Page:Nullification Controversy in South Carolina.djvu/14

 PREFACE

To relate the story of the nullification controversy in South Carolina as it is found in the writings of the men who were participants in it, is the object of this monograph. For six years the conflict was bitterly waged and missed being civil war by a narrow margin. So much attention has been given to speculations on the theory of nullification from the standpoint of political science, that the history of the party contest has been neglected; and even from the theoretical viewpoint a detailed study of the views of the contemporaneous supporters and opponents of the doctrine has been neglected. The effort has been made in this treatise to delineate the various shades of party beliefs at all stages of the controversy.

In the search for materials the writer fortunately gained access to files of several of the leading newspapers of the Union and the State Rights parties, representing both the interior and the coastal sections; several valuable pamphlet collections; and the unpublished correspondence and papers of prominent leaders of the opposing vii