Why did southerners resist the increased tariff in 1828 arguing it would be nullified
Southerners resisted the increased tariff in 1828, also known as the Tariff of Abominations, arguing that it would be nullified for several reasons:
1. Economic Impact: The tariff increased the taxes on imported goods, primarily benefiting manufacturers in the northern states. However, it negatively affected southern states, which heavily relied on imported goods for their agricultural economy. As a result, the cost of manufactured goods increased in the South, hurting their economy.
2. Disproportionate Burden: Southerners believed that the Tariff of Abominations placed an unfair burden on the agricultural-based Southern economy to subsidize the developing industrialized economy of the North. Since the South relied on foreign manufactured goods, they saw the tariff as unfairly favoring northern manufacturers at their expense.
3. Nullification Theory: Southerners, particularly prominent figures like John C. Calhoun, invoked the theory of nullification. This theory argued that if a federal law exceeded its constitutional limits and unfairly burdened a state, that state had the right to nullify or reject that law within its borders. Southerners believed that the tariff was unconstitutional and used the idea of nullification to resist its implementation.
4. Sectional Tensions: The tariff issue heightened the existing sectional tensions between the North and the South. It highlighted the economic and political divide between the industrial, manufacturing North and the agrarian, plantation-based South. The resentment over the tariff fueled Southern fears of economic dominance and political marginalization by the North.
In summary, Southerners resisted the increased tariff in 1828, arguing that it would be nullified due to the negative impact it had on their economy, the unfair burden it placed on the South, the theory of nullification, and the growing sectional tensions between the North and the South.