Transcript APUSH 9 CLIFFS

Jackson’s America:
Condensed
Eaton Affair, Nullification Crisis, Indians, and BotUS
Nullification and Calhoun
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When a protective tariff was passed in 1828,
Calhoun suggested nullification as a way to
protest it.
Remember, nullification basically says if a state
doesn’t agree with federal law, it doesn’t have
to follow that law.
Jackson, a man famed for his temper, was
furious with Calhoun for a variety of reasons;
nullification was only one of them.
The Eaton Affair
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Calhoun and his wife, church-going people,
had refused to entertain newly-married
Secretary of War John Eaton and his new wife
Peggy, a woman of “questionable background”
Peggy Eaton had been married to a much
older man, who subsequently died at sea on
the USS Constitution
The Eaton Affair
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She remarried “too soon” after her first
husband’s death
There were also allegations of an extramarital
affair while her husband was alive, and even
rumors that he had committed suicide over it
The Eaton Affair
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Jackson placed strong value on loyalty.
Moreover, Jackson’s own wife had once been
called “of questionable character” during the
1828 election
She had married Jackson before her divorce
from her first husband was concluded
When Calhoun refused to host the party, the
relationship between Calhoun and Jackson
was beyond repair
The Transition to Van Buren
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Calhoun knew this was a big mistake for his
political future
Jackson had made political organizer Martin
van Buren his Secretary of State in 1829
Van Buren, a real opportunist, offered to host
the social event that Calhoun had refused
Van Buren became the new Jackson “favorite.”
Transitions and Tariffs
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Calhoun eventually resigned the Vice
Presidency
His official reason was anger over the tariff
But Washington insiders knew it was the
“Eaton Affair” as well
Tariff Crisis
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“South Carolina’s Exposition and Protest”
(anonymous essay by Calhoun)
It was a list of reasons why South Carolina
would refuse to collect the tariff
Advocated that states injured by the federal
tariff simply refuse to collect it.
Used language from VA and KY Resolutions
Compromise
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Congressman Henry Clay of Kentucky
proposed a “compromise tariff” which would
gradually lower the 1828 high tariff.
Jackson opposed the compromise, saying the
real issue was whether one state could tell the
country what to do.
Jackson asked Congress for authority to use
force, through the so-called “Force Bill” of
1833, to bring South Carolina back into
obedience to federal law.
Compromise
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Lowered tariff gradually over 10 years; Jackson
signed it.
But Congress also authorized Jackson to send
troops into South Carolina if they refused to
obey the compromise tariff.
Thus, both sides could claim victory. The
Union was temporarily saved, but the issue of
nullification was still not settled
JACKSON AND THE INDIANS
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By modern standards Jackson would easily be
called a racist.
He was himself a slave owner, and also hated
Indians.
He felt the nation’s land was the rightful
property of its farmers, not of the “savages”
who claimed the lands as their own.
JACKSON AND THE INDIANS
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The Black Hawk Wars: the US Army launched
a series of wars in the Northwest territory
(present-day Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin)
to force Indians there to vacate their land
Jackson also encouraged legal efforts against
westernized Indians living inside the States.
JACKSON AND THE INDIANS
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Jackson’s basic belief: Whites and Indians
should not live side by side.
The State of Georgia was sued by an agent
representing the interests of several Indian
tribes whose land had been confiscated by the
state (Worcester v. Georgia.)
The Supreme Court sided with the Indians
Jackson refused to enforce the decision
JACKSON AND THE INDIANS
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In 1830, Jackson urged Congress to pass the
Indian Removal Act
All Indians living in the United States were to
move to lands west of the Mississippi River.
JACKSON AND THE INDIANS
JACKSON AND THE INDIANS
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Resulted in the infamous “Trail of Tears”
Approximately 15,000-17,000 indigenous
peoples (Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws)
were forced to relocate from the Southeast
United States to “Indian Territory,” as
Oklahoma was then called
At least 4,000 died along the way of disease,
starvation and exposure
BotUS: Bank of the US
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None of Jackson’s actions is harder to explain
or understand than his hatred of the Bank of
the United States, which he called “The
Monster Bank.”
Jackson was not sophisticated in matters of
finance. He did not understand the many good
things the Bank of the United States had
brought the country.
BotUS: Bank of the US
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Nicholas Biddle, the Bank president, was one
of the finest financial minds of his day, with
sound ideas on currency, taxes, tariffs, and
international trade
In Jackson’s mind, Biddle was “The Enemy.”
Jackson set out early in his first term to get rid
of The Bank.
BotUS: Bank of the US
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The Bank had limited the amount of currency
that states could print, and had allowed federal
currency printed only in the amount of specie
(gold or silver to back up currency) that was in
the US Treasury.
These are all sound fiscal practices, but they
weren’t popular
BotUS: Bank of the US
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In times when The Bank “expanded” money
supply (that is, when they allowed more
currency to be printed) wealthy people were
afraid that the worth of their dollars would go
down.
These people tended to support “hard money,”
a limited currency supply that raises the value
of individual dollars.
BotUS: Bank of the US
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On the other side were the “soft money,” or
“easy money” advocates
Believed that issuing a large number of paper
dollars, even if there isn’t the full amount of
specie to support the worth of those dollars,
would at least give people spending money
and would help the economy.
BotUS: Bank of the US
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The Charter of the First Bank of the United
States had been allowed to expire in early
1811
In 1816 (under President Madison) the bank
was re-chartered as the Second Bank of the
United States
In 1836 it would be once again up for renewal
Jackson opposed re-chartering the Bank
BotUS: Bank of the US
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Jackson campaigned for re-election on a
platform of doing away with the Bank of the
United States
Jackson easily won a second term, with Martin
Van Buren as Vice President
Jackson began ordering Treasury deposits
taken out of BotUS, and placed instead into
State banks that he personally trusted.
BotUS: Bank of the US
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Jackson’s poor understanding of economics
set the country up for a Depression
It did not hit until he was out of office, during
Van Buren’s term
Van Buren was blamed for Jackson’s mistakes
BotUS: Bank of the US