This movement is known as the Nullification movement (also known as the Nullification Crisis).
The origins of this movement was in the passing of the Tariff of 1828. This tariff put a tax on imported goods. This negatively impacted Southern states, like South Carolina, as they relied heavily on trade with foreign countries. This is why John C. Calhoun tried to reject this federal law. Calhoun argued that states have the right to nullify (void) any law made by the federal government that the states deemed were in violation of their constitutional rights. This caused significant problems between Northern and Southern politicians in Congress.