The Age of Jackson Practice Test

This item tests how tariff policy fueled sectional tensions in the early 1830s. The tariff described is the Tariff of 1832. It was enacted to lower some of the rates set by the earlier Tariff of 1828, but the South still saw it as too high because it kept protective duties that raised the cost of imported goods and constrained cotton exports, while benefiting Northern industry. That gap between Northern protection and Southern economic concerns sparked the Nullification controversy in South Carolina. The situation would lead to further action, with a later compromise (the Tariff of 1833) gradually reducing duties. The Tariff of 1828 is the harsher precursor that provoked much of the South’s opposition, while the Tariff of 1816 came earlier and was not the immediate target of the described disagreement.