Transcript Instructional Focus Document Notes Grade 8/Social Studies

Instructional Focus
Document Notes
Grade 8/Social Studies
UNIT: 07
TITLE: Age of
Jackson
Part 1: Jackson Democracy
A New Era in Politics
The spirit of Democracy which was
changing the political system affected
Americans’ ideas about social classes.
 Most Americans believed that the rich did
not deserve special treatment, or respect.
 Alexis de Tocqueville was sent to the
United States from France to study and
write about American democracy.

Alexis de Tocqueville
He observed that
American society
continued to become
more democratic.
 After returning to
France his book:

Democracy in America
influenced many
minds across Europe.
Alexis de Tocqueville
In his book he noted and admired the
American democratic spirit and its goals of
equality and freedom.
 He noted the results of the revolution was
still taking place in America and were far
from coming to an end

More Voters
The United States was growing rapidly with
many more states joining the Union, which
meant more voters
 Suffrage (the right to vote) was extended to
more Americans.

Suffrage Expands
Reformers in the East worked to expand
suffrage, and by 1830 most Eastern states
dropped the requirement that voters had
to own land to vote.
 There were still many Americans who did
not have the right to vote including:
Women, Native Americans, Slaves, and
Free African Americans.

Disputed Election of 1824

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There were four candidates in the Presidential
election of 1824.
All four were members of the DemocraticRepublican party.
John Quincy Adams (son of former President
John Adams) was strong in New England
Henry Clay and Andrew Jackson were supported
in the West.
William Crawford was supported in the South.
Candidates in 1824
The Corrupt Bargain
The candidates narrowed to John Quincy
Adams and Andrew Jackson
 No clear winner emerged in the election
 Andrew Jackson won the popular vote, but
did not have the majority of electoral
votes needed to win the election.
 As a result, the House of Representatives
had to choose the next President. (as
stipulated in the Constitution.)

Corrupt Bargain
Henry Clay was
Speaker of the House
and could therefore
influence votes.
 Clay urged the House
to vote for Adams and
Adams won the
election.
 Clay was then
appointed Secretary
of State by Adams

Corrupt Bargain
Andrew Jackson and
his supporters were
furious.
 They accused Clay
and Adams of making
a corrupt bargain and
stealing the election
from Andrew Jackson

Corrupt Bargain

These charges were not true, but the anger of
Jackson and his supporters hampered any
attempt by President Adams to unify the nation.
Election of 1828
Adams faced an uphill
battle for his reelection.
 Andrew Jackson won
this election in a
landslide.
 For the first time, the
interests of the
common man were
important.

Jackson’s Inauguration
Andrew Jackson’s
inauguration in 1829
reflected the growing
spirit of democracy.
 The spread of political
power to all the
people became
known as “Jacksonian
Democracy.”

Jackson was the “Common Man’s”
President
The Democrat Party Begins
The disappearance of the Federalist party
temporarily ended party differences.
 New political parties formed because of the
conflict between Adams and Jackson.
 Whigs were the new political party that wanted
the federal government to spur (push forward)
the American economy
 Whigs were supported by eastern business,
southern planters, and former federalists. Whigs
did not like nor support Andrew Jackson.

The Democrat Party Begins
Democrats were people who supported Andrew
Jackson.
 Democrats included frontier farmers, factory
workers, commoners, etc.

New ways to choose Candidates
There were new ways to choose candidates to
run for the Presidency.
 Before was the Caucus system. This was
considered undemocratic because only a few
powerful men selected the candidates.
 Nominating Conventions replaced Caucuses.
Delegates from each state voted for the
candidates who would run for the Presidency.

Andrew Jackson

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Jackson was a self made
man
Fought in the American
Revolution at age 13
Studied law in North
Carolina and opened
successful law practice in
Tennessee
Elected to Congress while
in his twenties.
Andrew Jackson
Became wealthy by
buying and selling
land in Georgia and
Alabama
 Won national fame for
his achievements in
the War of 1812
(especially the Battle
of New Orleans)

Andrew Jackson
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Jackson had a violent
temper and dealt harshly
with his enemies
He wanted to expand the
power of the President.
The Creeks thought of
Jackson as an enemy
without mercy. They
called him the “Sharp
Knife”
Spoils System
After winning the election, Jackson fired
many government employees and
replaced them with his supporters
 Andrew Jackson had many unique policies
, and strategies (plans)
 Critics claimed that Jackson was rewarding
Democrats for getting him elected

Spoils System
Jackson countered by
saying he was
supporting democracy
by allowing ordinary
people to run the
government.
 The Spoils System
can be defined as
profits or benefits.

