Glenford Wade II
5/12/2014
US History Before 1865
History Final Exam
Answer four of the following eight identifications.
Nullification Theory:
In 1832 Nullification was the word that came to mind when it came to federal vs state authority. During this time the country was divided over slavery and many other issues and the countries sectional lines were growing. The Nullification controversy started between federal and state because it seemed as if protective tariffs where only designed to help certain sections of the economy. The country was divided among economic because the South invested their money into slaves, and cotton. Therefore, the South had less money available for the industrial manufacturing age, and the South didn’t benefit from the textile age that much. During the 1820’s a high protective tariff on manufactured goods was abundant throughout the country North, or South, but was needed heavily in South. The industrial age was strong in the North, so they benefitted from the high protective tariff. In 1828 high tariff bills was proposed that would allow President Andrew Jackson to look good in the North eyes. The South at first didn’t think anything of it because it was too high and most likely would not be passed, but after a vote it was. Outraged by the bill being passed Vice President John C. Calhoun of South Carolina wrote a letter to protest the bill in 1828. It was called the Tariff of Abominations and the South was definitely not happy with the high tariff bill and when it was passed again in 1832 the State of South Carolina decided to nullify the tariff. South Carolina had a convention and passed the “Ordinance of Nullification” that claimed that the tariff was not allowed in South Carolina. South Carolina'...
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...re not allow to use establishments whites used, had horrible schools, and limited freedoms. Whites used the Black Code to keep blacks as second class citizens and the laws were created after the Civil War mainly to keep African Americans as indentured servants. Although the Black Code laws varied from state to state, the main goal of the laws was to keep African Americans as second class citizens. The codes regulated civil and legal rights like property rights and the right to marry. After hearing of the unconstitutional Black Codes in the South, congress sought to enact the 15th amendment, which would let newly freed slaves vote. Unfortunately the amendment was vetoed by President Johnson, and after a vast number of elections that the Republicans won in 1866, the south succumbed to martial law. The Black Codes were repealed allowing freed slaves the right to vote.
The United States began to dissatisfy some of its citizens and so the concerns of sectionalism, or the split of the country began to arise. There was a continuous riff between the south and the north over a few issues, a major one being slavery. The south argued that the slaves were necessary to support the southern economy. According to document A, the south were angry that the north was creating taxes that hurt the southern economy, thus increasing the need for slavery since they had to make up for the expense of the taxes. The south felt that the north was able...
South Carolina’s decision to invalidate the federal law and deem the tariff unconstitutional was the first blatant disregard for the centralized government. The United States, under Jackson’s presidency, did not unite and support one another in the face of the economic tariff and hardships. Instead, the states nullified (South Carolina in particular) and the individualistic ideals and motivations of the states were exposed. State opinions, such as that of South Carolina were focused solely on their own personal benefit and how they would survive the hardships of the tariff. During the Age of Jackson, there was no unification between the states. The ideals of Jacksonian America were flawed by the growing sectionalism and individualistic ideals. The total equality and unification that Jacksonian America attempted to create was no longer an option. Jacksonian America failed, and in result, did not promote the unified democracy in the United
Politically, there were questions about the amount power given to the federal government vs the states; as question since the adoption of the Constitution. At times states felt the need to question the power federal government. For example in the Decision of McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) confirmed that no state could tax federal property, enforcing the supremacy clause (Document D). While this reinforced a nationalist point of view that challenge was clearly sectionalist in nature. Efforts to diffuse political rivalries were also present. An example was the request for Missouri statehood in late 1819 who was also requesting that slavery be permitted. To diffuse the sectionalist debate the Missouri Compromise was placed by congress. At the time the U.S. contained 22 states, evenly divided between slave and free. (Page 155).... (QUOTE BY JEFFERSON) A sectionalism standpoint was also depicted in the presidential election of 1824 where each state differed in voting for the men running for the same position (Document
The southerners (south carolina) nullified the act and threatened to secede from the union. The Tariff of Abominations was the tax on raw goods which was meant to help the north. This angers the south and south carolina threatens to leave the USA. VP Calcoun says to nullify the tariff and Jackson says NO!!! We will use military force.
South Carolina even went as far as to ask for the tariff taken off the books or they would succeed. The tariff was lowered by Congress.
Although many laws were passed that recognized African Americans as equals, the liberties they had been promised were not being upheld. Hoffman, Blum, and Gjerde state that “Union League members in a North Carolina county, upon learning of three or four black men who ‘didn’t mean to vote,’ threatened to ‘whip them’ and ‘made them go.’ In another country, ‘some few colored men who declined voting’ were, in the words of a white conservative, ‘bitterly persecute[ed]” (22). Black codes were also made to control African Americans. Norton et al. states that “the new black codes compelled former slaves to carry passes, observe a curfew, live in housing provided by a landowner, and give up hope of entering many desirable occupations” (476). The discrimination and violence towards African Americans during this era and the laws passed that were not being enforced were very disgraceful. However, Reconstruction was a huge stepping stone for the way our nation is shaped today. It wasn’t pretty but it was the step our nation needed to take. We now live in a country where no matter the race, everyone is considered equal. Reconstruction was a success. Without it, who knows where our nation would be today. African American may have never gained the freedoms they have today without the
President Johnson tried to enforce Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan. That as soon as ten percent of the population of any southern state took an oath of loyalty to the union and adopted a constitution that abolished slavery they would be readmitted to the union. The radical republicans in congress totally disagreed with Johnson. Many of the southern states in 1865 under presidential reconstruction adopted what was known as black codes. These codes restricted blacks from any participation in the rights of citizenship. Blacks were confined to an inferior position, they were not legally slaves anymore, but they had no rights of citizenship.
