Transcript The Rise of Mass Democracy powerpoint

Introduction

 The Era of good feelings was never peaceful. Economic
distress and slavery issue raised the political stakes in the
1820’s and 1830’s. New political parties emerged. New
styles of campaigning took hold. A new chapter opened
in the history of American-and world-politics, as many
European societies began to broaden democratic
practices.
 In 1828 an energetic new party, the Democrats, captured
the White House. By the 1830’s the Democrats faced the
Whigs.
 New forms of politics emerged in this era. Voter turnout
rose dramatically. One-Quarter of voters in the 1824
election, and in 1840 it reached to 78 percent.
The Corrupt Bargain of 1824

 The last of the old-style of elections
was marked by the corrupt bargain of
1824. Four candidates towered above
the others: John Quincy Adams,
Henry Clay, William H. Crawford,
and Andrew Jackson. All four rivals
professed to be Republicans. John C.
Calhoun appeared as the vice
presidential candidate on both the
Adams and Jackson ticket.
 In this deadlock, the House of
Representatives, as directed by the
12th amendment, which states that
they must choose among the top three
candidates. Clay was eliminated, and
he had to pick a winner (He was the
speaker of the House). Clay was
influential to throw the election to the
candidate of his choice.
The Corrupt Bargain of
1824

 Crawford was out of the picture, because of a stroke. Clay
hated Jackson, for his allegiance to the west. The only candidate
left was Adams. These two men had much more in common
politically.
 Decision day came in 1825. On the first ballot, thanks to Clay’s
influence, Adams was elected president. A few days later Clay
would be the new secretary of state.
 Masses of angry Jacksonian’s, most of them common folk, rose
against this corrupt bargain. This clamor continued for four
years. There was no evidence to prove that Adams and Clay
entered into a formal bargain. Clay was a natural choice for
secretary of state. Even if a bargain was made, it was not
corrupt. The next president would not be chosen behind closed
doors.
A Yankees Misfit in the White
House

 John Quincy Adams: he was
short, thickset, and billiard-bald,
he was even more austere that his
father. Shunning people, he often
went for early morning swims,
sometime naked in the Potomac
River. He was irritable, sarcastic,
and tactless. Adams ranks as the
most successful secretaries of
state, and the least successful
president.
 Fewer than one third of the voters
had voted have found it difficult
to win popular support even
under most favorable conditions.
A Yankees Misfit in the
White House

 Adams’ declined to oust efficient officeholders in order to
create vacancies for his supporters. During his entire
administration, he removed only 12 public servants from
the federal payroll. Followers will throw up their hands in
frustration.
 His nationalistic views also upset people as well. Adams
urged Congress the construction of roads and canals. Also
he renewed George Washington’s proposal for a national
university.
 The response to this was prompt and unfavorable. They
seemed like a public waste of funds. Adams land policy
also antagonized the westerners. He attempted to deal
fairly with the Indians, and he used federal authority on
behalf of the Indians.
Going Whole Hog for
Jackson in 1828

 Jackson’s presidential campaign
started the four years that Adams
became president. In the 1828 election,
it was Adams and Jackson pitted
against each other. Adams adopted an
oak as the symbol of their
independent candidate. Jackson,
zealots were Bargain and Corruption,
Huzza for Jackson, and All Hail Old
Hickory. They also planted Hickory
polls for their hero.
 Mudslinging reached new lows in
1828, and the electorate developed a
taste for bad politics. Adams would
not stop gutter tactics. They described
Jackson’s mother as a prostitute and
his wife as an adulterer. They printed
black bordered handbills shaped like
coffins, and Jackson killing 6 Indian
chiefs.
Going Whole Hog for
Jackson in 1828

 Jackson also hit below
the belt as well. Jackson
purchased gambling table
and chess tables for
Adams, and called in
gambling furniture.
Jackson also accused
Adams of having served
as a pimp for a servant
girl.
 Election results: Jackson
had trounced Adams by
the count of 178 to 83.
Old Hickory as President

 Description of Jackson: He was tall, lean, with a bushy
iron gray hair brushed high above a prominent forehead,
craggy eyebrows, and blue eyes. He was irritable:
probably because of his dysentery, malaria, tuberculosis,
and lead poisoning from 2 bullets.
 Upbringing: He was born in the Carolina’s and early
orphaned. He learned how to express himself in writing
with vigor and clarity. He sometimes would miss-spell a
word or two. He was afflicted with a violent temper; he
early became involved in a number of duels, stabbings,
and bloody frays. He was passionate, and would often get
choked up.
Old Hickory as President

