Why the Olive Branch Was an Act of Courage for Carey; How the Nullification Crisis was Resolved

Why Writing the Olive Branch was an Act of Courage for Mathew Carey

Carey published his book on secession, the Olive Branch, on November 6, 1814, shortly before the Hartford Convention.  It was an act of courage.  Carey was concerned his political activities would affect his business causing him to declare bankruptcy.

He wrote:

. “…The day before I published the [Olive Branch] I told Mrs Carey, that I had been writing, and was about to publish a Book.  She asked was it on politics—and when I answered in the affirmative, she turned pale and implored me not to publish it, as it would…excite a persecution which might ruin me at Bank.  She quoted the cases of some of our acquaintance who had been ruined by politics…My opinion…coincided with hers.  I dreaded ruin.  My engagements at that time were heavy—my resources lay chiefly to the South and west and were in a great measure cut off by the war.  I had notes to pay in Several Banks…if one or two of them had refused to renew those notes[,] I would probably have to pass the remainder of my days in a constant struggle to support my family.”^[1]

Mathew Carey and his wife had good reason to fear attacks if he published the Olive Branch.

When John Adams was president the Alien and Sedition Acts (1798-1800) were in effect.  By that time, Mathew Carey had left the Federalists. He campaigned for Thomas Jefferson, who founded the Democratic-Republican Party.  Federalist newspapers attacked Carey and other immigrants from Ireland.  Editors accused Carey and his brother of being members of the United Irishmen, a group they alleged was intent on overthrowing the American government.  Carey also had difficulty getting loans from his bank.  In response, he published satirical poems.  Turning the accusations into humor, he garnered public support.  He successfully averted prosecution.

The Alien and Sedition Acts prompted James Madison and Thomas Jefferson to write the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, (1798, 1799) the first documents outlining the arguments for states’ rights used by New Englanders and South Carolinians.

How the Nullification Crisis was Resolved   

 John Quincy Adams’ Tariff of 1832 was acceptable to every Southern state except South Carolina.  John C. Calhoun and his allies organized the Nullification Convention on November 24, 1832. The convention declared the Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 invalid in South Carolina beginning February 1, 1833.  If the federal government forced payment of tariff duties, South Carolina would secede.  Senator Robert Hayne returned to South Carolina to become governor.   Calhoun resigned as Andrew Jackson’s vice president.  He replaced Hayne as a senator from South Carolina.[2]

Not all South Carolinians agreed with the declarations of the Nullification Convention.  Those who favored the Union signed up to support President Jackson, and oppose their state’s militia.[3]

President Jackson considered the convention a “violation of duty” and “subversive of the Constitution.”  First he ordered more troops to Fort Moultrie and Castle Pinckney, both in Charleston’s harbor.  In January 1833, he worked with Congress drafting a bill to transfer tariff collection points to ships and forts in Charleston’s harbor.  South Carolinians called it the “Force Bill.”[4]

In South Carolina and elsewhere, citizens were alarmed civil war was imminent.[5]

Jackson worried that nullifiers would clash with his Union supporters in South Carolina.  He thundered, “…if one drop of blood be shed there in defiance of the laws of the United States, I will hang the first man of them I can get my hands on to the first tree I can find.”  Robert Hayne asked Senator Thomas Hart Benton if Jackson would act on that threat.   Benton replied “…when Jackson begins to talk about hanging, they can begin to look out for ropes!”[6]

Jackson used a two-pronged approach to resolve the Nullification Crisis.  He stood firm with the “Force Bill.”  He offered conciliation, lowering the tariffs with the “Verplanck Bill.”  The House Ways and Means committee sent the “Verplanck Bill” to the House in early January.  The House piled on amendments. [7]

In Washington, Calhoun predicted to his followers in South Carolina the “Force Bill” would be enacted.  The Senate, he wrote, would defeat the amendment-laden “Verplanck Bill.”[8]

Late in January, South Carolina prepared for war.  As the February 1 deadline loomed, Calhoun wrote to his supporters “we must not think of secession but in the last extremity.”[9]

The “Verplanck Bill” may have been defeated, but Andrew Jackson and Congress realized that South Carolina’s concerns needed to be addressed.  In early February, Henry Clay approached Calhoun about drafting a new compromise tariff.  Calhoun agreed. Clay and Calhoun introduced the Tariff of 1833.  The “Force Bill” and the Tariff of 1833 passed together on March 1.[10]

Jackson’s use of force and conciliation worked.  Henry Clay received credit for new tariff.  He was praised as the “Great Compromiser.”  The “Force Bill” was enacted, despite the objections of slaveholders, including Henry Clay.[11]

In South Carolina’s capital, Columbia, nullifiers met for a convention on March 11.  Claiming victory, they retracted nullification of the Tariffs of 1828 and 1832.  Jackson’s “Force Act” no longer mattered.  Displaying cheek, they nullified it anyway.[12]

Next:  Faults on Both Sides, Part I:  How Mathew Carey Found Fault with the Democratic-Republicans

Look for it Monday, March 11