South Carolina and the Politics of “Nullification”

In 1832, blaming its struggling economy on supposedly high tariffs, South Carolina declared that the existing federal import levies would no longer apply to foreign goods landed in the state, embracing ideas pushed by John C. Calhoun and others, that states had the right to “nullify” acts of the Federal government. This sparked the “Nullification Crisis” (1832-1836), which might easily have spiraled into civil war. In this book, his first, Dr. Neumann (Nau Center for Civil War Studies, University of Virginia), gives us a revealing look at the crisis, with additional focus on matters generally overlooked in earlier works on the subject.

Neumann is primarily concerned with the extent of Unionist sentiments in the state. He offers evidence that a major proportion of the free white male populace opposed nullification, and in fact made impressive gains at the polls during the crisis, and covers the tepid response South Carolina received from the other slave states, both major factors in resolving the crisis, along with President Andrew Jackson’s firm response to the threat of disunity.

Another area in which Neumann breaks fresh ground is that he discusses, albeit tangentially, the military aspects of the crisis, overlooked in most prior treatments.

At the start of the crisis South Carolina began making extensive preparations for war. The wealthy slave holders dominating the legislature authorized $100,000 for military procurement, easily $2 billion today. The state began enrolling volunteers, with some 25,000 men signing up, perhaps 40-percent of it’s military aged male population (Unionists mustered about 9,000 volunteers). In addition, Neumann covers President Andrew Jackson’s preparations to meet force with force, dispatching a modest number of troops to reinforce the Charleston forts, along with Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott, while declaring that he would suppress secession with 150,000 volunteers, even issuing a time table for their arrival.

Primarily concerned with the political and social aspects of the Nullification Crisis, Bloody Flag of Anarchy is, however, likely to prove of interest and value to students of mid-nineteenth century American history for its insights into the origins of the Civil War.

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Note: A volume in the LSU series “Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War”, Bloody Flag of Anarchy is also available in e-editions.

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