, explaining that the Constitution empowered him to enforce the Union's laws and asking whether South Carolina really meant to be treasonous. Finally, Jackson introduced what came to be known as the Force Bill, which granted the government authorization of the use of military force against any state that resisted the tariff acts. “The separation of South Carolina would inevitably produce a general dissolution of the Union, and, as a necessary consequence, protecting the system” (Spirit 277). Jackson thought that the vain threats of resistance by those who have raised rebellion show their madness and folly. He can have “within the limits of South Carolina fifty-thousand men and in forty days, another fifty-thousand men” (Spirit 279). Jackson’s stern words shook South Carolina and convinced them to finally accept the compromise Tariff of 133. Jackson stated, “The Union will be preserved and the safety of the republic, the supreme law, which will be promptly obeyed by me” (Spirit 280).
“Next to slavery, the most hotly debated issue in Congress in the entire 19th century may have been re-charting the national bank...