Transcript Andrew Jackson

►Essential
Question:
 How effective was Andrew Jackson as
7th president of the United States?
Jacksonian
Democracy
Jacksonian Democracy
► When
Andrew Jackson was elected
Jackson advocated “negative activism” &
president, it represented a new era in
increased presidential powers by using the
American history:
veto more times than any previous president
 He was the first president that represented
the “common man”
 His party (the Democrats) took advantage of
the extension of suffrage to common white
men
 He greatly expanded the powers of the
presidency
Spoils System
► When
Jackson was elected, he rewarded
loyal supporters with gov’t jobs (the spoils
system)
 Massive turnover in the civil service had not
yet occurred
st to do this… he
Jackson
was
not
the
1
 Rotation in office began to be seen as a very
just extended
to more
people!
democratic
way toitreduce
gov’t
corruption &
“Get incompetence
their rascals out…and our rascals in”
The Peggy Eaton Affair
► Jackson’
s presidency began rough with
the Petticoat Affair:
 His entire cabinet resigned when Jackson
Only
Sec
of
State
Van
Buren
supported the moral character of Sec of War
remained
loyal to Jackson
John
Eaton’s wife
 Jackson formed a new cabinet but relied
almost exclusively on his close friends &
unofficial advisors (the “Kitchen Cabinet”)
Kentucky was home of Henry Clay, who
Maysville
Jackson never
forgaveRoad
for the Project
“Corrupt Bargain”
Jackson vetoed 7 other bills of public
► The
“National”
led byand
Claycanals
&
works
projects,Republicans
including roads
JQ Adams split with the old-style
Democratic-Republicans
► President Jackson dealt a blow to the
American System:
 He was OK with national projects but did not
like spending federal money for state projects
 In 1830, Jackson vetoed funds for the
Maysville Road because it was exclusively in
Kentucky
The
Nullification Crisis
The Nullification Crisis
► By
1820, the South was anxious about
Abominations”
federal “Tariff
powersof
over
states:
 VP Calhoun
the defender
“states’
Calhoun
(SC) ledbecame
the argument
for of
nullification
rights”
in Exposition
& Protest in 1828 to protect
 He wanted
protect slavery
& hated
Southern
rightstoagainst
Northern
self-interest
industrial protective tariffs
 After the Tariff of 1828 passed, the South
affirmed nullification (the right of an individual
state to ignore federal laws)
InThe
1833,Nullification
Henry Clay presented
a
Crisis
► 4 years later,
Congress
passed
the Tariff
compromise
which
severely
lowered
the of
1832;
South Carolina
invoked nullification
tariff,
SC withdrew
nullification,
& Jackson &
refused
to collect
tariff duties
did
not have
to enforce
the Force Act
► Jackson
viewed nullification as a
treasonous threat to the Union
This 1832 tariff actually intended to lower
 Congress passed the Force Bill to make S.C.
the
Tariff
of
Abominations,
but
collect tariff taxes
Southerners viewed the tariff as an
 Jackson threatened to “hang Calhoun from the
unconstitutional
violation
of
states’
rights
nearest tree”
The Nullification Crisis
► Significance
of Nullification Crisis:
 Nullification implied that states had the right
to declare federal laws void & the right to
secede from the Union
 More than any other president, Jackson
asserted that the central gov’t is supreme over
the states & was willing to use force to
preserve federal authority
tariff
debates
among the
North, South, &
InThe
1829,
a NE
Congressmen
introduced
West
increased
rivalries
a bill
to slow sectional
western land
sales in the 1830s
(this bill was really an effort to keep
NE’s power in Congress from slipping)
Daniel Webster (MA)
countered: “Liberty &
Union, now & forever,
one & inseparable”
Robert Hayne (SC)
proposed nullification &
This
bill
led
to
sectional
tensions,
culminating
“Liberty
first &
an alliance between
in
the
Webster-Hayne
Debate
in
1830
Union
afterwards”
South & West against NE
Webster-Hayne Debate
► Daniel
Webster presented one of the most
significant arguments against states’ rights
& nullification
 The U.S. was more than just a compact of
states…it was a creation of the people
 The Constitution gave the national gov’t
ultimate power & supremacy over the states
 Nullification would lead to anarchy & civil war
Indian Removal
Indian Removal
► Southerners
were disappointed with JQ
Adams’ slow movement in dealing with
Indians
► Jackson promised to act quickly but the
Cherokee were a problem:
 They were not “uncivilized” because they had
a republican gov’t, an agrarian lifestyle, & a
formal alphabet (Sequoyah)
 They refused to move from GA
The Cherokee Nation by 1820
Cherokee Chief
“Major Ridge”
Indian Removal
► When
gold
wasJohn
discovered
in
Two
more
Marshall
GA, the GA
decisions!!
gov’t abolished Cherokee tribal rule &
GA defied
the Supreme Court’s decisions
defied
the Constitution
& continued
to the
takestates
Cherokee
 Jackson
supported
& askedlands
Congress for the Indian Removal Act of 1830
Jackson
supported GA’s defiance: “Marshall
But…the
Court
in Cherokee
hasmade
hisSupreme
decision,
nowruled
let him
enforce it”
Nation v GA (1831) & Worcester v GA (1832)
that the states have no power over tribes
In 1838, the U.S. Army forced the Cherokees
west on the “Trail of Tears”
►Essential
Question:
 How effective was Andrew
Jackson as 7th president of
the United States?
