Nullifier Party

Nullifier Party
Leader	John C. Calhoun
Founded	1828(1828)
Dissolved	1839(1839)
Split from	Democratic Party
Merged into	Democratic Party(majority) Whig Party(minority)
Headquarters	Charleston, South Carolina
Ideology	Economic liberalism Free trade Nullification States' rights Pro-slavery
National affiliation	Democratic Party(1828)
Politics of United States Political parties Elections

TheNullifier Partywas an Americanpolitical partybased inSouth Carolinain the 1830s. Considered an earlyAmerican third party,it was started byJohn C. Calhounin 1828.

The Nullifier Party was astates' rights,pro-slaveryparty that supportedstrict constructionismwith regards to the U.S. government's enumerated powers, holding that states couldnullifyfederal laws within their borders. It narrowly missed claiming the unofficial title of being the first ever third party to be created within theUnited States—that title belongs to theAnti-Masonic Party,which was created inNew Yorkin February 1828. The Nullifier Party had several members in both houses of theCongressbetween 1831 and 1839. Calhoun outlined the principles of the party in hisSouth Carolina Exposition and Protest(1828), a reaction to the "Tariff of Abominations"passed by Congress and signed into law by PresidentJohn Quincy Adams.(A similar position had been staked out by theKentucky and Virginia Resolutionsthirty years prior, though those Resolutions had stopped short of actually advocating nullification.)

The Nullifier Party operated almost exclusively in South Carolina. It stood in strong opposition to PresidentAndrew Jackson.John Floydwas supported by the Nullifier Party in the1832 presidential election,and he received South Carolina's 11 votes in theelectoral college.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 theMassachusetts-basedpolitical economistHenry Lee.Some Nullifiers joined the newly formedWhig Partyafter the 1832 election, attracted by its opposition to Jackson and its depiction of Jackson as a monarch.After PresidentAndrew Jacksonleft office, Calhoun and most of his followers rejoined theDemocratic Party.

Notable members

• John C. Calhoun
• Robert Y. Hayne
• John Floyd
• Stephen D. Miller
• 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

Election	Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Vote %	Electoral votes	+/-	Outcome of election
1832	John Floyd	Henry Lee	—	—	11 / 286	New	Lost
1836	Not presented

• ^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.
  
• ^b:EndorsedHugh Lawson Whiteas President andJohn Tyleras Vice President.
  

Congressional elections

United States
House of Representatives

Election year	No. of overall seats won	+/–	House Speaker
1830	4 / 213	New	Andrew Stevenson
1832	9 / 240	5
1834	8 / 242	1	James K. Polk
1836	6 / 242	2

United States
Senate

Election year	No. of overall seats won	+/–	Senate President
1830/1831	1 / 48	New	John C. Calhoun
1832/1833	2 / 48	0	Vacant
1834/1835	2 / 48	0	Martin Van Buren
1836/1837	2 / 52	0

• ^c:South Carolina class 2 seat: Jacksonian changed party to Nullifier before the beginning of the first session.
  
• ^d:Office left vacant when Calhoun resigned to become Senator on December 28, 1832.
  

See also

• Nullification Crisis