Spoils System

From then on rewarding supporters with
government jobs became known as the Spoils
System
The “Kitchen Cabinet”
Because many of the
supporters Jackson
gave government jobs
to were not qualified,
Jackson rarely met
with them
 Instead he met with
his unofficial cabinet
of leading Democrats
and educated
newspaper editors

The “Kitchen Cabinet”

Because they would meet after hours in the
White House Kitchen, they earned the nickname,
“Kitchen Cabinet”
The Bank Wars
The National Bank held great power, because it
controlled all the loans made by state banks. If
state banks made too many loans, the National
Bank would step in and limit the amount of
loans they could make.
 This angered farmers and merchants who
needed these loans for land and businesses.
 Though the National Bank was created by
Congress, Jackson claimed that the bank was
unconstitutional.

The Bank Wars
The Whig Party (Daniel Webster and Henry Clay)
were worried that Jackson would destroy the
National Bank.
 They wanted Jackson to lose his re-election, so
they moved up the date of the Bank charter
renewal knowing that Jackson would veto the
renewal.
 They thought that if the renewal was vetoed,
then the closing of the Bank would lead to an
economic crisis and Jackson would be blamed.
 He would then lose the election.

The Bank Wars
Jackson DID veto the National Bank’s renewal
charter giving two reasons:
 1. He said the bank helped the aristocrats at the
expense of the common man. It had too much
power over the economy and favored the
wealthy.
 2. The National bank was unconstitutional and
that only state banks could charter banks and
loans, not the Federal government.

The Bank Wars
The National Bank
closed when its
charter ran out in
1836.
 Its closing contributed
to an economic crisis.

The Bank Wars

Andrew Jackson was
beginning to gather
more and more
political enemies who
were becoming
alarmed at the power
he was wielding as
President.
States Rights
This is the right of individual states to limit the
power of the Federal government within their
borders.
 During Andrew Jackson’s presidency, the debate
over States Rights affected two issues
 1. The tariff issue
 2. The rights of Native Americans to lands they
had been guaranteed in Federal treaties

Tariff of 1828
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In 1828, Congress passed
the highest tariff in the
history of the United
States.
Tariffs were intended to
protect the northern
industries from competing
industries in Europe.
Tariffs usually impacted
the South negatively.
Tariff of 1828
The South called the Tariff of 1828 the “Tariff
of Abominations.”
 The South sold their cotton to European nations
at discounted prices. In return, European
nations provided the South with manufactured
goods at low cost.
 The tariffs only helped (protected) the North.
 Tariffs were designed to create a demand for
American manufactured goods.

Calhoun vs. Webster
John C. Calhoun
(Andrew Jackson’s
Vice President)
claimed that a state
should have the right
to nullify a law it
considered
unconstitutional.
 Calhoun supported
States Rights

Calhoun vs. Webster
Daniel Webster
disagreed with
Calhoun.
 Webster said the
Constitution united
the people…not the
states
 Webster and Calhoun
became bitter
opponents in
Congress

Nullification Crisis
Calhoun resigned from the office of the
Vice President after getting little support
from President Andrew Jackson. (Jackson
replaced him with Martin Van Buren)
 Calhoun then was elected to the Senate
for South Carolina.
 Congress passed a lower tariff, but South
Carolina was still not satisfied.

Nullification Crisis
South Carolina passed the Nullification Act which
stated that it had the right to reject any law
passed by Congress.
 South Carolina saw Nullification as a States’
Rights issue.
 South Carolina declared the Tariff of 1828 illegal
and even threatened to secede if challenged
 Andrew Jackson was furious and asked Congress
to pass the force bill which would allow him to
use the military to enforce the tariff in South
Carolina.

Nullification Crisis

Faced with Jackson’s
firm stand, South
Carolina backed down
and repealed the
Nullification Act.
Nullification Crisis
Henry Clay was now able to work with
John C. Calhoun to lower the tariff on
Southern States with the Compromise
Tariff of 1833.
 Though the crisis passed, tension between
the North and South would continue to
grow through the years

Impact of Slavery on different
Section of the United States
In the North, Slavery
had been illegal since
the Revolution
 In 1807, Congress
banned the
importation of slaves
into the United States
from Africa. Though,
the practice of slavery
was still legal in the
South.

Impact of Slavery on different
Section of the United States
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There were some abolitionist societies that wanted to
get rid of slavery everywhere in the U.S. but many were
ambivalent to the plight of slaves
In the South, slaves were seen as property, not people
and vital for the labor required to maintain the cash
crops
Impact of Slavery on different
Section of the United States
The South saw the issue of slavery as a
States’ Rights issue.
 The South was becoming more and more
economically dependent on slavery and
acted to silence criticism .
 The West was becoming involved due to
the extension of slavery into the new
western territories.

