Transcript Andrew Jackson and Jacksonian Democracy, 1815 - 1837 - fchs

ANDREW JACKSON AND JACKSONIAN
DEMOCRACY, 1815 - 1837
The Lifetime and Presidency of
Andrew Jackson
A. THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS
This battle was a glorious victory for
the United States over England;
however, it wasn’t fought until a few
weeks after the Treaty of Ghent had
ended the War of 1812. During the
early 1800s, news traveled relatively
slowly.
Andrew Jackson established his
reputation during this battle as a
fierce combatant with little
compassion of the enemy. He had
little love for the English: as a child,
an English soldier had smacked him
across the face for insolence during
the Revolutionary War.
B. THE CASE OF WORCESTER V. GEORGIA
In this 1831 Supreme Court case, Chief
Justice John Marshall ruled that the state
of Georgia had no right to remove
Native American societies from their
reservations, which had been established
by federal treaties. Essentially, using
judicial review, they found the Indian
Removal Act of 1830 to be
unconstitutional.
Unfortunately, Andrew Jackson refused
to enforce the Supreme Court’s decision.
The Cherokee were removed in 1837.
THE NULLIFICATION CRISIS
During 1832, the state of South Carolina
refused to pay it’s share of the hated
“Tariff of Abominations.” Under the
leadership of John C. Calhoun, they passed
the Nullification Act, declaring that they
would not recognize the sovereignty of the
federal law. In response, Andrew Jackson
asked for an received from Congress a bill
entitled the Force Act – which authorized
him to invade South Carolina if they did not
accept the federal law. Like George
Washington, Jackson would have led the
army himself. Fortunately, a compromise
tariff was achieved by Congress, and the
crisis passed.
THE SPOILS SYSTEM
“To the victors belongs the spoils…” This
was an old unwritten law of a warfare,
and Andrew Jackson considered politics
a form of warfare.
Once he was elected to the Presidency,
he began doling out jobs to his friends
and political supporters – going so far
as to fire some of the perfectly good
employees of the previous President,
John Quincy Adams.
Jackson was much criticized for doing so.
A N D R E W JAC K S ON WA S A N OTOR IOU S IN D IA N - H AT E R, A N D D U R IN G T H E WA R OF
1 8 1 2, H E A N H IS ME N C A R RIE D OU T ON E OF T H E M OS T H OR R IF IC M A S S AC R ES IN
T H E H IS TORY OF T H E U N IT E D S TAT E S A R MY, K IL L IN G OV E R 4 0 0 NAT IV E
A M E R IC A N S – “ R E D S T IC K ” C R E E K IN D IA N S – D U R IN G A BAT T L E IN A L A BA M A .
A LT H OU G H T H E NAT IV E A ME R IC A N S AT T E M P T E D TO S U R R E ND E R, N O M E RC Y W A S
S H OW N TO T H E E N E MY F OE .
THE BATTLE OF
HORSESHOE BEND
THE BANK OF THE UNITED STATES (BUS) DIES
The Bank of the United
States was effectively put
out of existence by
Andrew Jackson. He
withdrew all of the money
from the BUS and then
redistributed the funds to
twelve smaller “Pet Banks”
- banks who he was
confident would loan out
money to the “common
man” to satisfy needs.
THE CORRUPT BARGAIN OF 1824
The first time Andrew Jackson ran for
President of the United States, there was
a four way contest: William Crawford,
John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and
Andrew Jackson all ran for office.
Jackson won the most popular votes;
however, since no candidate won a
majority of the electoral college votes, the
Congress was forced to decide who would
serve as President. A deal was made
between John Quincy Adams and Henry
Clay – securing the Presidency for Adams
and the Secretary of State’s office for
Henry Clay. Jackson was furious.
THE ELECTION OF 1828
D
E
F
E
A
T
E
D
THE INDIAN REMOVAL ACT OF 1830
The United States Congress
passed the Indian Removal Act in
1830 – a law which was clearly
unconstitutional – requiring all
Native American tribes to relocate
west of the Mississippi River.
THE TRAIL OF TEARS - 1837
In 1837, the Cherokee Nation was
forced on a thousand mile march from
Georgia to Oklahoma. During the
march, close to 5,000 members of the
tribe perished. The march occurred
because President Jackson refused to
support the Supreme Court’s decision
in the case of Worcester V. Georgia.
THE TREATY OF GHENT - 1814
This treaty, signed in 1814, ended
the war of 1812. Ironically, the
most famous battle of the war, the
Battle of New Orleans, occurred
after the treaty had been signed.
THE VETO OF THE BANK OF THE UNITED STATES
CHARTER BY ANDREW JACKSON
Even though President Andrew Jackson
hated the Bank of the United States,
members of the rival political party, the
Whigs, were advocates of the BUS.
They passed a law early in Jackson’s
presidential administration attempting to
re-charter the Bank for another 20
years. Jackson, who believed that the
Bank only served the rich, refused to
support the law, claiming it would allow
the rich to get richer, while the poor got
poorer. Andrew Jackson vetoed the bill!
The Whigs hated him, and dubbed him
“King Andrew I.”
MARTIN VAN BUREN
Martin Van Buren was a New York Democrat
who supported Andrew Jackson’s candidacy
for President in 1824, 1828, and 1832. He
was Jackson’s Vice President. In 1836, he
ran for President himself and won. Although
his Presidency was a failure due to an
economic depression which began in 1837,
Van Buren had a mixed record personally.
On the down side, he was an Indian-hater
who allowed the Trail of Tears to take place
– killing thousands. Later in his life, he would
go on to found the Free Soil Party in New
York. He ran for President and lost in 1848
as the nominee of that anti-slavery party.
THE ACQUISITION OF
FLORIDA
The Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819 was responsible
for the acquisition of Florida by the United States.
The United States paid approximately $5 Million
for Florida and the extended panhandle of the
state – including the coastlines of Alabama and
Mississippi. Finally, the treaty established a formal
border between the United States and Spanish
territory in the Southwest, creating the familiar
shapes of the border at Texas, Oklahoma, and a
few of the states in the Rocky Mountain region.
TEXAS WINS INDEPENDENCE
Given his pro-slavery stances on a number of
issues, and his general disregard for the claims
of non-whites and non-Americans to territory in
North America, it is something of a surprise that
Andrew Jackson was not more strongly in
support of the annexation of Texas. But, he
was not. Texas won it’s independence from
Mexico in 1835, after Santa Anna was forced
to surrender to General Sam Houston at the
Battle of San Jacinto. But when the nation
asked to annexed, Jackson declined. He
feared that the acquisition of the state would
exacerbate tensions between the North (free
labor) and the South (slave labor.)