- With the nation teetering on the brink of civil war, Senators Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun hurriedly brokered a compromise measure known as the Tariff of 1833 to diffuse the situation.
- The formal name of the Tariff of 1833 is “An Act to modify the act of the fourteenth July, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, and all other acts imposing duties on imports.”
- The Tariff of 1833 was designed to gradually reduce protectionist duties until 1842, at which time all duties would be reduced to a uniform level in line with the Tariff of 1816.
- The compromise Tariff of 1833 provided Southerners the tariff relief they sought, while giving domestic manufacturers nine years to adjust to reduced government protection when competing with foreign rivals.
- On February 25, 1833, the U.S. House of Representatives approved Tariff of 1833 by a vote of 119-85, as a substitute for a tariff bill already under consideration in that body.
- In the U.S. House of Representatives, southern representatives backed the Tariff of 1833 by a nearly unanimous vote of 55-1.
- In the U.S. House of Representatives, western representatives strongly supported Tariff of 1833 by a margin of 30-9.
- In the U.S. House of Representatives, northern representatives solidly opposed the Tariff of 1833 by a margin of 34-75.
- On March 1, 1833 the U.S. Senate approved the Tariff of 1833 by a vote of 29-16.
- In the U.S. Senate, all twelve southern senators supported the Tariff of 1833.
- In the U.S. Senate, western senators approved the Tariff of 1833 by a slim margin of 6-5.
- In the U.S. Senate, northern senators were indecisive about the Tariff of 1833, splitting their vote 11-11.
- President Andrew Jackson signed the Tariff of 1833 into law on March 2, the same day he signed the Force Act.
- After the enactment of the Tariff of 1833 and the Force Act, the Convention of the People of South Carolina voted 153-4 to rescind the South Carolina Ordinance of Nullification.
- The Tariff of 1833 remained in effect until shortly after the Whig Party gained control of the federal government in 1841.
- In 1842, the Whig-controlled U.S. Congress enacted a new tariff often referred to as the Black Tariff of 1842.
- The Tariff of 1842 basically negated the steep reduction in duties that Southerners were promised in the Tariff of 1833, only months after they were implemented.
With the nation teetering on the brink of civil war, Senators Henry Clay (pictured here) and John C. Calhoun hurriedly brokered a compromise measure to diffuse the situation. Their negotiations produced a new tariff proposal entitled An Act to modify the act of the fourteenth July, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, and all other acts imposing duties on imports. Congress designed the new tariff, more commonly known as the Tariff of 1833, to reduce protectionist duties gradually until 1842. [Library of Congress]
