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NULLIFICATION , the See also:process of making null or of no effect (See also:Lat. nullus, none). In See also:United States See also:history the See also:term is applied to the process by which a See also:state either (a) in fact suspended, or (b) claimed a constitutional right of suspending, the operation of a federal See also:law within its own territory. The See also:doctrine of nullification as a constitutional theory was probably never held by a See also:majority of the states or of the See also:American See also:people at any one See also:- TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
- TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
- TIME, STANDARD
time, though before 186o most of the states asserted or practised it. The belief in nullification was based on the theory that the See also:union of the states was a voluntary one, each member retaining its See also:sovereignty, though for purposes of convenience delegating certain See also:powers of See also:government to an See also:agent—the federal government. The powers of this agent were strictly limited by the Constitution, and should it transcend these powers the states must interpose to protect their rights. This view held that the Supreme See also:Court created by the Constitution was not a proper tribunal to decide causes arising beyond the Constitution or See also:relating to the nature of the Union, but that its See also:jurisdiction was limited to cases arising under the Constitu tion. If the Federal government usurped a right belonging to the state, the latter, being a sovereignty, must See also:judge for itself.
As later perfected by See also:John C. See also:Calhoun (q.v.), the theory of I remarkable discoveries to the skilful excavations of Dr Schulten
nullification required a practice as follows. A state aggrieved by a law of the Federal See also:congress might, in constituent See also:convention, suspend the operation of the objectionable law, and See also:report its See also:action to the other states. If three-fourths of them should decide that the law in question was not unconstitutional, then in effect it became ratified (see United States Constitution, See also:art. v.). The dissatisfied state must then submit or must draw out of the union by the See also:act of See also:secession (see SECESSION, and CONFEDERATE STATES). This theory of the right of nullification was considered by those who held it to be in See also:accord with the principles laid down in the Constitution. It must be distinguished from secession, which was considered a See also:sovereign right, one above the Constitution; yet nullification presumed the sovereignty of the state.
The earliest assertions of the doctrine of nullification are found in the See also:Kentucky and See also:Virginia Resolutions of 1798-1799, written respectively by See also:- THOMAS
- THOMAS (c. 1654-1720)
- THOMAS (d. 110o)
- THOMAS, ARTHUR GORING (1850-1892)
- THOMAS, CHARLES LOUIS AMBROISE (1811-1896)
- THOMAS, GEORGE (c. 1756-1802)
- THOMAS, GEORGE HENRY (1816-187o)
- THOMAS, ISAIAH (1749-1831)
- THOMAS, PIERRE (1634-1698)
- THOMAS, SIDNEY GILCHRIST (1850-1885)
- THOMAS, ST
- THOMAS, THEODORE (1835-1905)
- THOMAS, WILLIAM (d. 1554)
Thomas See also:Jefferson and See also:- JAMES
- JAMES (Gr. 'IlrKw,l3or, the Heb. Ya`akob or Jacob)
- JAMES (JAMES FRANCIS EDWARD STUART) (1688-1766)
- JAMES, 2ND EARL OF DOUGLAS AND MAR(c. 1358–1388)
- JAMES, DAVID (1839-1893)
- JAMES, EPISTLE OF
- JAMES, GEORGE PAYNE RAINSFOP
- JAMES, HENRY (1843— )
- JAMES, JOHN ANGELL (1785-1859)
- JAMES, THOMAS (c. 1573–1629)
- JAMES, WILLIAM (1842–1910)
- JAMES, WILLIAM (d. 1827)
James See also:Madison in protest against the See also:Alien and See also:Sedition Acts of Congress. Nullification was first practised in 1809 by See also:Pennsylvania, the See also:governor ordering out the state troops to resist the See also:execution of a See also:decree of a Federal court. In the New See also:England states, 1809-1815, the United States See also:laws relating to See also:embargo, non-intercourse and See also:army enlistments were nullified by state action. From 1825-1829 the state of See also:Georgia forcibly prevented the execution of Federal laws and court decrees relating to the See also:Indians within her See also:borders and in See also:Alabama, 1832-1835, there was a similar nullification. The only example of nullification in which theory and practice coincided was the nullification in 1832 by See also:South Carolina of the Federal See also:tariff laws. In this the state acted upon the theory outlined above which was perfected by Calhoun. In the last See also:decade before the See also:Civil See also:War fourteen of the See also:Northern states in the so-called " See also:Personal See also:Liberty laws " n lllified the Federal statutes relating to slaves and See also:slavery by making it a See also:crime for their citizens to obey these laws and by setting the state See also:administration against the Federal officials. Since the Reconstruction the See also:Southern states have in practice effected a nullification of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution providing for See also:negro See also:suffrage.
See John C. Calhoun, See also:Works, vols. i. and vi. (New See also:York, 1853-1855) ; D. F. See also:Houston, See also:Critical Study of Nullification in South Carolina (New York, 1897) ; C. W. Loring, Nullification and Secession (New York, 1893) ; E. P. See also:Powell, Nullification and Secession in the United States (New York, 1897) ; and U. B. See also:Phillips, Georgia and States Rights (See also:Washington, 1902). (W. L.
End of Article: NULLIFICATION
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