Legislation1828
Tariff of 1828 Signed
President John Quincy Adams signed the Tariff of 1828, known in the South as the "Tariff of Abominations" for its high protective duties that benefited Northern manufacturers at the expense of Southern agricultural interests. The tariff sparked the Nullification Crisis.
Why It Matters
The tariff controversy tested whether states could nullify federal law, a constitutional crisis that foreshadowed the sectional tensions leading to the Civil War and established important precedents about federal supremacy.