Transcript Rise of Mass Democracy

The Rise of Mass Democracy
Theme #1
In the 1820’s a new spirit of
popular democracy swept through
American politics and society,
resulting in the election of the
“hero of the West,” Andrew
Jackson, to the presidency.
I. The “New Democracy”
A. By the 1820s, politicians increasingly
had to appeal to the masses
1. Change in emphasis:
a. Jeffersonian democracy: gov’t
for the people
b. Jacksonian democracy: gov’t
by the people
B. The “New Democracy” was based on
universal male suffrage
1. Andrew Jackson’s election was the
result of the “New Democracy”
2. Frederick Jackson Turner thesis
C. Rise of workingmen’s parties
1. Laborers in the east formed
organizations that demanded free
education, a 10-hour work day and an
end to debtors’ prisons
2. Some groups resorted to violence to
achieve their goals
II. Causes of the “New Democracy”
A. Panic of 1819
1. Workers and farmers blamed
bankers (especially the BUS) and
land speculators
2. Solution: Get more politically
involved
a. Sought to reform the BUS
b. State legislatures waged tax wars
against the BUS
c. States passed laws reducing
debtors’ prisons
B. Missouri Compromise
1. Northern opposition to Missouri’s
entry into the Union as a slave state
deeply concerned southerners
2. Goal of white southerners:
Control the federal gov’t in order to
preserve slavery
Henry Clay – “The Great Compromiser”
Missouri enters as a slave state – Maine enters
as a free state
Division – 36o30’ – LA territory (to the
north/free – south/slave)
C. New political age
1. Two-party system reemerged
2. Increased voter turnout
3. New style of politicking emerged
4. Voting reform
a. Change in voting for Electoral
College members
b. Demise of the congressional
caucus by 1832
i. First national nominating
convention occurred in 1831
(Anti-Masonic party)
ii. 1836, both major parties used
national nominating conventions
III. Election of 1824: “The Corrupt
Bargain”
A. Four Democratic-Republican candidates:
1. Andrew Jackson:
38%
2. John Quincy Adams: 32%
3. William H. Crawford: 16%
4. Henry Clay
14%
B. Jackson earned the most popular votes
but NOT the electoral majority
1. House of Representatives (under the12th
Amendment) decided the outcome
2. Clay, 4th place in the election, was
also the Speaker of the House.
-- He hated Jackson and threw his
support behind John Quincy Adams
C. Early 1825, House of Representatives
elected John Quincy Adams president
D. Adams announced Clay as Secretary
of State a few days later
-- Jacksonians cried “corrupt bargain!”
President John Quincy Adams
1825-1829
Democratic-Republican
IV. The “Tariff of Abominations” (1828)
A. Congress had increased the tariff in
1824 from 23% to 37% (during
Monroe’s presidency)
B. Jacksonian’s plan for unseating
Adams: a much higher tariff
C. New tariff passed (with New
England’s support) in 1828
1. Daniel Webster supported it
2. Vice President John C. Calhoun
opposed it
D. Southern reaction was strongly negative:
feared federal power was too strong
1. South would suffer both as consumers
and exporters
2. John C. Calhoun: “Southern
Carolina Exposition”
a. Denounced the tariff as unjust and
unconstitutional
b. Declared the states should nullify the
act
c. His desire was to prevent disunion
d. No other states supported South
Carolina
V. Election of 1828
A. Intense struggle between two factions
of the Democratic-Republican party
1. National Republicans supported
incumbent John Quincy Adams
-- Accused Jackson’s wife of bigamy
2. Democrats supported Andrew
Jackson
B. Jackson defeated Adams 178 to 83
1. First president from the West; seen
as a common man
2. Support came from most parts of the
country
3. “Revolution of 1828”
a. Increased voter turnout
b. Balance of power shifting from
the East to the West
c. Shift away from aristocratic
leadership
President Andrew Jackson
1829-1837
Democrat
C . Andrew Jackson
1. Personified the new West
2. Suspicious of federal gov’t as a
center of privilege
3. Sought to reduce the power of the
federal gov’t
-- Sought to do away with Henry
Clay’s “American System”
4. Believed in a strong presidency
a. Used the veto more than all
previous presidents combined
b. Flouted the authority of the
Supreme Court
Theme #2
Jackson successfully mobilized
the techniques of the New Democracy
and presidential power to win a series
of dramatic political conflicts. But by
the late 1830’s, his Whig opponents
had learned to use the same popular
political weapons against the
Democrats, signaling the emergence of
the second American party system.
