What is the nullification theory?

Answer 1

To nullify means to render ineffective. If you nullify a contract. a warranty, or even a marriage, the effect is as if the thing had never happened. In law ( which is sometimes redundant ) things are sometimes said to be "null and void" - that is, "nothing and nothing." Another example of legal redundancy is the term "cease and desist" which literally means: "stop and stop." ... goes back to the olden days, when lawyers were paid by the word, I guess.

Answer 2

When John C. Calhoun championed the Nullification Theory prior to the Civil War, it was the forerunner of what is now called States' Rights. The argument of the Nullification/States' Rights theory is that the Constitution is a compact between states, not between people. Jefferson and Madison had argued that the States had the right to Nullify acts of Congress. The states created the national government and gave it only limited power. States' Rights supporters believe that the state is closest to the citizen and can better reflect their wishes. This was one of the major causes of the Civil War. The South claimed that the North and West were ignoring the rights and needs of the South, therefore the South had the right to nullify its compact with the other states and declare its independence.

Answer 3

Nullification is the action of a state impeding or attempting to prevent the operation and enforcement within its territories of law of the United States.

Answer 4

Nullification is the doctrine that states can set aside federal laws.

Answer 5

Nullification is the act of cancelling something or when one thing overrides or overcomes another.