Andrew Jackson
The Election of 1824 – The Candidates
• Tennessee • Supported
by the West
• Military
hero
Andrew Jackson William Crawford
• Georgia
• Supported
by the South
• Madison and
Monroe’s Sec. of Treasury John Quincy Adams
• Massachusetts • Supported by
New England
• Monroe’s Sec. of State
• Son of John
Adams Henry Clay
• Kentucky
• Supported by
the West
• “The Great
A Corrupt Bargain
•
Jackson won the
plurality
, meaning the most
votes, but did not receive the
majority
(over 50%)
•
Constitution requires House of Representatives to
select president when no one wins majority
•
Henry Clay makes a deal with John Quincy Adams
to push for his victory, Adams then names Clay his
Secretary of State
•
Jackson and his followers call this a “
Corrupt
Rise of the Democrats
•
Supported Jackson
•
Mistrust strong federal
government
– Against rule of wealthy
•
Favor states’ rights
•
Claimed to represent the
“common man”
•
Individualists
– Frontier
pioneers
– Laborers from big cities
National Republicans Emerge
•
National Republicans
– Supported Adams•
Strong federal govt.
•
Supported federal
programs
– Internal Improvements – Road building
– Second Bank of the U.S.
•
Merchants & farmers
•
Jackson called them the
Jackson as a Man of the People
•
Humble beginnings
•
First president not from Virginia or Mass. aristocracy
•
First president from the west
•
Personified Western individualism
•
War of 1812 Hero
•
Called “Old Hickory”
•
Quick temper
•
Flawless control
•
Passionate & Spirited
•
Tenacious drive
Take a minute and organize the information
from the previous slide into each of your 2
categories—King Jackson or Champion of the
Common Man
Then, as you go through the rest of the
PowerPoint, take your notes in the category
Jacksonian Democracy
•
Notable expansion of voting right during
Jacksonian
era
—at least for white American men
•
Idea that the “
common man
,” like Jackson, should be
able to be a part of the political process, not only the
wealthy elite
•
With this idea, comes the “
spoils system
” in which
“To the victor, go the…
SPOILS!”
Jackson was angered with government corruption
Vowed to “purify the departments” & “reform the government”
Vowed to “purify the departments” & “reform the government”
Jackson felt ordinary citizens could handle government jobs & replaced
many officials with his supporters
Jackson felt ordinary citizens could handle government jobs & replaced
many officials with his supporters
Critics saw this as the emergence of a tyrant, & they called him “King Andrew I”
Critics saw this as the emergence of a tyrant, & they called him “King Andrew I”
Technically, Jackson removed only 919 of 10,093 employees on the federal payroll
Technically, Jackson removed only 919 of 10,093 employees on the federal payroll
Tariff of Abominations and Nullification
• 1828 Congress passed a very high tariff Southerners
disapproved because they felt it favored the North and put the South at a disadvantage because they traded directly with Europe and increased prices for them
• Southerners referred to this tariff as the “Tariff of
Abominations”
• V.P. John C. Calhoun argued a state could nullify, or refuse to
Tariff of Abominations and Nullification
• 1830 Calhoun and Jackson “face off” at a state dinner
Jackson offered a toast stating while staring at Calhoun, “Our Union! It must be preserved!”
• Calhoun responds with, “The Union, next to our liberty, most
dear…It can only be preserved by respecting the rights of the states.”
• After, they become political enemies; Calhoun resigns from
Tariff of Abominations and Nullification
• 1832 Congress passes a lower tariff
• South Carolina passes the “Nullification Act” saying that it
would not pay what they considered to be illegal tariffs (because they did not benefit states equally)
• They threaten to secede, or break away, from the Union if the
federal government interfered
• South Carolina eventually backed down, accepting the tariff of
Native American Policy
• Five Civilized Tribes: Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, Chickasaw and
Choctaw peoples living in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and
Florida all very assimilated in white southern culture, including have large plantations and slaves
• 1830 Indian Removal Act passed with support of Jackson
allowed federal government to make treaties with and buy Native American land (though many were actually forced to sign these treaties)
Supreme Court & Indian Removal
• Worcester v. Georgia (1832): Cherokee had been recognized as their
own nation by US in 1790s and refused to give up their land in GA., but in 1830 GA. made their land state territory and began enforcing state law there
• Cherokee went to the Supreme Court, and John Marshall state GA. could not interfere in Cherokee land
• Jackson’s response: “John Marshall has made his decision. Now let
him enforce it.”
Trail of Tears
• By 1835, a treaty had been signed with a
small number of Cherokees that was considered by many to be unfair, but the Senate approved it
• By 1838, many Cherokees still remained
in Georgia, and state troops came in to remove the Cherokee people by force
• 15,000 Cherokees were forced to relocate
to Indian Territory, with as many as a quarter of them dying along the way; this journey became known as the “Trail of Tears
Resistance
• The only tribe to resist
removal were the Seminoles in Florida
• Fighting continued from
1835-1842, and broke out again in 1855
• Some were removed to
Indian Territory, but many escaped to the Everglades where they still have
descendants
•
Osceola, leader of the
War Against the Bank
• Jackson was against the 2nd Bank of the US because he felt it
was a monopoly that favored the wealthy
• Henry Clay and Daniel Webster persuaded bank president Nicholas Biddle to apply to renew the bank’s charter early, forcing Jackson to decide on the bank during an election year
• Clay and Webster believed the American people supported
the bank, and if Jackson vetoed it, he would basically get
War Against the Bank
• Jackson vetoed the bank saying,
“The bank is trying to kill me. But I will kill it” arguing that the bank was unconstitutional
(despite McCulloch v. MD, which stated it wasn’t)
• Many people supported Jackson • He then decided to pull out all
bank funds and put them in state banks; the bank closed in 1836
Panic of 1837
• Jackson’s war on the bank led to the Panic of 1837, or a economic depression, that began just as Jackson left office, because state banks were causing inflation by issuing large amounts of banknotes, without the gold to back it up, leaving them with little value
• Martin Van Buren (his predecessor) believed in a laissez-faire economy, and did little to help the economy recover
• The Whig party, built of National
Republicans and other anti-Jacksonians, were able to take advantage of this, and in 1840, their candidate, William Henry