VI. Jacksonian Democracy -- politics
A. Increased manhood suffrage
B. End of the caucus
C. Spoils system:
1. Rewarding political supporters
with government positions
regardless of merit
2. Secretary of State Martin Van
Buren was the architect of the
system
3. “rotation of office”/
“turnabout is fair play”
4. Consequences
a. A national political machine was
built around Jackson
b. Many able citizens were discouraged
from seeking office as competence
and merit were subordinated
c. Political corruption and scandal
resulted
VII. Sectionalism in the Jackson
Administration
A. “Kitchen Cabinet”
1. Unofficial group of about 13
advisors
2. Criticism: members were not
accountable to Congress
3. The group’s influence was
exaggerated
4. Not unconstitutional: presidents
are free to consult with noncabinet members
B. Webster-Hayne Debate (1830)
1. Robert C. Hayne (SC) defended the
South
a. Criticized New England’s disloyalty
during the War of 1812 & selfishness
in the protective tariff
b. Condemned the “tariff of
abominations” (1828)
c. Supported Calhoun’s doctrine of
nullification
d. Argued the Union could be preserved
only by protecting southern rights
2. Daniel Webster defended the
Northeast and the Union
a. Argued against nullification
b. Claimed the people, not the states,
had framed the Constitution
-- Thus, the “compact theory”
was not relevant
c. “Liberty & Union, now &
forever, one & inseparable”
3. Result:
a. Demonstrated rising sectionalism
b. Each side believed its champion
had won the debate
c. Some credit Webster with helping
win the Civil War by arousing a
new generation of northerners to
fight for the ideal of Union
C. Jefferson Day toast, 1830
1. States’ rights schemers sought to
corner and embarrass Jackson
2. Jackson: “Our Union: It must
be preserved!”
3. Calhoun: “The Union, next to
our liberty, most dear!”
D. Peggy Eaton Affair
1. Jackson sought fair treatment of
Peggy Eaton, the young wife of
the Secretary of War
2. Van Buren backed Jackson
3. Resulted in open break between
Jackson and Calhoun
4. Significance is over-exaggerated
E. Tariff Controversy of 1832: most
important reason for the split
between Jackson and Calhoun
F. Calhoun resigned the vice
presidency in 1832
--Became a fierce sectionalist and
slavery apologist
VIII. Nullification Controversy of 1832
A. South Carolina still fuming over “Tariff
of Abominations” (1828)
1. Seen as punitive in the short-run
2. Seen as a precedent for
federal interference in the long-run
3. “Nullies” in SC legislature failed
to achieve nullification
B. Tariff of 1832
1. Lowered the tariff of 1828 from 45% to
35%
-- Southerners still unhappy because
they expected an even lower tariff
2. South Carolina state legislature
declared the Tariff of 1832
null and void
a. Asked legislature to make
military preparations
b. Threatened secession if Jackson
tried to collect the tariff by force
3. Jackson condemned nullification
a. Privately threatened to “hang” the
nullifiers
b. Began military preparations to
crack down on South Carolina
c. The threat of civil war loomed
C. Henry Clay’s “compromise of 1833”
1. Tariff reduced by 10% over eight
years to 1816 level
2. New England and the middle states
opposed it.
3. Calhoun and the South favored it
4. Force Bill passed by Congress as a
face-saving device in 1833
a. President authorized to use army and
navy to collect tariffs if necessary
b. Called the “Bloody Bill” by South
Carolinians (symbolically nullified it)
D. Aftermath
1. Victory for both sides
2. Stepping stone to Civil War
-- South Carolina gradually
abandoned nullification for
secession
3. Calhoun resigned the vice
presidency
4. Later, Compromise Tariff of 1833
was criticized as “appeasement.”
-- Yet, Clay helped avert Civil War in
1832 for which the North was
unprepared
IX. Election of 1832
A. Henry Clay (National Republican)
vs. Andrew Jackson (Democrat)
1. Clay supporters:
2. Jackson supporters:
B. Jackson d. Clay 219-49
-- Jackson had support of the
masses
VS
C. New political features in 1832 campaign
1. Anti-Masonic Party: first 3rd party
in a U.S. presidential election
a. Opposed the secrecy of the
Masonic Order
b. Attracted evangelical groups:
tried to fuse moral & religious
reforms with politics
2. National nominating conventions
-- Nat’l Republicans and Anti-Masons
adopted formal platforms
X. Jacksonian Democracy : economic and
states rights issues
A. Jackson’s economic philosophy:
divorce gov’t from the economy
-- In effect, laissez faire
B. Bank of the United States (BUS)
1. Jackson distrusted the monopolistic
BUS and big business
2. Clay pushed to recharter the BUS
four years before its expiration
-- Jackson: “The bank is trying to
kill me, but I will kill it.”
