Transcript VUS 6 b the Age of Jackson

The Age of Jackson
Mrs. Saunders
VUS.6
The American System
• In 1815, President Madison presented a plan to
Congress designed to unify the North and South,
which were developing vastly different
economies, calling for:
– The development of a transportation system (roads,
canals and railroads to encourage trade)
– A protective tariff to increase the cost of foreign made
goods and raise money for the public works projects
(the Tariff of 1816)
– Resurrecting the National Bank (reduced by Jefferson
during his presidency)
The American System
• Henry Clay, the Speaker of the House,
and John C. Calhoun supported Madison's
plan and Clay called it the “American
System”.
• Most Northerners welcomed the tariff
because it made their products more
competitive.
• Most Southerners resented the tariff that
would make goods more expensive.
The American System
Because Henry Clay was from Kentucky and
John Calhoun was from South Carolina,
they united to get the Tariff of 1816 passed.
In 1816 James Monroe was elected
President and everyone in the country
seemed to pleased with the development of
the Country – this time period became
known as the “Era of Good Feelings”
Election of 1824
• John Quincy Adams
(son of John Adams) ran
against Andrew Jackson
(now called Democrat
not DemocraticRepublican).
•Jackson won the popular vote but lacked a majority of the
electoral votes.
•The House of Representatives had to decide the outcome
and Clay used his influence to sway the vote to Adams.
•Adam then appointed Clay as Secretary of State and
Jackson accused them of corruption.
Election of 1828
• By 1828, Americans began to see themselves
as equals and were more eager to participate in
the electoral process. Delegates from states
chose candidates for President at nominating
conventions.
• The distinction between “aristocrat” and
common man was disappearing as new states
provided for universal manhood suffrage, while
the older states were lowering property
requirements for voting.
• Jackson Won the Presidency and John C.
Calhoun became his Vice-President.
The Age of Jackson
• Began a new democratic
spirit in American politics
• The mass of American
people, who had
previously been content
with rule by the
“aristocracy,”
participated in the
electoral process.
The Age of Jackson
At Andrew Jackson's
inaugural in 1829, the
White House was thrown
open to men (and women)
of all classes, and the
crowd of 20,000 tracked
mud onto the carpets,
broke chairs by climbing on
them to see the new
president, and generally
shocked genteel observers.
The Age of Jackson
Andrew Jackson was credited
with inventing the "spoils"
system of giving the victors in
an election the rewards of
making job appointments.
Jackson believed that
governmental jobs required no
special skills, and could be
held by any man, however little
educated. Federal
appointments were given
without regard to skills or
training to men who had
helped Jackson win the
presidency.
• “Spoils System”: A
practice of using
public offices to
benefit members of
the victorious party
Nullification Crisis
• A few months before the
election of 1828, Congress
passed a tariff law with high
duties. People who opposed it
(southerners and westerners)
called it the Tariff of
Abominations.
• John C. Calhoun (V.P.) from S.C. opposed the tariff and
insisted the States had the right to prevent an
unconstitutional law from being enforced. State legislature
could pass an act the would nullify the federal law.
• The S.C. legislature passed such and act and Calhoun
resigned as Vice-President. Clay and Calhoun worked a
compromise so the nullification crisis ended but the
questions of nullification remained unanswered.
Age of Jackson
• Distrusting the Second National Bank as
an undemocratic tool of the Eastern elite,
Jackson vetoed the rechartering of the
bank in 1832.
• Jackson’s bank veto became the central
issue in the election of 1832, as Henry
Clay, the National Republican candidate,
supported the bank.
The Age of Jackson
• Jackson’s veto of legislation to
recharter the bank of the
United States made the
presidential veto part of the
legislative process, as
Congress, from then on, was
forced to consider a
presidential veto when
proposing legislation.
An 1836 cartoon, "General Jackson Slaying the Many Headed Monster."
Jackson used the issue of the Second National Bank as his principal
reelection theme in 1832 and in the election called on the common people to
join him in fighting the privileged "monster" corporation, which had branches
in 22 states. In this cartoon Jackson, aided by Martin Van Buren (center) his
loyal vice president, wields his veto against the monster, whose heads
represent the directors of the state branches.
The Age of Jackson
• The Jacksonians' policy
of removing federal
funds from the Bank of
the United States and
placing them in "pet
banks" helped to
contribute to the fiscal
problems that ended in a
severe economic panic
in 1837, which led to
When Jackson removed all federal funds from the
bank failures and
Second Bank twenty-three state banks, known as
dissatisfaction with the "pet" banks, were chosen as the depositories for
these federal monies. With federal funds gone,
use of state banks as
had to call in the Bank's loans; the result
depositories for public Biddle
was a severe recession in 1834, which Jackson
funds
supporters blamed on the Bank officers rather on
their own shortsightedness.