States’ Rights vs. Federal Supremacy

WRITING ASSIGNMENT # 3A: States’ Rights vs. Federal Supremacy

Although the thirteen original states all eventually ratified the US Constitution, the struggle for its ratification demonstrates that it was not supported by all of the states. At issue was the power that the newly created Federal government acquired at the cost of power held by the States.

Jefferson and Madison raised that issue in 1798 when they wrote the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, as does Calhoun in 1832. This conflict brought the country into a Civil War, and the emergence of the “Tea Party” in recent years indicates that it continues to be unresolved. An increasing sectionalism was developing between the North and the South, and the nullification crisis was a manifestation of this conflict.

INSTRUCTIONS:

This writing assignment will require you to compare and contrast two Primary Source documents, in order to explain and discuss how the nullification crisis demonstrates a growing sectionalism between the North and the South.

• Review the discussion of Jefferson and Madison’s “Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions” in Chapter 9.
• Review the section titled The Nullification Crisis located in Chapter 11.
• Read following linked documents. They can also be found at The Avalon Project site, under 19th Century document.

Document 1: South Carolina Ordinance of Nullification

Document 2: Jackson’s Proclamation of Nullification

PREPARE AND SUBMIT:

Write a well-organized essay, a minimum of 700 words (but not limited to), including supporting details from the documents/textbook/other sources in which you analyze and discuss the material that has been assigned by addressing the following question:

Identify and discuss Calhoun’s arguments regarding the unconstitutionality of the Tariff of 1828, his theory of nullification and right to secession comparing them to the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, and President Jackson’s response.

Reminders

• Paragraphs in an essay are not numbered. Any questions that are associated with an assigned reading are there to serve as a guide for your discussion.
• Your discussion should incorporate all of the information from the documents and or textbook, and outside sources as one essay.
• Students are required to research and incorporate into their discussions additional sources that relate to the content. Recommendations can be found in at the end of the textbook chapter in Additional Reading.
• All statements must be supported and all sources must be identified and cited, and included in your reference list. This also applies to the textbook. Failure to do so constitutes Plagiarism, and the college has strict policies and penalties for failure to comply. Under the Resources, you will find links to sites that review how to format a paper or essay. I recommend that students use APA or Chicago Style to format their essay. Students should ask their instructor which format style they prefer you to use.
• Proofread your work. Make sure that you have looked for all of the spelling and grammatical errors and corrected them, and that you have organized your work into coherent paragraphs.
• Prepare the assignment as a Word Document, double-spaced and using a standard font of 12 points.
• Submit via the Dropbox as an ATTACHMENT. Any work that is submitted directly into the box will be graded as a 0.

Point Value: 100

Grading Criteria:

• Analysis and discussion (60%)
• Support for discussion (30%)
• Organization (10%)

Reminder: All written work must comply with standard English rules, such as proper capitalization, grammar, and spelling. The assignment must be submitted by the deadline listed in the calendar.

Note: Even though you will see a statement giving you the option of copy/paste or file attachment, please disregard this statement. You are required to attach the assignment in MS Word format.

 Links have been provided to various sites that offer guidance for essay writing, and APA format. This information is located in the “Student Writing Resources Folder” under the “Course Content” menu option,