In America, in the early 1800s, tariffs were issued in order to raise revenue or to regulate commerce within the states. With these taxes came a wide range of economic unrest and turmoil in the states. Further, the imposition of tariffs caused Americans to become more aware of the purposes for which taxes can be levied and who stands to reap the benefits of such a tax. With the introduction of the Tariff of 1828, the idea of Nullification arose once again. .
Southern planters, owners of large slave-based enterprises, were selling their sugar and cotton to foreign markets, exchanging money paid for these products for goods Europeans had to offer. Rather than buying American made goods, Southerners became consumers of European products. In retaliation, the federal government issued a series of tariffs that would promote the selling and trading of American goods rather than European products. The protective tariffs sole purpose was to ensure the growth, development, and protection of American companies from overseas competition. The tariffs would increase the profits in America, allowing the nation to grow economically and serve to expand America westward into new frontiers. In 1828, the Tariff of Abomination was passed and created great controversy in the Southern States, starting an uprising among southern senators who believed the tariff to be too highly priced. The South Carolina Exposition and Protest, authored by John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, ripped apart the Tariff of 1828 and described how South Carolina could resolve the crisis and still remain part of the Union. Calhoun's exposition proclaimed that state governments had a divine right to nullify laws created by the federal government if the government had overstepped the limits of its jurisdiction. The Nullification Theory would allow states to hold a State convention in order to declare whether a law was a violation of the Constitution and needed to be nullified.