Saturday Seminar:
The Nullification Crises:
An Echo of the Kentucky and Virginia
Resolutions?
Led by
Professor Drew McCoy, Clark University
Saturday, April 29, 2006
8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Antiquarian Hall
In 1828 and 1832, Congress passed two controversial tariff acts that South
Carolinians in particular did not feel were just. Arguing that these acts
protected northern manufacturing over southern farming, a South Carolina
convention declared that the tariffs were "unauthorized by the
constitution of the United States, and violate the true meaning and intent
thereof and are null, void, and no law, nor binding upon this State." In
response, President Andrew Jackson issued a proclamation in December 1832
to the citizens of South Carolina disputing the state.s right to nullify a
federal law.
The Nullification Crisis raised many questions about how to determine the
role of Congress and the powers of individual states. Who decides which
interpretation of the Constitution is most valid? Where does the meaning
lie, in the words on the page or in each generation's interpretations and
needs? And as the Founding Fathers pass on, who can interpret the
Constitution for a new generation? Far from being new issues for American
political leaders, these questions harkened back to an earlier crisis
faced by the Fathers in the 1790s. Was nullification equivalent to the
Alien and Sedition Acts? Didn't the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions
answer these questions? Or was Congress simply exercising the power it
was given in the Constitution?
All of these questions arose at a time when James Madison, the Father of
the Constitution, was still alive to argue for what he intended to be the
meaning of his words. At the same time, younger contemporaries argued
that the old man actually meant something much different. During this
seminar, participants will explore the debates around nullification,
including what Madison, Jefferson, Jackson, Calhoun, and others said about
interpreting the Constitution. In the end, participants will decide for
themselves whose arguments were most convincing.
|
To register, please contact Amy Sopcak at (508) 471-2129 or
asopcak[at]mwa.org. Preference will be given to teachers from the
Worcester, Millbury, and Sutton school districts, but teachers from other
districts who are interested are encouraged to contact Amy to be placed on
a waiting list.
TAH Courses, Saturday Seminars,
and Summer Institutes,
2006-2008
|
