How did calhoun and SC justify and explain the theory of nullification?
Calhoun argued that the 10th amendment (powers reserved to the state) and the fact that the states had to ratify the constitution and any changes to it gave the states the right to nullify federal laws, or leave the union if it saw fit to. They saw “These United States” (As “The United States” was referred to pre-Civil War) as a voluntary association of independent republics, much like the UN is viewed by many countries today. The counter argument is that when the states joined, they became part of a single country, not a confederation. The Supremacy clause reads the “Constitution and the laws of the United States…shall be the supreme law of the land…anything in the constitutions or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.” They argued that this means that any federal law–even a regulation of a federal agency–trumps any conflicting state law.