Nullification, in United States constitutional history, is a legal theory that a state has the right to nullify, or invalidate, any federal laws which they deem unconstitutional with respect to the United States Constitution. The theory of nullification is based on a view that the states formed the Union by an agreement (or “compact”) among the states, and that as creators of the federal government, the states have the final authority to determine the limits of the power of that government.
Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions
The earliest assertion of the theories of nullification and interposition is found in the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798, which were a protest against the Alien and Sedition Acts. In these resolutions, authors Thomas Jefferson and James Madison argued that “the states” have the right to interpret the Constitution and can declare federal laws unconstitutional when the federal government exceeds its delegated powers. These resolutions are considered the foundational documents of the theories of nullification and interposition.
The Nullification Crisis
The idea of nullification increasingly became associated with matters pertaining to the sectional conflict and slavery. John C. Calhoun asserted that the Tariff of 1828, which favored the northern manufacturing states and harmed the southern agricultural states, was unconstitutional. Calhoun argued that each state, as “an essential attribute of sovereignty”, has the right to judge the extent of its own powers and the allocation of power between the state and the federal government. Calhoun argued that each state therefore necessarily has a “veto”, or a “right of interposition”, with respect to acts of the federal government that the state believes encroach on its rights.