In 1863 to 1877 Reconstruction brought an end to slavery, it paved the way for the former slaves to become citizens. The African Americans wanted complete freedom. However, that right became a setback and were seen as second class citizens. Before the end of the Reconstruction, a legislation was passed called the Jim Crow law. The law enforced the segregation of people of African descent. The legislation was a system to ensure the exclusion of racial groups in the Southern States. For example, separate transportation law, school division, different waiting rooms both at the bus terminals and hospitals, separate accommodations, marriage law and voting rights. The Jim Crow law was supposed to help in racial segregation in the South. Instead,
Imagine yourself wrongly convicted of a crime. You spent years in jail awaiting your release date. It finally comes, and when they let you out, they slap handcuffs around your wrists and tell you every single action you do. In a nutshell, that’s how the Black Codes worked. The southerners wanted control over the blacks after the Civil War, and states created their own Black Codes.
Political unrest within the advocating for Nullification virtually declares the United States Constitution nonexistent. To propel, and support secession is radical and creates separate entities trying to coexist amongst each other while avoiding the issue. In the matters of the government, constitutional propriety should be enforced and upheld with the upmost respect. However, when the driving force behind promoting constitutional propriety has a hidden agenda that is repugnant in nature then there is bound to be disputes. The Nullification Crisis was a result of the Tariff of 1828 and the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions were the result of the Alien and Sedition Acts. The similarities between the Alien and Sedition Acts and the Tariff of 1828, is that both on the surface, seemingly were actions implemented by Congress because of war. These parallel actions also were induced by political parties seizing an opportunity to publically discredit, embarrass, and fluster the opposing party. Much like today, of one political party attempting to dominate Congress, the passing of the Alien and Sedition Acts by the Federalist controlled congress was an attempt to weaken the Jeffersonian Republicans. The passing of the Tariff of 1828 was to economically protect industries in the north, which weaken the southern states. This further aggravated the intensely growing animosity between the Northern and Southern States. Unilaterally, the Tariff of 1828 favored the northern industries and caused the southern states especially South Carolina to pay higher prices on goods that they were unable to produce.
Beginning with the 'black codes' established by President Johnson's reconstruction plan, blacks were required to have a curfew as well as carry identification. Labor contracts established under Johnson's Reconstruction even bound the freedmen to their respective plantations. A few years later, another set of laws known as the Jim Crow laws directly undermined the status of blacks by placing unfair restrictions on everything from voting rights all the way to the segregation of water fountains. Besides these restrictions, the blacks had to deal with the Democratic Party, whose northern wing even denounced racial equality. As a result of democratic hostility and the Republican Party's support of Black suffrage, freedmen greatly supported the Republican Party.
Though the issue of slavery was solved, racism continues and Southerners that stayed after the war passed Black Codes which subverted the ideas of freedom including the actions of state legislatures (Hakim 19). Black Codes were a set of laws that discriminated blacks and limited their freedom (Jordan 388). Such restrictions included: “No negro shall be permitted to rent or keep a house within said parish...No public meetings or congregations of negroes shall be allowed within said parish after sunset…” (Louisiana Black Codes 1865). A solution to this was the 14th Amendment. It meant now all people born in America were citizens and it “Prohibited states from revoking one’s life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” This meant all states had to...
Vice President, John C. Calhoun, led a fierce southern opposition to the Tariff of 1828. Passed by John Adams, this tariff placed a heavy tax on imports. This greatly benefited the North, but forced Southerners to pay higher prices for manufactured goods. Finally, South Carolina declared that the law was unconstitutional, and argued that a state could nullify a federal law which they judged to be unconstitutional. Though Jackson believed in states rights, he thought that a nullification act would lead to disunion. He believed it was unconstitutional and considered it treason. Jackson favored a strict reading of the Constitution, and believed it was to be followed to the...
After the civil war, newly freed slaves faced many challenges. Whites, especially in the south, regarded blacks as inferior more than ever before. The black codes were just one obstacle the freed slaves had to overcome. They were laws that were passed in the southern states that had the intent and the effect of restricting African Americans freedom. These laws made it possible for the south to regain control over the black population in much of the same ways they had before. The black codes effected reconstruction, and even today’s society in many ways.
Congress attempted to pass more laws, and even created the Civil Rights Act of 1875, which banned racial discrimination in public. Unfortunately for the freed blacks in the South, these laws didn’t hold any authority over the determined Southerners. Andrew Johnson, a white Southerner who took over the role of Presi...