Why does Southerners resist the increase tariff in 1828 arguing it should be nullified
The resistance to the increase in tariffs in 1828, particularly by Southerners, was primarily due to the way it disproportionately affected the Southern agricultural economy. Southerners relied heavily on the export of cash crops such as tobacco and cotton, and these products were subject to high tariffs when shipped to Europe.
The Tariff of 1828, commonly known as the "Tariff of Abominations," was passed by Northern and Western legislators to protect American industries from competition with foreign goods. However, it ended up raising prices on imported goods that Southern planters relied on, thereby limiting their ability to trade with Europe and potentially harming their profitability.
Additionally, the Tariff of 1828 was seen as favoring Northern manufacturing states over the agrarian South. The Northern states had developed manufacturing industries, and the new tariff worked in their favor by protecting these industries from foreign competition. Critics of the tariff argued that it benefited the North at the expense of the South.
In response to their economic grievances, Southern states started advocating for the idea of nullification. Nullification was the theory that a state had the right to declare a federal law null and void within its boundaries if it deemed that law to be unconstitutional. Southerners argued that the Tariff of 1828 violated the Constitution's principle of states' rights and that they had the right to reject and nullify the tariff within their respective states.
Ultimately, the resistance to the increase in tariffs in 1828 and the push for nullification reflected the growing sectional tensions between the industrializing North and the agrarian South. These tensions would continue to escalate in the following decades and ultimately play a significant role in the outbreak of the American Civil War.