John C. Calhoun

Texas Annexed as Slave State Despite Nine Years of Antislavery Opposition

1845-03-01 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

Congress admits Texas to the Union as the 28th state on December 29, 1845, following a nine-year political struggle that delayed annexation due to opposition from antislavery forces. The annexation represents a clear victory for Slave Power expansion: Texas arrives as a vast slave-holding region …

James K. Polk John Tyler John C. Calhoun U.S. Congress Mexico +1 more slavery-expansion texas-annexation manifest-destiny sectional-conflict institutional-corruption +1 more

Tyler Administration Conducts Secret Texas Annexation Negotiations to Expand Slavery

1844-03-01 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

President John Tyler’s administration conducted secret negotiations for Texas annexation beginning in September 1843, explicitly designed to expand slavery while deceiving the public about its true motivations. Tyler, expelled from the Whig Party in September 1841 after vetoing their …

John Tyler Abel P. Upshur John C. Calhoun Isaac Van Zandt institutional-capture slave-power systematic-corruption political-deception territorial-expansion

South Carolina Nullification Crisis Previews Slave Power Secession Tactics

1832-11-24 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 8/10

A South Carolina state convention adopts the Ordinance of Nullification, declaring the federal Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 “null, void, and no law, nor binding upon this State, its officers or citizens,” and threatening secession if the federal government attempts to collect tariff duties …

John C. Calhoun Andrew Jackson South Carolina Henry Clay U.S. Congress nullification slave-power states-rights secession-threat constitutional-crisis +1 more

Tariff of Abominations Imposes 45% Import Taxes, Triggering Nullification Crisis and Sectional Conflict

1828-05-19 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 8/10

Congress passes and President John Quincy Adams signs the Tariff of 1828, an extraordinarily high protective tariff setting a 38% tax on some imported goods and a 45% tax on certain imported raw materials—the highest rates in American history to that point. The tariff seeks to protect Northern …

U.S. Congress John C. Calhoun Andrew Jackson Southern planters Northern manufacturers sectional-conflict nullification economic-extraction regional-exploitation slave-power

Madison Vetoes Bonus Bill for Internal Improvements on Constitutional Grounds, Setting Precedent Against Federal Infrastructure

1817-03-03 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 7/10

On the last day of his administration, President James Madison vetoes the Bonus Bill, legislation proposed by Representative John C. Calhoun to earmark the $1.5 million revenue “bonus” and future dividends (estimated at $650,000 annually) from the recently established Second Bank of the …

President James Madison John C. Calhoun Henry Clay U.S. Congress constitutional-interpretation internal-improvements infrastructure states-rights institutional-obstruction