Inauguration Day was on March 4,
1829. Thousands came to witness
Jackson take the oath of office. After
being sworn in, Jackson led a parade of
supporters back to the White House.
The excited crowd ruined chairs, sofas,
and the carpet.
The Peggy O’Neale Scandal

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Peggy O’Neale was the daughter of a
tavern keeper with whom Jackson and his
friend John Eaton had stayed while they
were serving as senators from Tennessee.
O’Neale was married with two children.
Rumors circulated in the mid-1820s that she
and John Eaton were romantically involved.
O’Neale’s husband died in 1828 and she
and Eaton were soon married.
When Jackson was elected president, he
appointed Eaton as Secretary of War. The
rest of the Cabinet’s wives, led by Mrs.
Calhoun, refused to receive her as a
member of Washington society.
Jackson demanded that the wives accept
Mrs. Eaton.
John C. Calhoun sided with his wife,
against the president’s wishes. Martin Van
Buren befriended the Eaton’s and because
of that, he and Jackson became even closer.
By 1831, Jackson had settled on Van Buren,
not Calhoun, as his choice to replace him as
president.
The Spoils System

 Under Jackson, the spoils system is that it is rewarding
political supporters with public office. The basic idea was
as old as politics. Every man is as good as his neighborperhaps equally better. Jackson wanted to bring in new
blood: each generation deserved its turn at public office.
 Federal office holders who had been in Washington, D.C.
for many years were removed and replaced. Most were
removed because they were corrupt or had misused
government funds. Jackson’s actions set a precedent for
future presidents to appoint their own followers to public
office.
 Despite its abuse, the spoils system was an important
element of the emerging two-party order. The promise of
patronage provided a compelling reason for Americans
to pick a party and stick with it thick and thin.

The Tricky Tariff of Abominations

 In 1824, Congress had increased
the general tariff significantly.
The tariff passed in 1828 and
Andrew Jackson inherited the
political hot potato.
 Southerners were hostile to the
tariff. Hotheads branded it the
Black Tariff, and the Tariff of
Abominations.
 Why did the south act angrily
against the tariff? They believed
that the tariff discriminated
against the south. The north was
experiencing a boom and the
South was expanding into virgin
cotton lands.
The Tricky Tariff of Abominations

 Old south was falling on hard times. Southerners
sold their cotton and other farm products
unprotected by tariffs. They were forced to buy
their products in an American market protected by
tariffs.
 Going a stride beyond the Kentucky and Virginia
resolutions of 1798, it bluntly proposed that the
states should nullify the tariff- that is; they should
declare it null and void within their borders.
Nullies in South Carolina

 South Carolina’s economy was
slowing down.
 South Carolina could not compete
with more fertile cotton lands in the
Southwest. South Carolina blamed
the slow down on the Tariff of 1828.
The tariff had raised prices on goods
that they could not manufacture
themselves. South Carolina was mad
enough that they were ready to
consider secession.
 Such tactics might have intimidated
John Quincy, but Andrew Jackson
was the wrong president to stare
down. Jackson privately threatened to
invade the state and have the
nullifiers hanged. He dispatched
naval and military reinforcements,
while preparing a sizable army.
Nullies in South Carolina

 Henry Clay stepped forward. He put
his influence to gradually reduce the
tariff of 1832 by about 10 percent over
a period of 8 years. By 1842 the rates
would be back at the mildly protective
level of 1816.
 The Compromise Tariff of 1833 went
through Congress. Debate was bitter,
which most of the debate came from
New England and middle states.
Congress passed the Force bill, it
authorize the president to use the
army and navy if necessary, to collect
federal tariff duties.
 Neither Jackson nor the “Nullies”
won a clear cut victory in 1833. Clay
was a true hero. Armed conflict had
been avoided, but the fundamental
issues had not been resolved.
The Trail of Tears

 Jackson’s democrats were committed to western
expansion, but that expansion meant that there
would be confrontation. More than 125,000 Native
Americans lived in forests and prairies east of the
Mississippi.
 Many white Americans felt respect and admiration
for the Indians and believed that they could be
assimilated into white society. In 1793, Congress
gave 20,000 for the promotion of literacy and
agricultural and vocational instruction among the
Indians.

