the chief spokesman for states rights was?

Question

a. henry clay
b. robert e. lee
c. john c. calhoun
d. jefferson davis



it's from a penn foster american history lesson. help!

Answer 1

Certainly of those you offered as the answer it is John C. Calhoun but he was not always so disposed. After the War of 1812 America was in debt and needed to raise money. They decided to do this with a series of tariffs in 1816 and 1820. These tariffs protected the northern states' manufactured products from international competition within the United States. Many even blamed the south's depression on the tariffs because they believed that the tariffs reduced European consumption of cotton. These tariffs clearly favored the North.Calhoun was undaunted by the negative opinions of the South towards the tariffs. Even as a representative of South Carolina he favored the Tariff of 1816 because it would give the country more money for internal development and would also encourage a more viable manufacturing sector, which in turn would be better for the Union. Later on, Calhoun was ineffectual in opposing the tariff of 1820 and may have even secretly supported it. The reason for this was that Calhoun still thought that the tariff was for the revenue of the federal government, and not for the sole purpose of promoting the agenda of one section, the north, over another's, the south. Calhoun was still a nationalist and supported these tariffs because they were for the good of the union.

However, after more tariffs were added in 1824 and 1828, Calhoun changed his outlook on tariffs. During the late 1820's, the price of cotton barely covered the price of making it, crippling the south. Yet, tariffs which favored the north were still being enforced. Calhoun, who was now Vice President, went so far as to call the tariff of 1828 the "tariff of abomination". He also felt that the tariff favored industrialization, and was therefore trying to get the south to stop slavery. Calhoun felt that if this happened it would lead to two undesirable circumstances. Firstly, the south would lose it's most sacred institution, slavery, and with it, it's great traditions and gentlemanly manners. Secondly, Calhoun contested that there always must be a working class and an aristocratic class. If slavery were abolished, whites would be forced into that working class, at low pay. This would in effect take away the "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" that all white men now enjoyed. Although this may seem like an extremely racist point of view, at that time it was commonly accepted that blacks were inferior to whites

President Jackson was for the Tariff of 1828 and caused Calhoun to be opposed to Jackson, which led to Calhoun's resignation in 1832. Because he could not do anything about Jackson's views toward tariffs, which benifitted only industrial North and hurt slaveholding South, John C. Calhoun became the only vice president to resign.

Calhoun wrote an essay in 1828 about this conflict, "The South Carolina Exposition and Protest", in which he asserted nullification of federal laws, and in 1832 the South Carolina legislature did just that. The next year in the Senate Calhoun and Daniel Webster opposed each other over slavery and states' rights in a famous debate.

Calhoun's basis for nullification was grounded in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798. He believed that giving states the power to veto was a logical reformation, not a revolution (Peterson 169). He said that originally states were sovereign and had delegated certain powers to the federal government. In the Constitution certain powers were given to the national government and the rest were reserved for the states. He argued that it would be unjust to allow the Supreme Court to decide the Constitutionality of such laws, because the Supreme Court is an arm of the federal government and would therefore probably side with the federal government (Bartlett 151). With nullification Calhoun sought to control the power of the majority. If a state could veto federal laws then laws favoring one section of the country over another would not be passed in the first place for fear of nullification. Some felt that this would make a minority of one nullifying state more powerful than the majority of the union who passed the law, but Calhoun thought that this would give them equal power. It is easy to see that Calhoun's main objective was to continue the liberty of the south, but some also felt that he had an ulterior motive and that his purpose was the dissolution of the union. Webster identified nullification and Calhoun with disunion. In his famous debate with Hayne on nullification he closed with "liberty and union, now and forever, one and inseparable". Webster believed that the federal government of the United States was sovereign and that it's jurisdiction should overrule that of states.

Your list of possible individuals leaves out three individuals who were as significant as Calhoun. The first is the aforementioned Webster. Second and third are the authors of the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, that is, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson.

The debate over State Nullification (and the right to secede) was not settled until 1868 with the application of the 14th Amendment which (among other things) applied the Bill of Rights to the States (never intended by the Founders) even though this amendment never met Constitutional requirements of ratification (re: the Library of Congress). Its application and use by the federal government was justified by the United States Supreme Court of 1869 in the case of White v. Texas, not as a matter of law or the Constitution but rather by the successful force of arms.

Answer 2

Excellent post, Randy. Your students are fortunate to have you as a teacher.

Of the four choices listed, I would choose Jefferson Davis over Calhoun. His book, The Rise and Fall of the Confederacy, includes the best treatise on the subject of States Rights I've ever read.

Henry Clay was a spokesman for the use of federal revenues for internal improvements to aid industry and commerce, and was not inclined to support the cause of State's Rights.

Lee was never a spokesman at all.

Randy's post on Calhoun can't be topped, but I'd guess that your teacher is looking for Calhoun all the same.

Answer 3

John Caldwell Calhoun, Senator from South Carolina, and Vice President in the first Jackson Administration.

Jefferson Davis was thought to be a later spokesman for it.

Answer 4

c. John C. Calhoun
In 1832, the states rights theory was put to the test in the Nullification Crisis after South Carolina passed an ordinance that claimed to nullify federal tariffs. The tariffs favored Northern manufacturing interests over Southern agricultural concerns, and the South Carolina legislature declared them to be unconstitutional.

In response, Congress passed the Force Bill, which empowered the president to use military power to force states to obey all federal laws, and Jackson sent US Navy warships to Charleston Harbor. South Carolina then nullified the Force Bill. But tensions cooled after both sides agreed to the Compromise of 1833, a proposal by Senator Henry Clay to change the tariff law in a manner which satisfied Calhoun, who by then was in the Senate.

Answer 5

C. Calhoun pushed the theory of nullification, a states' rights theory under which states could declare null and void any federal law they deemed to be unconstitutional.

Answer 6

From one historian to another--Randy's answer cannot be improved. He has all the information. He should get best answer for this one.

Good answer.