Politics during the Age of Jackson: 1824-1840Chapter 11

From Era of Good Feelings to Jackson

“Corrupt Bargain” of 18244-way race for President, all Republicans

Results:1-Jackson – most popular votes and electoral votes

2-John Quincy Adams (Sec. of State)

3-William Crawford

4-Henry Clay (Former War Hawk, Speaker of the House)

No majority in the electoral vote—top 3 candidates went to the House of Representatives

Clay supported Adams, Adams won, Jackson lostAdams made Clay his Secretary of State—bad feelings among Jackson supporters

Adams Presidency—nationalist couldn’t get much done

Election of 1828Republicans split into two rival factions (re-emergence of the two party system)

National Republicans—Adams and ClayRepublican party of the Era of Good Feelings and Madison and Monroe after the War of 1812

Democratic Republicans—JacksonRepublican party of Jefferson and Madison before the War of 1812

First election with widespread appeal to popular vote, electoral votes in many states tied to popular vote for the first time

Jackson won the South and the West, Adams won New England and part of the Northeast

Jackson won 178 to 83

“Jacksonian Democracy”Around the time and during the time of Jackson’s presidency the role of the common people in government increased

Electoral vote tied to popular vote—not state legislatures

Universal white male suffrage—all adult white males could vote regardless of income

Candidates chosen by political convention not by party leaders

End of established religions in New England

Effects of this increase in democracy?

George Caleb Bingham: County Election 1852

All Creation Going to the White House: 1829

Canvassing For a Vote 1852

Jackson Campaign Poster 1828

Anti-Jackson Cartoon ca. 1828

Anti-Jackson Newspaper Article ca.1828

General Jackson’s mother was a Common Prostitute, brought to this country by the British soldiers! She afterwards married a MULATTO man with whom she had several children, of which GENERAL JACKSON is one.

Major Issues of Jackson’s Presidency

Major IssuesSpoils System

Tariffs and nullification

Bank

Indian Removal

Spoils SystemUnlike previous administrations Jackson fired government workers appointed/hired by his predecessors—”To the victor (of the election) go the spoils (the government jobs).”

New appointees loyal to Jackson and his party

How could this also be viewed as democratic?

Drawbacks of this system?

Tariffs and NullificationProtective Tariffs divided the nation—one of the major sources of sectional conflict

Tariffs protected US industry from foreign competition BUT increased the overall cost of goods in the US

Tariffs also made it more difficult to export goods (agricultural products) to foreign countries

North liked tariffs, South and West disliked them (South especially)

1828 an especially high tariff was passed—tariff of abominations

South Carolina threatened to nullify the lawRefuse to enforce it (nullify it) inside its borders

What else besides tariffs were on their minds in the South?

SC threatened to secede (leave the Union) if the federal govt tried to collect the tariff by force

Jackson threatened to send soldiers Civil War!!??

Compromise tariff of 1833, Henry Clay avoided showdown

National Bank2nd Bank of the United States (B.U.S.) chartered in 1816 for 20 years—charter set to expire in 1836

Jackson hated banks, hated the National Bank, why?Jeffersonian Republicanism—unconstitutional

Unfairly benefitted the wealthy/east coast elites

People had little control over the bank (government only controlled 1/5th of the board of directors)

Jackson hated banks in general—involved in some failed bank schemes out west

Foreigners (mostly British) held a lot of Bank stock

Pros of the BUSRegulated the money supply—paper money backed up by gold, kept other banks in line by making loans to them

Lent money to the Federal Govt.

Helped stimulate economic activity by making money available to loan, but not too much money which would lead to boom and bust

Bank Re-Charter DebateClay forced a re-charter bill through in 1832, why?

