Question

How would a southern political leader in the 1800s have most likely felt about higher tariffs and a strong central government?

A. He would have favored both.
B. He would have opposed both.
C. He would have opposed tariffs but supported a strong central government.
D. He would have favored tariffs but opposed a strong central government.

Answer 1

A southern political leader in the 1800s would have likely opposed both higher tariffs and a strong central government, due to fears of rising costs of imported goods and potential federal interference in Southern affairs, especially slavery.

Step-by-step explanation:

A southern political leader in the 1800s would have most likely opposed both higher tariffs and a strong central government. Southern plantation owners feared that the high tariffs, like the 1828 Tariff of Abominations, would raise the price of goods they needed to import. This combined with a general Anti-Federalist sentiment in the South against a strong central government that might threaten their agricultural economy and the very foundation of Southern society—slavery.

The theoretical framework of nullification advocated by figures like John C. Calhoun, and the opposition to the tariffs by the South, illustrate the resentment towards federal government interference and protective tariffs that did not benefit the agrarian Southern economy. Andrew Jackson's administration managed to reduce the tariffs with the Tariff of 1832, but resentment and concern among Southerners remained.