View source for Nullifier Party

{{short description|American political}}
{{Use American English|date = March 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = March 2020}}
{{Infobox political party
| colorcode        = {{party color|Nullifier Party}}
| name             = Nullifier Party
| leader           = [[John C. Calhoun]]
| foundation       = {{start date and age|1828}}
| dissolution      = {{end date and age|1839}}
| split            = [[History of the Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]
| merged           = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] (majority)<br>[[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]] (minority)
| headquarters     = [[Charleston, South Carolina]]
| ideology         = [[Economic liberalism]]<br>[[Free trade]]<br>[[Nullification (U.S. Constitution)#The nullification crisis|Nullification]]<br>[[States' rights]]<br>[[Pro-slavery ideology in the United States|Pro-slavery]]
| national         = [[History of the Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] ([[1828 United States presidential election|1828]])
| country          = the United States
}}
The '''Nullifier Party''' was an American [[political party]] based in [[South Carolina]] in the 1830s. Considered an early [[Third party (United States)|American third party]], it was started by [[John C. Calhoun]] in  1828.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lawson |first1=Russell M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ou6yDwAAQBAJ |title=Race and Ethnicity in America: From Pre-contact to the Present [4 volumes] |last2=Lawson |first2=Benjamin A. |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-4408-5097-4 |pages=61 |language=en}}</ref>

The Nullifier Party was a [[states' rights]] party that supported [[strict constructionism]] with regards to the U.S. government's enumerated powers, holding that states could [[Nullification (U.S. Constitution)|nullify]] federal laws within their borders. It narrowly missed claiming the unofficial title of being the first ever third party to be created within the [[United States]]—that title belongs to the [[Anti-Masonic Party]], which was created in [[New York (state)|New York]] in February 1828. The Nullifier Party had several members in both houses of the [[United States Congress|Congress]] between 1831 and 1839. Calhoun outlined the principles of the party in his [[South Carolina Exposition and Protest]] (1828), a reaction to the "[[Tariff of Abominations]]" passed by Congress and signed into law by President [[John Quincy Adams]]. (A similar position had been staked out by the [[Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions]] thirty years prior, though those Resolutions had stopped short of actually advocating nullification.) {{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

The Nullifier Party operated almost exclusively in South Carolina. It stood in strong opposition to President [[Andrew Jackson]]. [[John Floyd (Virginia politician)|John Floyd]] was supported by the Nullifier Party in the [[1832 United States presidential election|1832 presidential election]], and he received South Carolina's 11 votes in the [[electoral college]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Hammond |first1=Scott John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G8LWCwAAQBAJ |title=Campaigning for President in America, 1788–2016 |last2=Roberts |first2=Robert North |last3=Sulfaro |first3=Valerie A. |date=2016-04-25 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-4408-5079-0 |pages=430–431 |language=en}}</ref> Floyd was not a candidate and had himself unsuccessfully tried to convince Calhoun to run for President. The party's candidate for Vice President was the [[Massachusetts]]-based [[political economist]] {{nowrap|[[Henry Lee (economist)|Henry Lee]]}}.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}} Some Nullifiers joined the newly formed [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]] after the 1832 election, attracted by its opposition to Jackson and its depiction of Jackson as a monarch.<ref name=":0" /> After President [[Andrew Jackson]] left office, Calhoun and most of his followers rejoined the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

== Notable members ==
* [[John C. Calhoun]]
* [[Robert Y. Hayne]]
* [[John Floyd (Virginia politician)|John Floyd]]
* [[Stephen Decatur Miller|Stephen D. Miller]]
* [[James Henry Hammond|James H. Hammond]]
* [[William C. Preston]]
* [[Henry L. Pinckney]]
* [[Robert B. Campbell]]
* [[William K. Clowney]]
* [[Warren R. Davis]]
* [[John Myers Felder]]
* [[John K. Griffin]]
* [[Francis Wilkinson Pickens]]
* [[George McDuffie]]
* [[Franklin H. Elmore]]