►Warm-Up Question:
 Considering their many
accomplishments, who was the
more influential leader:
Henry Clay or Andrew Jackson?
►
►
Henry Clay
Speaker of House/ Sec of
State
American System:
 2nd BUS
 Protective Tariff
 Roads & canals
►
►
►
►
1820-Missouri Comp
1824-Corrupt Bargain
1833-Compromise Tariff
(Nullif Crisis)
2-time prez candidate
Andrew Jackson
► General/President
► Hero of New Orleans
► Florida cession
► President
 Spoils System
 1830-Indian Removal Act
 1833-Force Bill
(Nullification Crisis)
 Death of the BUS
 Specie Circular
The Bank War &
the Second Party
System
Bank
War
1828,The
the national
gov’t
TheseInstate-chartered
banks
had coined
tendency
onlymore
a limited
of hard
to issue
loanssupply
than they
couldmoney
support
& their
printed
noissue
paper
at all
► The with
major
political
ofmoney
Jackson’s
reign
“hard
currency”
reserves
was
of thepaper
Second
Bank
of the
Allhis
ofkilling
America’s
bank
notes
which
U.S.:
financed land purchases, businesses, &
 Theeconomic
BUS held
~$10
million
in gov’t
money
&
nd
growth
came
from
these
2 toBUS
had
30 branches &
madeThe
loans
people
&
businesses
private,
state-chartered
banks
was
biggest
bank
in
America
 The BUS helped control America’s 329 private,
state-chartered banks by forcing them to be
smart when issuing loans
► But
The Bank War
the BUS was controversial:
 Many blamed it for a depression in 1819 by
overextending credit & too quickly calling in
loans
 Many people still viewed the BUS as an
unconstitutional monopoly that gave too
much power to the upper class
 BUS manager Nicholas Biddle was effective,
but seen as arrogant, vain, & “aristocratic”
The Bank Veto
► Since
entering office in 1828, Jackson
Congress
wasBUS
unable to override the veto
disliked the
► Clay, Webster,
Biddle
worried about
the
Jackson’s
veto did& not
immediately
kill the
future of
the BUS
whose
BUS…its
charter
would
notexpiration
end for 4 was
yearsup
in 1836
► Congress re-chartered the BUS in 1832
but Jackson vetoed it:
 Claimed it unconstitutional, a violation of
Jackson
frequently
attacked
the
bank
as
states’ rights, & “dangerous to people’s
an liberties”
agency through which speculators &
monopolists cheated honest farmers
The Election of 1832
► Jackson’s
veto surprised the financial
community but was very popular in the
South & West
► Jackson made the BUS a key issue in the
election of 1832:
 Jackson defeated Henry Clay
 Jackson viewed his win as a mandate by the
people to continue his war against the BUS
► Jackson
The Bank War
attacked the BUS by withdrawing
all federal money & moved the funds to 23
state banks
► Jackson’s opponents argued that he
overstepped his authority:
 Unpopular in Jackson’s cabinet
 Some who supported his veto of the recharter now
questioned
whether
Favorable
state
banksJackson
were had
gone too
far &“pet”
overstepped
his powers
called
or “wildcat”
banks
Irony?
This move effectively ended
Henry Clay’s American System
► Jackson
Killing the Bank
issued the Specie Circular in 1836 to
move…and
U.S. away
from paper
moneyMartin
by
Jackson’s
successor,
accepting
only gold
or silver
for land
Van Buren,
will
have (specie)
to deal with
sales
► The economy sank & Panic of 1837 led to a 6year recession due to:
 Price inflation & the inconsistent extension of
credit by “pet” banks
 Drop in worldwide cotton prices
The Emergence of the Whigs
► In
1834, an anti-Jackson coalition formed a
new party, the Whigs:
Were strongly opposed
 Supported by ex-Federalists, “Clay
to
“King
Andrew”
Republicans,” commercial farmers in the West
& South, industrialists in the North
 Supported a strong national gov’t & economic
regulation
► The
Whigs gained support during the Panic
of 1837 & the recession
Conclusions
► Andrew
Jackson ushered in a new form of
politics by embracing the surge in
democratic suffrage:
 Forming the Democratic Party, active
campaigning, the spoils system, & “common
man” image
 Jackson’s liberal use of the veto strengthened
presidential power
 Opposition to Jackson led to the permanent
two-party system
The Enigma:
Andrew Jackson
Analyze
Andrew
Jackson
Cartoon
►Review
Question:
 What characteristics of
“Jacksonian politics” do we
see today?
 Which aspect of Jackson’s
presidency was most
significant: strengthening the
national gov’t by resisting
nullification OR damaging the
economy during the Bank War?