Calhoun argued that the US Constitution was based on a pact by 13 sovereign states. He thought that if the Constitution was established by 13 sovereign states then each state had the right to nullify or reject a federal law that it considered unconstitutional
Calhoun, who opposed the federal imposition of the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 and argued that the U.S. Constitution gave states the right to block the enforcement of a federal law. In November 1832 South Carolina adopted the Ordinance of Nullification, declaring the tariffs null, void, and nonbinding in the state.
