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.Hayne could not refuse Southerners do not step down in face ofchallenges of any kind.Hayne was not as clever as Webster and wasverbally crushed in the debate, with Webster maintaining that thestates gave up their absolute sovereignty permanently upon joiningthe Union, embodied in the phrase, Liberty and Union, now and for-ever, one and inseparable. 254 " NULLIFICATION CRISIS AND THE COMPROMISE OF 1833In spite of all this, Calhoun still believed that he could win thepresidency in 1832.He expected Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Bu-ren, Thomas Hart Benton, and Henry Clay to split apart and Cal-houn, with his limited nationalism, would step forward to pick up thepieces.If only he could hold back the radical secessionists in SouthCarolina.But the Nullifiers were not going to allow Calhoun to delay them.Jackson prodded them on by sending a public letter that equated Nul-lification with treason.Most Nullifiers could not believe that Jacksonwould permit Georgia to nullify U.S.Supreme Court decisions in In-dian Removal only to deny South Carolina the same right in the tar-iff question.Realizing that he could not stop the Nullifiers in anyway, Calhoun came out openly for Nullification in his Ft.Hill Letteron 4 July 1831.Then Jackson signed the Tariff of 1832 that reduced tariff rates andschedules on raw materials (the Abomination of 1828) and raisedthem on cotton and woolen products and iron manufactures.Al-though still fairly high, it was seen as so much better than the Tariffof 1828 that South Carolina s congressional representatives and sen-ators all voted for it.It was hailed as the compromise that Calhounhad sought.But the Nullifiers saw this as their only chance to test theefficacy of Nullification.On 31 November 1832, they defiantly nul-lified the tariffs of 1828 and 1832.After 1 February 1833, no tariffswould be collected in the Port of Charleston.Immediately Hayne resigned as senator and was elected governor.With his man in control of the state government, Calhoun resignedthe vice presidency and was elected as the new U.S.Senator.He hadstepped down from the dais to the senate floor to lead the fightagainst the tariffs.Jackson moved to solve the Nullification Crisis by 1 February.Hepulled the army out of the Citadel and Castle Pinckney in Charlestonto outlying Ft.Moultrie where an incident was less likely to occur.Hethen issued his Nullification Proclamation of 10 December 1832.Init he said that once a state joined the Union, it was there to stay.Thestates had no right to nullify a law or to secede and leave the Union.To attempt either was treason, Jackson said.He asked South Carolinato repeal its nullification of the tariffs and yield to federal law.ThenJackson formed a civilian posse comitatus under Joel R.Poinsett, a NULLIFICATION CRISIS AND THE COMPROMISE OF 1833 " 255South Carolina Union man.Poinsett s posse would put down anyarmed attempt to enforce Nullification.It would be South Carolinianagainst South Carolinian the U.S.Army would stand aside.Next Congress gave Jackson a free hand when it passed the ForceAct of 1833.It was actually misnamed it was to avoid force.Jack-son was authorized to use the navy to collect all tariffs at sea beforea ship entered the harbor.Any goods seized would be stored in Ft.Moultrie.Special jails in the fort were set up to hold violators of thetariff laws.He also received a blank check to employ federal forceswithout having to declare insurrection or appeal to Congress again.From the moment that the Nullification Act was passed in SouthCarolina, many worked to moderate the state s position.This is whyCalhoun got Hayne elected governor.Hayne pledged that Jacksonwould have to fire the first shot, if it came to that.But he did callup the state militia.When the Fatal First came and passed withnothing happening, it began to look like cooler heads would prevail.Calhoun and Hayne had held off the hotheads who wanted seces-sion.In Congress, Henry Clay stepped forward and, with Calhoun sbacking, took control of the compromise efforts to block Jacksonfrom getting all the glory.He introduced a new tariff bill that wouldlower tariff rates gradually to 20 percent by 1842.Congress passed itand Jackson signed the Force Act and the Tariff of 1833 on the sameday.Calhoun raced to South Carolina to get the state to take the Com-promise of 1833, as the new tariff was called.The state conventionaccepted the Compromise of 1833, repealed its nullification of thetariffs of 1828 and 1832, and, as a final act of defiance, nullified theForce Act and adjourned.The crisis was over.The failure of Nullification in 1833 causedCalhoun to suggest other methods whereby the United States couldbe kept whole by using the Concurrent Voice
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