On March 12, 1956, as the second anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education approaches, Senator Walter F. George rises in the U.S. Senate to announce the latest weapon in the segregationist arsenal—the “Declaration of Constitutional Principles,” known as the Southern Manifesto. Senator …
Walter F. GeorgeHarry F. ByrdStrom Thurmond19 U.S. Senators82 U.S. Representativesmassive-resistancesouthern-manifestocongressional-obstructionstates-rightsconstitutional-defiance
On July 17, 1948, approximately 6,000 Southern Democrats from 13 states converge on Birmingham, Alabama, to form the States’ Rights Democratic Party (Dixiecrats) after walking out of the Democratic National Convention in protest of the party’s civil rights platform. The convention …
Strom ThurmondFielding L. WrightStates Rights Democratic PartyDemocratic PartyAlabama delegation+1 moreracial-politicssegregationsouthern-strategystates-rightspolitical-realignment
On October 25, 1886, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway Co. v. Illinois (118 U.S. 557) in a 6-3 ruling that severely limited states’ power to regulate interstate commerce, effectively shielding railroad monopolies from state-level oversight. The case arose …
U.S. Supreme CourtWabash RailroadIllinois LegislatureInterstate Commerceregulatory-erosionsupreme-courtcorporate-powerinstitutional-capturestates-rights
The Whig congressional caucus expelled President John Tyler from the party on September 13, 1841, after he vetoed national bank legislation for the second time in August, revealing that one of the main political principles guiding him was states’ rights ideology and protection of slavery …
John TylerHenry ClayWhig PartyCabinet Membersinstitutional-capturesystematic-corruptionexecutive-overreachparty-realignmentstates-rights
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. CalhounAndrew JacksonSouth CarolinaHenry ClayU.S. Congressnullificationslave-powerstates-rightssecession-threatconstitutional-crisis+1 more
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 MadisonJohn C. CalhounHenry ClayU.S. Congressconstitutional-interpretationinternal-improvementsinfrastructurestates-rightsinstitutional-obstruction