== Electoral history ==
=== Presidential elections ===
{|class="sortable wikitable"
!Election
!Candidate
!Running mate
!Votes
!Vote %
!Electoral votes
!+/-
!Outcome of election
|-
![[1832 United States presidential election|1832]]
|[[John Floyd (Virginia politician)|John Floyd]]
|[[Henry Lee (economist)|Henry Lee]]
|align="center"|—{{cref|a}}
|align="center"|—
|align="left"|{{Composition bar|11|286|hex={{party color|Nullifier Party}}}}
|align="left"|New
|align="left"|Lost
|-
![[1836 United States presidential election|1836]]
|align="center" colspan=7|Not presented{{cref|b}}
|}
* {{cnote|a|All of John Floyd's electoral votes came from South Carolina where the Electors were chosen by the state legislatures rather than by popular vote.}}
* {{cnote|b|Endorsed [[Hugh Lawson White]] as President and [[John Tyler]] as Vice President.}}

=== Congressional elections ===
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
{|class=wikitable
|+United States<br>House of Representatives
|-
!Election year
!No. of<br>overall seats won
!+/–
![[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|House Speaker]]
|-{{Party shading/Jacksonian}}
![[United States House of Representatives elections, 1830|1830]]
|{{composition bar|4|213|hex={{party color|Nullifier Party}}}}
|New
|rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Jacksonian}}|[[Andrew Stevenson]]
|-{{Party shading/Jacksonian}}
![[United States House of Representatives elections, 1832|1832]]
|{{composition bar|9|240|hex={{party color|Nullifier Party}}}}
|{{increase}} 5
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
![[United States House of Representatives elections, 1834|1834]]
|{{composition bar|8|242|hex={{party color|Nullifier Party}}}}
|{{decrease}} 1
|rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Democratic}}|[[James K. Polk]]
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
![[United States House of Representatives elections, 1836|1836]]
|{{composition bar|6|242|hex={{party color|Nullifier Party}}}}
|{{decrease}} 2
|}
{{col-2}}
{|class=wikitable
|+United States<br>Senate
|-
!Election year
!No. of<br>overall seats won
!+/–
![[Vice President of the United States|Senate President]]
|-{{Party shading/Jacksonian}}
![[United States Senate elections, 1830 and 1831|1830/1831]]
|{{composition bar|1|48|hex={{party color|Nullifier Party}}}}
|New
|{{Party shading/Jacksonian}}|[[John C. Calhoun]]
|-{{Party shading/Jacksonian}}
![[United States Senate elections, 1832 and 1833|1832/1833]]
|{{composition bar|2|48|hex={{party color|Nullifier Party}}}}
|{{steady}} 0{{cref|c}}
|{{Party shading/Independent}}|Vacant{{cref|d}}
|-{{Party shading/Whig}}
![[United States Senate elections, 1834 and 1835|1834/1835]]
|{{composition bar|2|48|hex={{party color|Nullifier Party}}}}
|{{steady}} 0
|rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Democratic}}|[[Martin Van Buren]]
|-{{Party shading/Democratic}}
![[United States Senate elections, 1836 and 1837|1836/1837]]
|{{composition bar|2|52|hex={{party color|Nullifier Party}}}}
|{{steady}} 0
|}
{{col-end}}
* {{cnote|c|South Carolina class 2 seat: Jacksonian changed party to Nullifier before the beginning of the first session.}}
* {{cnote|d|Office left vacant when Calhoun resigned to become Senator on December 28, 1832.}}

== See also ==
* [[Nullification Crisis]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{John C. Calhoun}}
{{United States political parties}}

[[Category:Defunct political parties in the United States]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1828]]
[[Category:Political parties in South Carolina]]
[[Category:History of South Carolina]]
[[Category:John C. Calhoun]]
[[Category:Nullification (U.S. Constitution)]]
[[Category:Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions]]
[[Category:1839 disestablishments in South Carolina]]
[[Category:1828 establishments in South Carolina]]
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 1839]]
[[Category:Factions in the Democratic Party (United States)]]
[[Category:Defunct conservative parties in the United States]]
[[Category:Conservatism in the United States]]


{{US-party-stub}}