John C. Calhoun

John C. Calhoun (1782–1850) was an American statesman who served as vice president, senator, and secretary of state. He became a leading defender of slavery and state sovereignty.

Andrew Jackson: Andrew Jackson was the seventh U.S. president, serving from 1829 to 1837. Jackson and Calhoun broke over federal authority during the Nullification Crisis.
Nullification: Nullification is the claim that a state may declare a federal law invalid within its borders. Calhoun developed nullification into a proposed state remedy against tariffs he considered unconstitutional.
Nullification Crisis: The Nullification Crisis was an 1832–1833 confrontation between South Carolina and the federal government over tariffs and state authority. Calhoun helped formulate the theory at the crisis’s center and resigned the vice presidency amid it.
Slavery in the United States: Slavery in the United States was a system of racialized forced labor that persisted from the colonial era until its abolition in 1865. Calhoun’s political theory increasingly treated slavery as a positive good deserving constitutional protection.
Daniel Webster: Daniel Webster was an American lawyer, senator, and orator who defended the Union and federal authority. Webster’s defense of national power directly opposed Calhoun’s compact theory.
Concurrent majority: Concurrent majority is a political theory requiring the agreement of distinct interests before decisions can bind them. Calhoun proposed it to protect sectional minorities from domination by a numerical majority.
Compromise Tariff of 1833: The Compromise Tariff of 1833 gradually reduced tariff rates to defuse South Carolina’s confrontation with the federal government. Calhoun joined Henry Clay in securing the tariff settlement that ended the immediate crisis.
Dred Scott v. Sandford: Dred Scott v. Sandford was an 1857 Supreme Court decision denying Black people U.S. citizenship and limiting Congress’s power over slavery in territories. The ruling echoed proslavery constitutional arguments Calhoun had pressed before his death.
Henry Clay: Henry Clay was an American statesman who promoted national economic development and helped broker major congressional compromises. Clay negotiated compromises Calhoun resisted or judged inadequate to protect slavery.
South Carolina Exposition and Protest: The South Carolina Exposition and Protest was an 1828 essay opposing protective tariffs and asserting state authority. Calhoun secretly authored this statement of the constitutional case behind nullification.

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