Question

In the southern states, planters did not like tariffs because they sold most of their ___________ to Europe and bought their tools from there as well. Southerners believed the protective tariff was something that only helped northern ____________ owners keep their profits high. So the Southern politicians came up with an idea. They would OPT OUT. They would simply ignore the protective tariff. It was ‘null and void’ in South Carolina. The state would not collect the taxes on goods ____________ into South Carolina, no matter what the President said they had to do. This decision led to the __________________ Crisis.

Answer 1

In the southern states, planters did not like tariffs because they sold most of their COTTON to Europe and bought their tools from there as well. Southerners believed the protective tariff was something that only helped northern SLAVE owners keep their profits high. So the Southern politicians came up with an idea. They would OPT OUT. They would simply ignore the protective tariff. It was ‘null and void’ in South Carolina. The state would not collect the taxes on goods IMPORTED into South Carolina, no matter what the President said they had to do. This decision led to the NULLIFICATION Crisis.

In the 19th century, the American South was leader in the exportation of cotton, but it also needed to import many industrial products from Europe and other parts of the world. The protective tariffs were designed so imported goods would be more expensive to acquire, therefore promoting nationally made goods - which came from the North.  

The Nullification Crisis was a political crisis that took place in 1832-1833 and that confronted the state of South Carolina and the government of the United States, since the former rejected to accept the Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 that had been established by the latter and that imposed higher taxes on imported goods.