Question

What was South Carolina's main argument against the protective tariffs of 1828 and 1832? How valid do you think their argument was?

Answer 1

South Carolina and the US government had big dispute resulting in a political crises because of the tariffs that the US implemented for the foreign goods. South Carolina was not pleased at all as it was the most affected state and it was losing lot of profit because of it. The main arguments of South Carolina was exactly that, that the state is losing a lot of profit, and that the tariffs are having very negative effect on its economy and development. The other argument was that the US decision was not constitutional, and that all states should be able to decide about the tariffs by themselves.

On one side, South Carolina had valid arguments, as it really was badly affected economically, so from its perspective it was not fair. On the other side, South Carolina was part of the US, so it should respect the government's policies, especially when those measures lift up the overall economy of the country.