Some people say an 1830 letter from James
Madison proves he opposed nullification in all situations.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Writing to Edward Everett , the “Father of the
Constitution” used phrases like “overturn the first
principle of free government” and “speedily put an
end to the Union itself.”
Most modern commentators and legal experts claim
Madison was talking about nullification with a broad stroke.
Because of this, they also claim nullification is
always wrong, and should never be used, in any form.
FACT: They’re either ignorant. Or lying.
Everett asked Madison about a
nullification doctrine proposed by John C. Calhoun
for the State of South Carolina.
In order to understand Madison’s response, though,
we must first understand Calhoun’s proposal,
which covered three main points.
1. A State could “declare an act of Congress null and void”
That declaration would be “conclusive” and the feds
would have no legal right to enforce its view.
2. After the state exercised this right, the federal
government would have a duty to immediately
abandon enforcement of the act,
at least in that single state.
3. If the federal government disagreed, it
would have to apply to the other states for
approval. And only if 3/4 of the states
supported the federal act, would the nullifying
state lose.
History and text both reveal the truth about this doctrine.
It was never proposed or discussed by the
Founders at the Constitutional Convention.
It was never debated in any of the state
ratifying conventions. It was simply made up by John C. Calhoun.
James Madison rightly rejected it.
But his rejection was of this specific doctrine.
Writing to Everett, he called it “the expedient lately advanced.”
And later in his Notes on Nullification, he again
rejected this specific “doctrine of South Carolina.”
Claiming Madison’s rejection of John Calhoun’s
bastardized, made-up, South Carolina version of
nullification meant he rejected nullification in
every situation is a lie.
That’s like calling a “no dessert before dinner”
rule for your kids, the same as telling them they
can’t eat at all.