Passed both houses of Congress but Jackson vetoed itSignificance: veto=undemocratic element, in the past veto was only used by the President if he thought something was unconstitutional, Jackson just disagreed with the bank, a lot more power for the President

Bank became the central issue of the 1832 electionClay (National Republican) vs Jackson (Democratis-Republican)—Jackson won in a landslide

Bank and its director (Nicholas Biddle) began to tighten up credit, caused an economic recession to show people how much they needed the Bank

Jackson decided to withdrawal all US deposits from the Bank immediately (this would effectively kill the Bank)

Treasury secretary refused—Jackson fired him replaced him with someone who would remove the deposits (Roger B. Taney)

Aftermath of the Bank Debate

State banks and shady private banks “Wildcat Banks” were flooded by money that used to be in the National Bank

No more National Bank to keep smaller banks in line

Result: smaller banks loaned out lots of money, issued lots of paper currency, economy expanded too quickly, paper money lost its value

Financial Panic and Crash—wave of bank failures 1837

Indian RemovalDue to patterns of white settlement about 125,000 Indians were trapped east of the Mississippi mostly in the South East

5 “Civilized” TribesCreeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Seminoles, Cherokees

Had largely embraced European culture in an attempt to retain control of their land

European clothing, housing, farming, slave-owning, alphabet, law codes, constitution

Late 1820’s southeastern states began to intrude on Indian lands, Cherokees sued in court, case went to the Supreme Court Worcester v. Georgia 1834 court found for the Cherokees

Jackson’s response: “John Marshall has made his decision now let him enforce it”

Indian Removal Act of 1830—provided land and money to relocate Indians some 100,000 relocated including 17,000 Cherokees

4,000 Cherokees died on the journey west—Trail of Tears

Opposition to Jackson: Beginning of the Whigs

Mid-1830s political landscape still very unsettled—no one really knew what was going on

Democratic Republicans—Jackson

National Republicans—Clay, Webster, Calhoun

Anti-Masonic Party—popular in New York/New England

Resented the Masons (Jackson)

Lower/middle class—holier than thou attitude wanted to use the government to solve social problems (including the Masons)

New Parties mid-1830s: The 2nd Two Party SystemDemocratic Republicans=Democrats

National Republicans + Anti-Masons + Democrats who hate Jackson = Whig party 1834 or so

The 2nd Two Party System: The Whigs

What’s in a name?Opposed Jackson

Generally upper class, but extended across all social classes and all sections of the country (mostly New England and the South)

Tended to be native born, British descended, Protestant, Americans

Favored a broader interpretation of the ConstitutionA 3rd National Bank

Internal Improvements

High tariffs (American System)

Use the government to solve social problemsDrinking, (slavery), public education, mental asylums etc

Didn’t want to focus on westward expansion, wanted to focus on improving and settling the land the US already had

The 2nd Two Party System: The Democrats

What’s in a name?Party of the people

Appealed to the poor and the middle classAlso immigrants, Catholics

Popular in the South, but also out West, and to the poor in big eastern cities

Favored a more limited role for the Federal government

Just wanted the government to leave them alone

Government involvement cost money

Didn’t want the government dictating morality

In favor of expanding west, more land for the poor

Election of 1836: Democrats vs. Whigs

Democrat=Martin Van BurenJackson’s VP

Little Magician, Old Kinderhook, O.K.

Whigs—couldn’t get organized enough to nominate one candidate, plan was to divide the electoral vote and win in the House of Rep.

Webster—New England

White—South

Harrison—West

Van Buren won easily

Economic Depression (caused by Jackson’s banking errors) lasted throughout Van Buren’s administration

Independent Treasury—government stopped putting money in state banks, held on to its own money

Election of 1840Van Buren hurt by the economy

Whigs nominate William Henry HarrisonHarrison=the Whig version of Jackson, a war hero, Indian fighter, frontiersman, born in a log cabin

Log Cabin and Hard Cider campaignShort on issues, long on slogans and hoopla

Tippecanoe, , , , , , , and Tyler too

Harrison elected in 1840Sworn in—March of 1841, got sick

Died—April 1841

John Tyler (Tyler too!) became President

Looking Back: Effects of the Jacksonian Era on Politics

2 new political parties: Democrats and Whigs—two party system would last until present day

Political party conventions for nominating candidates

Increase in democracy and the role of the common manUniversal white male suffrage, electoral vote tied to popular vote

Idea that democracy was not a bad thing, being a man of the people no longer a negative, parties had to appeal to the masses (for better or worse)

More power for the office of PresidentTariff controversy

Bank debate

Indian removal