South Carolina Exposition and Protest Facts

December 1828

Key facts about the South Carolina Exposition and Protest.

Portrait of John C. Calhoun

South Carolina was the hotbed of Southern dissatisfaction with the Tariff of 1828. In December 1828, Vice-president John C. Calhoun (a native of the Palmetto State) anonymously penned two manuscripts, collectively known as the South Carolina Exposition and Protest, which outlined his objections to the tariff. [Wikimedia Commons]

  • U.S. President John Quincy Adams signed the Tariff of 1828 into law on May 19, 1828.
  • The Tariff of 1828 is also known as the Tariff of Abominations.
  • The Tariff of 1828 raised revenue for the federal government by imposing duties (taxes) on manufactured products and some raw materials imported into the United States.
  • The Tariff of 1828 protected manufacturers in the Northeast and farmers in the West, at the expense of Southerners and New England importer-exporters.
  • In the U.S. House of Representatives, the bulk of support for the Tariff of 1828 came from the Middle and Western states (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Kentucky).
  • South Carolina was the hotbed of Southern dissatisfaction with the Tariff of 1828.
  • In response to the enactment of the Tariff of 1828, U.S. Vice-president John C. Calhoun (a native of South Carolina) anonymously penned a challenge entitled the Exposition and Protest.
  • John C. Calhoun contended that the Constitution limited Congressional authority to impose duties solely for the purpose of raising revenue.  Therefore, because the Tariff of 1828 was enacted to protect special interests, in addition to raising revenue, it was unconstitutional.
  • In his protests against the Tariff of 1828, Calhoun C. Calhoun embraced the doctrine of nullification introduced by Thomas Jefferson in his Kentucky Resolutions of 1799.
  • The South Carolina legislature considered, but did not adopt John C. Calhoun’s Exposition and Protest in December 1828.

Citation Information

The following information is provided for citations.

  • Article Title South Carolina Exposition and Protest Facts
  • Date December 1828
  • Author
  • Website Name American History Central
  • Access Date September 21, 2023
  • Publisher R.Squared Communications, LLC
  • Original Published Date
  • Date of Last Update June 9, 2022

South Carolina Exposition and Protest Facts is Part of the Following on AHC