The Trail of Tears

 Many tribes resisted, but some followed. Some
Cherokees became prosperous cotton planters and even
turned to slaveholding. 13 hundred black slaves toiled for
their Native American masters in the Cherokee nation in
the 1820’s.
 This civilization was not good enough for whites. 1828,
the Cherokee tribal council illegal and asserted its own
jurisdiction over Indian affairs and Indian lands. The
appeals moved to the Supreme Court, Jackson refused to
recognize the Court’s decision. In a callous jibe the
Indians defender, Jackson allegedly snapped, John
Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it.
The Trail of Tears

 Jackson proposed a bodily
removal of remaining eastern
tribes-chiefly Cherokees, Creeks,
Choctaws, Chickasaws, and
Seminoles beyond the
Mississippi. Jackson evidently
consoled himself with the belief
that the Indians could preserve
their native cultures in the wide
open west.
 Indian Removal Act in 1830 was
providing for the transplanting of
all Indian tribes. The Five
Civilized Tribes took the hardest
brunt, along the notorious Trail of
Tears.
The Trail of Tears

 Suspicious of white intentions from the start, Sauk and
Fox braves from Illinois and Wisconsin led by Black
Hawk resisted eviction. They were crushed in the Black
Hawk War of 1832 by regular troops.
Regular Troops: Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln.
 In Florida, Seminole Indians retreated, and they waged a
guerilla war that took 1500 soldiers. The spirit of the
Seminoles broke in 1837, when their leader Osceola was
taken. The war dragged on for 5 years. Four-Fifths of
them were moved to present-day Oklahoma were they
survived.
The Bank War

 President Jackson did not hate all
banks and all businesses, but he
distrusted monopolistic banking and
over-big businesses, as did his
followers.
 The Bank of the U.S. in the 1830s was
a powerful institution. Its
headquarters were in Philadelphia
and it had branches in 29 other cities.
By law, the Bank was the only place
that the federal government could
deposit its own funds.
 The Bank provided credit to
businesses, it issued bank notes,
which served as a dependable
medium of exchange throughout the
country and it exercised a restraining
effect on less well-managed state
banks. The president of the Bank was
Nicholas Biddle from 1823 on.
The Bank War

 What made the bank a monster in Jackson’s eyes? The
national government minted gold and silver coins, but
did not issue paper money. Paper notes were printed by
private banks. This gave the private banks power over the
nation’s economy.
 In a way the bank acted like a branch of the government.
A source of credit and stability, the bank was an
important and useful part of the nation’s expanding
economy.
 The Bank War erupted in 1832, when Daniel Webster and
Henry Clay presented Congress with a bill to renew the
Bank of the United States. Clay thought this was a perfect
way for him to win the next presidency. Reason being
was that if Jackson signed it, he would alienate his
western followers. If he didn’t then he would lose the
next president election.
The Bank War

Jackson declared the bank
unconstitutional. Jackson’s veto
message squashed the bank and made
him presidential more powerful. The
bank issue was now thrown into the
noisy arena of the presidential contest
of 1832.
Old Hickory Wallops
Clay in 1832

 Henry Clay enjoyed
impressive advantages;
ample funds flowed in their
campaign chest, including
50,000 in life insurance from
the Bank of the United
States.
 Jackson idol of the masses
easily defeated the big
money Kentuckian. The
popular vote stood at
687,502 to 530,189 for
Jackson; the electoral count
was lopsided 219 to 49.
Burying Biddle’s Bank

 Its charter denied, the Bank of the United States was
due to expire in 1836. Jackson was convinced that
Biddle might try and manipulate the bank. Jackson
proposed depositing no more funds with Biddle and
gradually shrinking existing deposits by using them
to defray that day to day expense of the government.
By doing this he would bleed the bank dry.
 The President’s advisors opposed this policy. Biddle
called for his bank’s loans, a lot of Biddle’s banks
were driven to the wall by Biddle’s Panic. But it
didn’t work.
Burying Biddle’s Bank

 The death of the Bank left a
financial vacuum in the American
economy and kicked off a cycle of
booms and busts.
 Jackson named Attorney General
Roger Taney was to be secretary
of the treasury. Taney began
placing the government’s money
in a number of state banks that
opponents of Jackson called “pet
banks”.
 As a result, the banking system of
the U.S. was chronically unstable
for the next 100 years.
The Birth of the Whigs

 Democrats: Steadily expanding economic and
political opportunities for white males; limited
government; attack centers of corruption and
privilege.
 Whigs: Expand the power of the federal
government; encourage industrial and commercial
development; cautious about westward expansion;
favored legislation establishing banks and
corporations. They divided their loyalties among
Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and John C. Calhoun,
known as the “Great Triumvirate”.
The Election of 1836