3. Jackson vetoed BUS’s charter in 1832
a. Jackson assailed the BUS as
monopolistic and unconstitutional
-- Criticized its head, Nicholas Biddle
b. Jackson acted as if the executive branch
was superior to the judicial branch
-- Bank had been deemed constitutional
(McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819)
c. Demagogic message appealed
to the masses
-- BUS was a major issue in the 1832
presidential election
d. The Senate censured Jackson
4. “Pet Bank” scheme
a. Jackson moved against the BUS
and Biddle
b. “Removed” federal deposits from
its vaults to 23 “pet banks”
i. Overseen by Secretary of the
Treasury Roger B. Taney
ii. Effectively killed the 2nd
National bank
5. Specie Circular
a. “Wildcat” currency had become
unreliable, especially in the West
b. Jackson authorized Specie
Circular in response
i. All public lands to be purchased
with federal “hard” money
ii. Hurt many farmers in the West
c. Inflation continued: led to land
speculation that helped cause the
Panic of 1837
C. General Incorporation Laws
(beginning in 1837)
1. Traditionally, corporate charters were
granted by state legislatures; many saw
this as gov’t-created monopoly
2. States began to make incorporation
easier
3. Limited liability: business owners
were now allowed to be a separate
entity from their corporation
D. Charles River Bridge decision (1837)
1. Builders of Charles River Bridge
received a charter from
Massachusetts in 1780
2. 1828, a new company was given a
charter to build a bridge 300 yards
from the Charles River Bridge
3. Charles River Bridge Co. sued,
claiming the new bridge was a
violation of the original charter
4. Chief Justice Taney and Jacksonian
judges on the Supreme Court ruled in
favor of Warren Bridge Co.
5. Significance: encouraged economic
development in transportation and
other public facilities via competition
E. Maysville Road veto
1. Jackson favored states’ rights
over economic nationalism
2. Refused to spend federal money
on intrastate improvements (e.g.
roads and canals)
3. Jackson vetoed Clay’s bill for
improvements to the Maysville
Road in Kentucky
XI. Indian Removal
A. By 1830, most territories east of the
Mississippi River were now states
1. Most tribes were surrounded by white
settlements
2. Jackson opposed viewing tribes as
separate nations within individual
states.
B. Indian Removal Act (1830)
1. Jackson sought bodily removal of
remaining eastern tribes to Oklahoma
-- Especially the Five Civilized Tribes:
Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw,
Chickasaw and Seminoles
2. Indians who adopted white ways
could remain
3. Over 100,000 Amerindians were forcibly
uprooted and moved in the1830’s.
a. Promised that their new lands in
Indian Territory (Oklahoma) would
be theirs permanently
b. Land-hungry settlers continued
to push westward
b. Eventually, most tribes lost much of
their lands in Indian Territory by the
late-19th century
4. Bureau of Indian Affairs established
in 1836 to administer relations with
Native Americans
C. Cherokee
1. Similarities to whites
a. Sequoya created Cherokee syllabic
alphabet
b. Cherokee constitution similar to
the U.S. Constitution
c. Efficient agriculture-based
economy
d. Yet, Cherokee not accepted by
white society
2. Cherokee nation sat on valuable
land in northwestern Georgia
3. Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 1831
-- Court ruled Cherokee were not a
foreign nation, but a domestic,
dependent nation
4. Worcester v. Georgia, 1832
a. Court ruled Georgia’s laws had no
jurisdiction inside Cherokee lands
b. Jackson proceeded with Indian
removal anyway
5. Trail of Tears (1838)
a. 18,000 Cherokees forcibly removed
and marched 1,000 miles to
Oklahoma
-- Over 25% perished on the
journey
b. 25% of Choctaw had died en route to
Oklahoma between 1831 and 1835
D. Black Hawk War (1832) (Illinois
and Wisconsin)
1. Braves led by Black Hawk resisted
removal on lands west of Lake
Huron
2. Crushed by US troops
3. Area west of Lake
Michigan became
open for settlement
E. Seminoles in Florida
1. Bloodiest Indian conflict in U.S.
history (1835-42)
2. 1,500 US soldiers dead
3. 4/5 of Seminoles moved to
Oklahoma
Seminole Chief
Coeehajo
XII. The Birth of Texas
A. U.S. dropped claim to Texas in the
Florida Purchase Treaty (1819)
B. 1823, Mexico granted Stephen
Austin right to settle Texas.
-- Restricted immigration
C. Friction between Texans and Mexico
occurred over slavery, immigration,
and local rights
1. 1835, Santa Anna ended local
rights
2. Raised an army to control Texas
D. Texas declared independence in early 1836
1. Sam Houston, military leader
2. Mexico’s leader, General Santa Anna,
invaded Texas
a. Killed 342 Texans at Goliad who
had surrendered
b. Killed all Americans at the Alamo
E. Houston victorious at San Jacinto on
April 21, 1836
a. Santa Anna forced to recognize Rio
Grande as Texas’ southern border
b. American aid important to Texas’
independence (although U.S. was
officially neutral)
The painting
"Surrender of
Santa Anna"
shows the
Mexican general
Santa Anna
surrendering to a
wounded Sam
Houston.
