Transcript JB APUSH Unit IIIC

Age of Jackson
Unit IIIC
AP United States History
Jacksonian Democracy









Rise of the “common man”
Among white male society, equal opportunity was
evident
Universal male suffrage
Change from caucuses to conventions
Selection of electors chosen more by voters
Increase in local and state elections
Rise of third parties
Spoils system -> patronage, loyalty
FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION: Compare/contrast
Jeffersonian Democracy and Jacksonian
Democracy.
Election of 1824


Sectional and ideological
differences lead to Dem-Reps
splitting up
Election of 1824 has four
candidates
 General/Senator Andrew
Jackson (SOUTH)
 Sec. of State John Quincy
Adams (NORTH)
 Sec. of Treasury William
Crawford (EAST)
 Speaker of the House Henry
Clay (WEST)

“Corrupt Bargain”
 House chose Adams over
Jackson despite Jackson
earning popular vote and
most electoral votes

Split among National
Republicans and Jacksonian
Democrats
House Vote for Election of 1824
John Quincy Adams (1825-1829)





Son of Federalist John Adams
National Republican who favored
strong central government and
federal programs
Most of his proposals rejected by
a pro-Jackson Congress
Alienated the South and West
Tariff of 1828 aka Tariff of
Abominations
 High protective tariff
 Encourage northern industries;
Southern agriculture suffered
Election of 1828

During Quincy
Adams’s presidency,
Jackson built a
popular coalition,
especially in the
West and South
 Political campaigns
on national levels
 Jackson’s wife
 Coffin Handbills


Large turnout
Jackson soundly
defeats Adams
“Old Hickory”

Unlike the previous presidents
 Duelist, Gambler, Bar Fighter, PipeSmoker, Tobacco Chewer



War hero
Exemplified common man success
Practiced the spoils system
 Hired loyalists and friends

Took office promising a strong
executive
 “It was settled by the Constitution, the
laws, and the whole practice of the
government that the entire executive
power is vested in the President of the
United States.”

Endorsed states’ rights
 Considered himself a Jeffersonian
Democrat
Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)

Vetoed more bills by Congress
than all predecessors
 Maysville Road (1830)



Vetoed federal funds as violation
of intrastate commerce
Peggy Eaton Affair
“Kitchen Cabinet”
 Private group of trusted advisors

Whig Party
 Established in 1833 in reaction to
Jackson’s power
 Evolution of National
Republicans
 Henry Clay, Daniel Webster

Major Issues
 Native Removal
 Nullification Crisis
 Bank of the United States
Jackson and Native Removal
 Jackson encouraged settlement in
Native lands

Benefits white Americans to exploit
resources, Deep South wanted
fertile land for cotton
 Indian Removal Act (1830)

Negotiate with Native tribes for
removal west to lands west of the
Mississippi
 Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831)

Determined Native tribes not to be
“foreign states” but as “domestic
dependent nations”
 Worcester v. Georgia (1832)

Determined sovereignty of Native
tribes therefore not subject to state
laws
 Apocryphal: “John Marshall had
made his decision. Now let him
enforce it!” - Andrew Jackson
 Trail of Tears

Many died from exposure, disease,
starvation
 60,000 removed; 15,000 died
Jackson and the Nullification Crisis


Tariff of Abominations (1828)
South Carolina Exposition and Protest (1828)



Webster-Haynes Debates (1830)




Senator Robert Hayne (SC) promotes nullification and states’ rights
Daniel Webster responds with supremacy of U.S. Constitution,
nullification/secession is treason; “Liberty and Union, now and
forever, one and inseparable!”
Jefferson Day Dinner (1830)



Inspired by Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
State could nullify federal law or possibly secede if necessary
Andrew Jackson: “Our federal Union: It must be preserved.”
John C. Calhoun: “The Union: Next to our Liberty, the most dear.”
Tariff of 1832
Ordinance of Nullification (1832)
 South Carolina passes nullification of Tariffs of 1828/1832
 Prepares military build up in preparation

Force Bill (1833)
 Jackson requests and granted authorization from Congress
to lead federal military to crush nullifiers

Tariff of 1833
 Henry Clay negotiates compromise to gradually lower tariff
rates to 1816 levels
Jackson and the Economy

Jackson and the Bank

Jackson believed Bank of U.S. as
unconstitutional



Nicholas Biddle ran bank effectively but
“suspiciously”




Transferred funds to state banks aka “pet
banks”
Specie Circular (1836)


Bank supported by Henry Clay and Daniel
Webster
“You are a den of vipers and thieves. I have
determined to rout you out, and by the
Eternal, I will rout you out!”
“The bank, Mr. Van Buren, is trying to kill
me, but I will kill it.”
Jackson denied Bank’s charter


Considered a private monopoly
A force against the common man
Purchase of federal lands by gold and
silver rather than bank notes
Panic of 1837





Land speculation and crop failures
Hard currency led to devalue of paper
money and inflation
Denial of Bank charter
States overextended in infrastructure
projects
Banks closed; unemployment increased;
depression for next five years
Second Party System (1828-1854)


National political campaigns and spoils
system galvanize political parties
Democrats:









states’ rights
laissez-faire and free trade
Expansionism
Pro-slavery
equal opportunity
South and West
working class
Andrew Jackson, Martin van Buren
Whigs:







American System
strong federal government
Mixed on slavery
social conservatives
New England, Northerners
upper and middle class professionals
Henry Clay


Rise of Third Parties
Anti-Masonic Party:
 issue party concerned about
Freemasons
 promoted economic nationalism
and social conservatism
 introduced party conventions

Liberty Party:
 abolitionist party

Free Soil Party:
 Prevent expansion of slavery
 anti-slavery party in latter years
The End of the Jackson Era


“After 8 years as president, I have only two
regrets. That I have not shot Henry Clay or
hanged John C. Calhoun.” - Andrew
Jackson
Panic of 1837 and Martin van Buren’s
presidency drifted support toward Whigs
 “Martin van Ruin”

Whigs nominated William Henry Harrison,
a war hero and depicted common man, in
1840
 Log Cabin and Hard Cider
 “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too!”



Whigs win presidency, but Harrison dies in
office
John Tyler, a Whig, favors more
Democratic policies
The nation enters period of expansion and
slavery