 Before leaving office, Jackson issued an order called
the “specie circular”. It said that the government
would only accept gold or silver as payment for
public land sales. It produced a financial panic that
caused hundreds of banks and businesses to fail and
unemployment to grow.
 Martin Van Buren was Jackson’s choice for
appointment. Jackson was too old for a third term.
Jackson carefully rigged the nominating convention
and rammed his favorite down the throats of the
delegates.
The Election of 1836

 As the election neared, the Whigs showed their inability to
nominate a single presidential candidate. Van Buren squirmed
into office by the close popular vote 765,483 to 739,765, but by
the comfortable margin of 170 to 124 in the Electoral College.
 Van Buren strongly opposed government intervention in the
economy and did little to fight the depression. As a result, he
became unpopular with the American public.
 He was the leader of the Democratic Party in New York. He
was elected Governor of New York in 1828. He had a
reputation as a political wizard/genius. He was short and thin.
He had many nicknames:
The Sage of Kinderhook
The Little Magician
The Red Fox
Old Kinderhook
Big Woes for the Little
Magician

 Van Buren’s four
years overflowed with
toil and trouble.
Jackson gave Van
Buren a searing
depression. Much of
his panic was battling
the panic, and it was
impossible to come out
of this winning the
next presidential
election.
Gone to Texas

 Americans greedy for land, continued to covet the vast
expanse of Texas, which the United States had abandoned
to Spain when acquiring Florida. Spaniard’s wanted to
populate this unpeopled area, but before they could carry
out their plans, the Mexicans won their independence in
1821.
 They concluded arrangement in 1823 for granting a huge
plot of land to Stephen Austin, with the understanding
that he would bring families with him. Immigrants had
to be a part of the Roman Catholic faith.
 This was largely ignored. Texans remained Americans at
heart. They were largely upset by Mexican soldiers, many
of whom were ex-convicts.
Gone to Texas

 Texan-Americans numbered about 30 thousand. Most of
them were God-fearing, and law abiding people, but
some had to leave, one or two jumps ahead to the sheriff.
Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie were just some of them.
 Friction increased over issues such as slavery,
immigration, and local rights. Slavery was a touchy topic.
Mexico emancipated their slaves in 1830. The Texans
refused to follow these decrees. When Stephen Austin
went to Mexico City in 1833 to speak to Santa Anna
clapped him in jail for 8 months. Explosion came when
Santa Anna wiped out all local rights and started to raise
an army to suppress the upstart Texans.
The Lone Star Rebellion

 Early in 1836 the Texans declared their independence,
and named Sam Houston commander in chief. Santa
Anna swept into Texas, trapping a band of 200 Texans at
the Alamo. He wiped them out. The Texans commander
Travis declared: “I shall never surrender nor retreat…
Victory or Death.” The American volunteers, having
thrown down their arms at Goliad, were butchered as
pirates. All of these operations delayed the Mexican
advance.
 Slain heroes like Bowie and Crockett, became legendary
in death. Texan war cries were “Remember the Alamo.”
Scores of vengeful Americans seized their rifles and
rushed to the aid of relatives, friends, and compatriots.

The Lone Star Rebellion

 General Sam Houston’s small army retreated east, and
lured Santa Anna to San Jacinto. The Mexicans numbered
about 1300, and the Texans about 900. Houston took
advantage of the Siesta and attacked. Texans wiped them
off of the course. Santa Anna was found cowering in the
trees. He quickly signed the two treaties.
 He agreed to withdraw Mexican troops and to recognize
the Rio Grande as the extreme southwestern boundary of
Texas.
 Many Texans wanted not just recognition of their
independence but outright union with the United States.
Uncle Sam was jerked back by the black hand of the
slavery issue. Antislavery crusaders were against this
annexation.
 Texans were slaveholders, and admitting Texas to the
Union inescapably meant enlarging American slavery.
Log Cabins and Hard Cider of 1840

 Martin Van Buren was re-nominated
by the Democrats in 1840; the party
had no acceptable alternative to what
the Whigs called Martin Van Ruin.
 Whigs nominated William Henry
Harrison, rather than one of the
“Great Triumvirate”, for president.
John Tyler ran with him. Democrats
nominated Van Buren because he was
the sitting president with little hope
that he would win. Election results:
Harrison received 234 electoral votes
to Van Buren’s 60.
 Inauguration of Harrison gave a 90minute address in freezing rain
without a hat. He soon caught
pneumonia and died one month after
taking office. John Tyler became the
next president of the United States.
They called him: His Accidency.