Which politician is best known for advocating states' rights and nullification and defending slavery in the antebellum era?

• A. Daniel Webster
• B. John C. Calhoun
• C. Henry Clay
• D. James Madison

Answer: (B)

John C. Calhoun is the figure most associated with advocating states’ rights and nullification, alongside defending slavery in the antebellum era. He argued that states could judge the constitutionality of federal laws and, if a law exceeded federal power or harmed the states, those states could nullify or refuse to enforce it within their borders. This stance came to a head during the Nullification Crisis after Congress passed tariffs that Southern states felt unfairly burdened the economy. Calhoun’s writings, including the Exposition and Protest, framed nullification as a constitutional right of states within a voluntary federal compact, emphasizing limited federal power and state sovereignty.

He also defended slavery as a positive good, arguing that slavery was a sanctioned, beneficial institution that needed protection from abolitionist critique and federal interference. This combination—territory of states’ rights, the authority to nullify federal laws, and a defense of slavery as a political and social system—defines his prominent role in shaping Southern political thought in the pre-Civil War era.

Daniel Webster was known for defending federal supremacy against nullification, Henry Clay is celebrated for political compromise rather than a primary defense of nullification or slavery, and James Madison worked in an earlier era with different emphases. Hence, Calhoun fits best with the description in the question.