1. Robert Y. Hayne
As a senator from the Great State of South Carolina, I have been a strong supporter of Southern cotton planters. I have actively opposed the protective tariffs that have been placed on goods imported from Britain. I believe the tariff protects Northern factory owners and causes Southerners to have to pay higher prices for everything they buy. The U.S. Government is showing favoritism or perhaps, the industrial North has inflated the pockets of some Northern Congressmen.
Because the tariff is so unfair to Southerners, I believe the Southern States should “nullify” the tariff law. Yes, I said it. The South should declare the import tariffs illegal and refusing to pay them on any good imported from Britain. If necessary, I believe the Southern States should secede –yes, leave the UNION. The federal government should do what is right for all regions of the United States not just one. I have made speeches discussing these matters in Congress, but the senators from the North do not seem to care. I said that the real enemies of the Union were those, “who are constantly stealing the power from the States, and adding strength to the Federal Government.” Where is amendment number 10?
I also believe that if President Jackson tries to force South Carolina to enforce unfair tariff laws that only them rather than help them, the State should take up arms against the Federal Government.
Andrew Jackson
At a dinner party in April 1830, I got my chance to voice how I felt on the issue of states’ rights v. the power of the federal government. Being asked to make a toast, I looked at my Vice President, John C. Calhoun from South Carolina and said, “Our Federal Union – it must be preserved and if you pursue nullifying Federal law – I will hang the first man of them I can get my hands on.”

2. Daniel Webster
One of the nation’s great speakers, I am a senator from Massachusetts. I favor the tariff on imported goods to protect the American manufactures in my state from the competition of larger English textile makers. The people in my state feel that they need this protection until they can grow large enough to compete with the English on their own.
I understand that the Southerners don’t like the tariff because they feel it causes prices to inflate the price of goods they buy. However, I believe that they should be willing to accept a law passed by Congress and signed by the President.
Most importantly, I believe that the Union must be preserved at all costs. In one of my most famous speeches in the Senate, I declared that, “Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable.”
I am very concerned when I hear that South Carolina has “nullified” the tariff law, refusing to pay and enforce this federal law. Even more disturbing, is now South Carolina is threatening to secede from the Union. I support President Andrew Jackson when he threatens South Carolina with military action.
John C. Calhoun
I am the Vice President to Andrew Jackson. Being from South Carolina, I understand the Southern argument against paying the high import taxes. How is this tax fair to us? I am basing my view on the fact that states should not have to accept a national law that favors some states over others. Is this not that same reason that the Founding Fathers declared their independence from England: the King of England was favoring his Parliament in England over the legislative bodies in the American colonies? I am aware that secession may destroy the UNION but I also realize how strongly my fellow Southerners feel about this issue. We, Southerners must stand for what we believe in.