The nullification crisis was a conflict between the U.S. state of South Carolina and the federal government of the United States in 1832–33. ... Calhoun, who opposed the federal imposition of the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 and argued that the U.S. Constitution gave states the right to block the enforcement of a federal law.

What did the nullification controversy do?

The nullification crisis was a conflict between the U.S. state of South Carolina and the federal government of the United States in 1832–33. ... In November 1832 South Carolina adopted the Ordinance of Nullification, declaring the tariffs null, void, and nonbinding in the state.

Who was right in the nullification controversy?

In response to the Tariff of 1828, vice president John C. Calhoun asserted that states had the right to nullify federal laws.