Madisonian Nullification
This article will restore necessary context to the word “nullification” as used by James Madison in an 1834 letter called “Notes on Nullification.” First, we have to put Madison’s role in the formulation of the… »
Southern Nullification and the Stamp Act
Every so often, a candid examination of current events makes famous incidents in American history altogether relevant again. In my mind no incident demonstrates this more than the Stamp Act Crisis of 1765. Few episodes… »
Conventions: The Voice of the People
From the 2016 Abbeville Institute Conference on Nullification, August 13, 2016, Atlanta, GA
Nullification vs. Secession?
On the 21st of this June, Americans celebrated the 228th anniversary of the nation’s Constitution, making it the world’s oldest existing governing body of laws. It was then that our founding fathers met in their… »
Decentralization For Humanity’s Sake
The Roman historian Titus Livius once called Rome “the greatest nation in the world.” He wrote those words in a time of moral and political decline, and Livy was hoping by outlining the greatness of… »
Who Won the Webster-Hayne Debate of 1830?
The dominant historical opinion of the famous debate between Daniel Webster of Massachusetts and Robert Young Hayne of South Carolina which took place in the United States Senate in 1830 has long been that Webster… »
Q&A on Nullification and Interposition
Q: What can I read that can give me a serious overview of the true impact of the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 on South Carolina? A: I think the question of the impact of… »
Nullification to Save the Constitution
Editor’s note: This article is excerpted from an 1833 4th of July Oration delivered by Henry L. Pinckney and is available in its entirety at The James McClellan Library. This feature of our website contains… »
The South Carolina Doctrine
Sir, South Carolina has not gone one step further than Mr. Jefferson himself was disposed to go in relation to the present subject of our present complaints; not a step further than the statesmen from… »
Andrew Jackson: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
‘If only I can restore to our institutions their primitive simplicity and purity, can only succeed in banishing those extraneous corrupting influences which tend to fasten monopoly and aristocracy on the Constitution and to make… »
