Ch. 12 Sec. 3

1. Ch. 12 Sec. 3

2. The Tariff Crisis and the Nullification Act In 1828, Congress passed the highest tariff in the history of the nation. Southerners called it the Tariff of Abominations. • Northern manufacturers favored the tariff, which protected them from foreign competition. • Southern planters were against the tariff. It raised the cost of the manufactured goods they bought from Europe. Vice President John C. Calhoun fought against the tariff by introducing the idea of nullification. • Calhoun claimed that a state had the right to nullify, or cancel, a federal law that it considered unconstitutional. • Daniel Webster attacked the idea of nullification. He said that the Constitution united the American people, not just the states. If the states could nullify federal laws, the nation would fall apart.

3. The Tariff Crisis and the Nullification Act Congress passed a lower tariff in 1832, but South Carolina was not satisfied. The state passed the Nullification Act, declaring the new tariff illegal. • South Carolina also threatened to secede, or withdraw, from the Union. • Jackson asked Congress to pass the Force Bill. It allowed the President to use the army to enforce the tariff. South Carolina reacted by repealing the Nullification Act. The Nullification Crisis had been a quarrel over states’ rights, or the right of states to limit the power of the federal government

4. Native Americans Are Forced From Their Homeland • The Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, and Seminole nations lived in the Southeast. Settlers wanted the Indian’s land for growing cotton. • President Jackson sided with the settlers. The federal government set aside lands beyond the Mississippi and had begun to persuade or force Indians to move to land that had been set aside. • Georgia claimed the right to make laws for the Cherokee nation. The Cherokees went to court, arguing that their treaties with the federal government protected their rights and their property. When the case reached the Supreme Court, the Court agreed that the Constitution protected the Cherokees. • President Jackson refused to enforce the Court’s decision. In the Cherokee case, he backed states’ rights. • Congress passed the Indian Removal Act in 1830. It forced many Native Americans to move west of the Mississippi. • The United States Army drove more than 15,000 Cherokees westward. Thousands perished during the march. The long, sad journey west became known as the Trail of Tears.

5. Native Americans Are Forced From Their Homeland • In Florida, the Seminole Indians resisted removal. From 1817 to 1818, they fought the United States Army in a conflict known as the first Seminole War. • The second Seminole War lasted from 1835 to 1842. • The third Seminole War ended in 1858. The Seminoles were finally defeated. The federal government forced most Seminoles to leave Florida.

6. Martin Van Buren and Hard Times • Martin Van Buren faced the worst economic crisis the nation had known—the Panic of 1837. • The federal government sold off millions of acres of land in the West. Speculators borrowed money from state banks to buy up the land. To make the loans, state banks printed a lot of paper money. To slow down the wild buying, Jackson ordered that anyone buying public land had to pay with gold or silver. Buyers rushed to the banks to exchange paper money for gold and silver, but many banks did not have enough and had to close down. • The panic became worse when cotton prices fell. • Cotton planters had borrowed money to plant crops. When prices fell, they could not repay their loans. As a result, more banks failed. • The nation plunged into a deep economic depression, a period when business declines and many people lose their jobs. Many people blamed Van Buren.

7. The Campaigns of 1840 The Democrats and Martin Van Buren vs. the Whigs and William Henry Harrison • Harrison traveled across the land, making speeches and greeting voters. • Both parties held rallies, banquets, and entertainment. • Both parties engaged in mudslinging, or the use of insults to attack an opponent’s reputation. • In the campaign, both parties used name-calling, half-truths, and lies. Harrison won the election. However, soon after taking office, he died of pneumonia. John Tyler became President.