Changes

Finally, largely due to Senator Henry Clay, a compromise tariff was enacted in 1833 that diffused the situation, but not before the crisis made a great impact on America’s political landscape. The conflict of state’s rights versus unionism made its first showing in what would be the first of many debates leading up to the Civil War. President Jackson’s political capital was damaged by the crisis, but the prospects of his old enemy, Henry Clay, grew as a result of his efforts. Finally, the Nullification Crisis led directly to the formation of the Whig Party.

[[File: 1828_Electoral_Map.png|300px|thumbnail|left|Electoral Map of the 1828 Presidential Election]]

In order to understand how the Nullification Crisis became such an important part of American history, the idea of government spending, tariffs, and how the future of the country was envisioned in the early nineteenth century must be understood. Speaker of the House and one of the leaders of the National Republican Party, Henry Clay of Kentucky, envisioned a grand idea whereby the United States would be modernized through a series of programs and projects, which he termed “The American System.”