The Nullifier Party was an American

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

based in

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

in the 1830s. Considered an early American third party, it was started by

John C. Calhoun John Caldwell Calhoun (; March 18, 1782March 31, 1850) was an American statesman and political theorist who served as the seventh vice president of the United States from 1825 to 1832. Born in South Carolina, he adamantly defended American s ...

in 1828. The Nullifier Party was a

states' rights In United States, American politics of the United States, political discourse, states' rights are political powers held for the state governments of the United States, state governments rather than the federal government of the United States, ...

party that supported

strict constructionism In the United States, strict constructionism is a particular Philosophy of law, legal philosophy of judicial interpretation that limits or restricts the powers of the federal government only to those ''expressly'', i.e., explicitly and clearly, ...

with regards to the U.S. government's enumerated powers, holding that states could nullify federal laws within their borders. It narrowly missed claiming the unofficial title of being the first ever third party to be created within the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

—that title belongs to the

Anti-Masonic Party The Anti-Masonic Party was the earliest Third party (United States), third party in the United States. Formally a Single-issue politics, single-issue party, it strongly opposed Freemasonry in the United States. It was active from the late 1820s, ...

, which was created in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

in February 1828. The Nullifier Party had several members in both houses of the

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

between 1831 and 1839. Calhoun outlined the principles of the party in his

South Carolina Exposition and Protest The South Carolina Exposition and Protest, also known as Calhoun's Exposition, was written in December 1828 by John C. Calhoun, then Vice President of the United States under John Quincy Adams and later under Andrew Jackson. Calhoun did not formal ...

(1828), a reaction to the "

Tariff of Abominations The Tariff of 1828 was a very high protective tariff that became law in the United States on May 19, 1828. It was a bill designed to fail in Congress because it was seen by free trade supporters as hurting both industry and farming, but it pa ...

" passed by Congress and signed into law by President

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was the sixth president of the United States, serving from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States secretary of state from 1817 to 1825. During his long diploma ...

. (A similar position had been staked out by the

Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions were political statements drafted in 1798 and 1799 in which the Kentucky and Virginia legislatures took the position that the federal Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional. The resolutions argued ...

thirty years prior, though those Resolutions had stopped short of actually advocating nullification.) The Nullifier Party operated almost exclusively in South Carolina. It stood in strong opposition to President

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

. John Floyd was supported by the Nullifier Party in the 1832 presidential election, and he received South Carolina's 11 votes in the

electoral college An electoral college is a body whose task is to elect a candidate to a particular office. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliament ...

. Floyd was not a candidate and had himself unsuccessfully tried to convince Calhoun to run for President. The party's candidate for Vice President was the

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

-based

political economist Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of status or resources. The branch of social science that studies poli ...

. Some Nullifiers joined the newly formed Whig Party after the 1832 election, attracted by its opposition to Jackson and its depiction of Jackson as a monarch. After President

left office, Calhoun and most of his followers rejoined the Democratic Party.

Notable members

* Robert Y. Hayne * John Floyd * Stephen D. Miller * James H. Hammond * William C. Preston * Henry L. Pinckney * Robert B. Campbell * William K. Clowney * Warren R. Davis * John Myers Felder * John K. Griffin *

Francis Wilkinson Pickens Francis Wilkinson Pickens (1805/1807January 25, 1869) was a politician who served as governor of South Carolina when that state became the first to secede from the United States. A cousin of Senator John C. Calhoun, he was born into the Souther ...

George McDuffie George McDuffie (August 10, 1790 – March 11, 1851) was the 55th Governor of South Carolina and a member of the United States Senate. Though he began his political career as a partisan of Andrew Jackson, he became one of South Carolina's most ...

* Franklin H. Elmore

Electoral history

Presidential elections

* *

Congressional elections

* *

References

Defunct political parties in the United States Political parties established in 1828 Political parties in South Carolina History of South Carolina John C. Calhoun Nullification (U.S. Constitution) Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions 1839 disestablishments in South Carolina 1828 establishments in South Carolina Political parties disestablished in 1839 Factions in the Democratic Party (United States) Defunct conservative parties in the United States Conservatism in the United States {{US-party-stub

Notable members

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Congressional elections

See also

References