Question

What best defines the doctrine of nullification?

Answer 1

The correct answer is C) States can declare federal laws to be unconstitutional.

The statement that best defines the doctrine of nullification is "States can declare federal laws to be unconstitutional."

In legal terms, the Doctrine of Nullification was created by the Southern states before the initiation of the Civil War. It stated that the Confederate states could declare federal laws to be unconstitutional. The vice president of the United States, John Calhoun, from South Carolina, was the main supporter of the doctrine of nullification. This was also a cause for the US Civil War.

Answer 2

In American history, the doctrine of nullification supports states' rights to nullify federal laws that states deem to be unconstitutional, according to Pearson Education. This theory was promulgated by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the late 1790s. The nullification crisis of the 1820s revolved around South Carolina's objection to federal tariffs on English textiles, because the state felt the tariffs benefited industrial states in the North.