Question

Held that a state could declare a law null and void if that law was harmful to the state.

Doctrine of Nullification
Ordinance of Nullification

Answer 1

That statement describes the Doctrine of Nullification — the idea that a state can declare a federal law null and void within its borders if the state deems the law harmful or unconstitutional.

Related specific instance: the Ordinance of Nullification (South Carolina, 1832)
- South Carolina adopted an Ordinance of Nullification in November 1832 declaring the federal tariffs of 1828 and 1832 null and void in the state and threatening to prevent their collection after Feb. 1, 1833.
- The doctrine in practice was championed by John C. Calhoun and grew out of earlier ideas in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions (1798–99).
- Federal response: President Andrew Jackson rejected nullification, Congress passed the Force Bill authorizing use of military force if necessary, and Henry Clay brokered a compromise tariff in 1833. South Carolina subsequently repealed its ordinance.

Legal and historical outcome
- Nullification was never accepted by the federal courts and was opposed by the executive branch; it failed as a constitutional practice.
- The conflict helped expose the sectional tensions that later led to secession and the Civil War; the Supremacy Clause and later national developments confirm that states do not have the unilateral power to nullify federal laws.