Supreme Court and States
Rights

Two landmark Supreme Court decisions also
dealt with the issue of States v. the Federal
Government
Supreme Court and States
Rights
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McCulloch v. Maryland
(1819) came to the U.S.
Supreme Court because
Maryland wanted to tax
the National Bank’s
branch within its borders.
The Supreme courts
decision was that a state
can not have authority
over a federal institution.
The Federal Governments
authority over State
Governments was upheld
Supreme Court and States
Rights
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Gibbons v. Ogden came
to the U.S. Supreme
Court because steamship
operators fought over
shipping rights on the
Hudson River in both New
York and New Jersey. The
Supreme Court’s ruling
was that ONLY the
Federal Government had
the power to regulate
interstate commerce. The
Federal Governments
power was reinforced
Cherokee Resettlement
The Creek, Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and
Seminole lived in peace with the white
Americans in the southeast.
 Their land, however , was ideal for growing
cotton, and settlers wanted this land.
 Jackson sided with the settlers and urged
Congress to set aside new land for the Native
American tribes west of the Mississippi River,
and force them into that land.

Cherokee Resettlement
Cherokee Resettlement
Few Native Americans
wanted to move
 The Cherokee had
adopted many
American customs
 They decided to take
their battle to the
courts

Worcester v. Georgia
Georgia claimed the
right to force out the
Cherokee.
 The Cherokee pointed
to the many federal
treaties they had
which superseded any
state law.
 The case went all the
way to the Supreme
Court.

Worcester v. Georgia

Chief Justice John
Marshall declared
Georgia’s actions to
be unconstitutional
and stated that the
Native Americans
were protected by the
federal treaties
Worcester v. Georgia
Andrew Jackson refused to enforce the Supreme
Court’s decision and sided with Georgia claiming
that the federal government could not prevent
Georgia from taking Cherokee lands.
 The Indian Removal Act of 1830 forced many
Native American tribes west of the Mississippi
River. (Oklahoma)
 In the Indian Removal Act, Congress was trying
to avoid conflict between cotton farmers and
Indians, but it also confiscated Indian land for
the purpose of cotton farming.
 The Indian Removal Act was also intended to
protect Indian government and culture.

Trail of Tears
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In 1838, the U.S. army
forced more than 15,000
Cherokees westward into
Oklahoma.
Many perished on the
march because of a lack
of supplies. Most were
the elderly and children
The Cherokees migration
was a long and sorrowful
journey which became
known as “The Trail of
Tears”
Seminole Wars

In Florida, the
Seminole tribe
refused to go west
and fought back.
These became the
Seminole Wars, one
of the costliest wars
waged by the federal
government to obtain
Indian land.
Seminole Wars

In the end, the Seminoles were defeated and
they too were forced west.
Martin Van Buren
Andrew Jackson
stepped down after
his second term
 Martin Van Buren
became the next
President of the
United States

Panic of 1837
Martin Van Buren faced a terrible
economic crisis, because the National
Bank had been closed.
 The Panic of 1837 started because
western land was being sold to
speculators who bought up cheap land in
the hope of selling it at a huge profit.
 They were buying this land with borrowed
money from state banks.

Panic of 1837
The National Bank was no longer there to
regulate the amount of money being
loaned out.
 State banks began to just print up more
money to meet the demand.
 Before leaving office, Jackson tried to slow
down this splurge in loans by issuing an
order that land could only be bought with
gold or silver.

Panic of 1837
Speculators and everyone else then began to try
cashing in their paper currency for gold or silver.
 The banks did not have the gold or silver to back
up the paper money.
 Many banks were forced to close
 The Panic worsened as cotton prices in the
south plummeted. Cotton farmers now couldn’t
repay loans and more banks closed.

Economic Depression
The nation plunged
into an economic
depression.
 A depression is a
period where business
declines,
unemployment rises,
and the economy
struggles.
 This depression lasted
3 years

Campaign of 1840
Martin Van Buren
faced a battle when
he ran for re-election.
 The Whig Party had
chosen William Henry
Harrison to run
against the Democrat.
 Harrison was popular
from the War of 1812.

Campaign of 1840
The Whigs spread
word and propaganda
all over in their
attempt to unseat the
Democrats.
 This became a
mudslinging
campaign.

William Henry Harrison
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The Whigs were excited
when Harrison won the
Presidency. They planned
to reinstate the National
Bank, bring back higher
tariffs, improve roads,
etc.
They were devastated
when Harrison died of
pneumonia two weeks
later
John Tyler
John Tyler succeeded
Harrison as President
 Tyler (an exDemocrat) vetoed the
National Bank bill.
 In response, the
Whigs threw Tyler out
of the party, so he
could not run for reelection.