F. President Jackson and Texas
1. U.S. recognition of Texas would
spark slavery issue and hurt Van
Buren’s run for president
2. Recognized Texas the day before
he left office in 1837
3. Texas petitioned to be annexed
but U.S. refused
4. Texas was left to protect
itself
5. Sam Houston became
the first president of
the Republic of Texas
XIII. Election of 1836
A. Birth of the Whigs in 1834
1. Clay & Calhoun joined to oppose
Jackson’s removal of funds from BUS
2. Evolved into national political
party against Jackson
a. Supporters of Clay’s
“American System”
b. States’ righters (offended
by Jackson’s anti-nullification)
c. Larger northern industrialists
industrialists and merchants
d. Eventually, evangelical Protestants
(many had been Anti-Masons)
3. William H. Harrison emerged as
the Whig nominee
B. Van Buren was the Democratic
nominee
1. In effect, he was Jackson’s handpicked successor
2. Van Buren d. Harrison 170-73
VS
President Martin Van Buren
1837-1841
Democrat
C. 1832 election had marked the
beginning of the “second party system”
1. Democrats and Whigs would
dominate politics until 1852
2. “First party system”: Federalists vs.
Democratic Republicans (1796-1816)
The “Second Party System”: c. 1832-1852
Whigs
 Supported by northern
industrialists and merchants
(wealthiest Americans)
 Supported Clay’s "American
System"
 Sought to reduce the spoils
system
 Southern states’ rights advocates
angry at Jackson’s stand on
nullification
 Evangelicals from Anti-Masonic
party joined
 Later supported moral reforms:
prohibition of alcohol and
abolition of slavery
 Sought to use national gov’t to
solve societies problems (over
states’ rights issues)
Democrats
 Supported by the common people and
machine politicians in the East
 States’ Rights – opposed to
"American System"
 Favored spoils system
 Anti-monopoly—favored increased
competition
 Believed federal gov’t should not be
involved in people’s personal lives
XIV. Jackson’s legacy
A. Positive contributions
1. Demonstrated value of strong
executive leadership
-- Nullification controversy, BUS
2. Champion of the New Democracy
3. Established the Democratic Party
B. Liabilities
1. Spoils system
2. Killing of the BUS resulted in
thousands of bank failures for almost
a century.
3. Specie Circular hurt western farmers
4. Defied the authority of Supreme
Court in Cherokee removal
5. Trail of Tears
6. Cabinet crisis and break with Calhoun
led to increased sectionalism
XV. Panic of 1837
A. Causes
1. Overspeculation on land; also
canals, roads, and slaves
2. Jackson’s policies (BUS and Specie
Circular)
3. Flour Riot in 1837: crop failures
forced grain prices higher and NY
mobs stormed warehouses
4. Failure of two major British
banks; foreign loans called in which
damaged U.S. banks
B. Results
1. U.S. banks collapsed by the 100’s
-- Fall of certain “pet banks”
meant loss of gov’t funds
2. Commodity prices and sale of
public land fell
-- Customs revenues dried up
3. Factories closed; unemployment
soared
C. Whig proposals shot down by
President Van Buren
1. He called for expansion of bank
credit, higher tariffs, and federal
subsidies for internal
improvements
2. Van Buren’s Jacksonian philosophy
of limited gov’t thwarted action
D. Treasury Bill of 1840 “Divorce Bill”
1. Van Buren helped establish the
Independent Treasury System
a. “Divorced” gov’t from banks
altogether
b. Gov’t could keep its surplus
in several cities
2. Result: Funds safe but less credit
available
3. Repealed by Whigs next year when
they won the presidency
4. Reenacted in 1846 by Democrats
and lasted until 1863
XVI. Election of 1840
A. Harrison d. Van Buren 234-60
B. Significance of election:
1. First mass-turnout election in U.S.
history
Percentage of Eligible
Voters Casting Ballots
Rise of Mass Politics, 1824-1840
100
Other
80
60
Whig (National
Republican in
1828 & 1832)
40
20
0
Democrat
1824 1828 1832 1836 1840
Election Year
2. Propaganda and silly slogans set
unfortunate example for future
campaigns
-- “Log cabin and hard cider”
3. Liberty Party (tiny third party
sought anti-extension of slavery)
NEW “KNICKSS”
NEW Democracy
K illing of the BUS
N ullification crisis of 1832
I ndian Removal
C reation of a 2-party system
K itchen Cabinet/Cabinet Crisis (Calhoun)
S poils System
S ectionalism