Then in 1828 congress raised the tariff on imported goods.
In the south they didn't have very much industry so they had to import most of their good, so the tariffs were unpopular their. One state that protested this action by congress. Since the North had more industry, the South felt that congress was protecting the North by raising these tariffs. South Carolina was the strongest protester of these tariffs. South Carolina supported John C. Calhoun who said that a state could nullify or veto a national law within it's own boundaries.
In 1832 South Carolina's state legislature declared the tariff acts of 1828 and 1832 null or void. They went even further by saying that if the government tried to make them pay the tariff they would break away from the union. Then President Andrew Jackson, who had said that the union must be preserved, stated that he strongly opposed this nullification. Jackson also let it be know that he would send 50,000 troops into South Carolina.
This action scared South Carolina, and when they asked other states for help they got no promises of military aid. Finally seeing that his state was in bad shape John C. Calhoun asked Henry Clay to help him com